1941: Golf

Despite the spread of the war, golf enjoyed a highly successful year. Tournament players and duffers alike set an excellent example for all sportsmen by participating in a great number of benefit matches and tag days for the Red Cross, British War Relief and other deserving organizations. Such activity was climaxed by a match between the official United States Ryder Cup Team and a group captained by former amateur champion Bobby Jones. This match, held at the Detroit Golf Club in late August, raised $25,000 for the United Service Organizations. Jones, coming out of retirement to play, won his match against Henry Picard, a prominent pro, and his team defeated the Ryder Cup men, 8 to 6.

Long controversy over standardization was settled when the United States Golf Association ruled to limit the distance-carrying feature of golf balls. After years of study and experimentation by scientists of the Armour Research Foundation at the Illinois Institute of Technology, it was agreed to limit the velocity of the ball at 250 feet per second. This regulation eliminated the threat of obsolescence which threatened courses because of the development in recent years of far-traveling golf balls.

After the United States entered the war, the government proclaimed a ban on the use of rubber in golf and tennis balls causing a tremendous rush by golfers to stock up. Equipment manufacturers were preparing to produce an ersatz ball.

Again this year, all major British and European tournaments were not held, and all international team matches were cancelled. Several British and South American stars entered American tournaments, and Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret embarked on a very successful tour of South America where interest in golf is growing steadily. Demaret won the Argentine Open Championship with a record breaking 72-hole score of 279. Sam Snead, Hot Springs, Va., professional, captured several other major South American titles. He also won the Canadian Open Championship. Wilford Wehrle of Racine, Wis., won the Mexican Amateur title, beating Spec Stewart of Roswell, N. M., 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final.

Interest in competitive golf in this country was spread by the holding of the United States Open Championship in Fort Worth, the first time in history that the Southwest had been the site of this tournament.

Craig Wood, 39-year-old professional at the Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N. Y., became the first golfer to win the Masters' and the United States Open titles in the same year. His total of 287 won the Open at Fort Worth, Texas, before the largest gallery in the last decade. A dark horse garnered the Professional Golfers' Association Championship at Denver when Victor Ghezzi defeated Byron Nelson, the defending champion, in the final match. Ben Hogan, pro from Hershey, Pa., finished consistently in the money throughout the year, leading all other professionals as a money winner and gaining possession of the Vardon Trophy, symbolizing the superiority of his all-around record.

In the amateur ranks, the National Championship was again won by Marvin Ward of Spokane, Wash., the 1939 titleholder. He eliminated B. Patrick Abbott, Pasadena, Calif., by 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final match held in Omaha, Neb. Stewart M. Alexander, Burlington, N. C., was medalist with a low of 144. At the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Mrs. Frank Newell of Long Beach, Calif., ended the two-year reign of Betty Jameson by winning the United States Women's Championship. Mrs. Newell, who defeated Helen Sigel, Philadelphia, Pa., by 5 and 3, later turned professional.

Other national titles went to William Welch, Houston, Tex. (U.S. Public Links); Alvah H. Pierce, Brookline, Mass. (U.S. Seniors); Stanford University (Intercollegiate team); Earl Stewart, Louisiana State (Intercollegiate); Eleanor Dudley, Alabama U. (Women's Intercollegiate); and Mrs. Edward B. Stevens, Round Hill, Conn. (U.S. Seniors-Women).

The Professional Golfers' Association elected Ed Dudley, Colorado Springs, Col., as its first playing-pro President. Fred Corcoran was reappointed Tournament Manager. The P.G.A. also elected a Ryder Cup Team for 1942, consisting of Craig Wood, captain, Jimmy Demaret, Vic Ghezzi, Ben Hogan, Lloyd Mangrum, Byron Nelson, Horton Smith, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Harold McSpaden. In addition, a special nominating committee approved four more golfers for the Hall of Fame initiated last year when Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Francis Ouimet were chosen. Those added to the honor roll this year are Jerome D. Travers, John McDermott, Alex Smith, Charles Evans and Willie Anderson. Smith and Anderson are the first foreign stars to be selected.

The United States Golf Association elected George W. Blossom, a member of the Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, Ill., as president; Morton G. Bogue and Charles W. Littlefield as vice-presidents; Frank M. Hardt as secretary; John F. Riddell, Jr. as treasurer; and James H. Douglas, Jr., as General Counsel.

Attendance figures at major tournaments reached a new high, and the professionals played for more money than ever before. Many leading amateurs and pros joined the nation's armed forces during the year including Marvin Ward, Dick Chapman, Ed Oliver, Frank Strafaci, Tommy Tailer and Stewart Alexander. At dozens of army posts golf instruction was made a part of the sports and recreation programs, and many private clubs allowed officers and enlisted men the use of their courses for the duration.