1938: Golf

The outstanding event in golf during 1938 was the victory of Great Britain in the Walker Cup tournament. This was the first time the British Team had won the contest since the series was inaugurated in 1922. The final score in the tournament, held June 4-5 at St. Andrews, was 7 matches to 4 in favor of the British team.

The United States women, however, retained the Curtis Cup which has never been won by the British. On Sept. 8, at the Essex County Club in Manchester, Mass., the American women, under the leadership of Mrs. Estelle Lawson Page, national champion, staged a brilliant rally after being almost shut out of the running when they dropped two and halved one of the initial three foursome matches. The final score was 5 matches for the American team to 3 matches for the British team.

In the United States Open Golf Championships, held for the first time west of the Mississippi River, at Denver, Colo., on June 9, Ralph Guldahl, of Madison, N.J., with a 72-hole score of 284 (six strokes better than his nearest opponent, Richard Metz of Chicago), won the title for the second successive year. Guldahl registered a remarkable subpar score of 69 in the last round. The next week on June 16, at St. Louis, Guldahl again distinguished himself by winning for the third successive year the Western Open Championship with a total score of 270, the first person to capture the Western Open crown three times in succession.

The United States Amateur Championship tournament, played Sept. 17, at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, was won by William Turnesa, the youngest of six golfing brothers, and a recent graduate of Holy Cross College, overwhelming Patrick Abbott of Altadena, Calif., in the 30-hole final, eight up and seven holes to play. In the United States Women's Golf Championships, held Sept. 24, at Wilmette, Illinois, Miss Patty Berg defeated the defending champion, Mrs. Estelle Lawson Page, six up and five holes to play to win the Women's National title.

The finals of the British Open Championships, played July 8 at Sandwich, England, by a predominantly British field, were won by Reginald A. Whitcombe of England, who defeated James Adams of Scotland by two strokes with a 72-hole score of 295. In the British Amateur Tournament, held May 28 at Troon, Scotland, Charles Yates of Atlanta, Ga., a member of the Walker Cup team, defeated Cecil Ewing of Ireland, defending champion, on the final day, to capture the British Amateur titles while in the Women's tournament, held May 20 at Burnham-on-the-Sea, Mrs. Helen Holm of Scotland defeated Miss Elsic Corlett of England four up and three holes to play in the 36-hole finals to win the British women's crown.

The United States National Professional Tournament, sponsored by the Professional Golfers Association, was won by Paul Runyan of New York on July 16, at Shawnee-on-the-Delaware. Runyan defeated Sam Snead eight up and seven holes to play, the largest margin ever registered in the national professional finals. Snead, however, won the Canadian Open title on Aug. 23 at Toronto and finished the season as the year's largest money winner.

In intercollegiate circles, John Paul Burke of Georgetown University captured the National Intercollegiate Championship title in the finals held July 2 at Louisville, Ky.