Golf eLife

1930

Bobby Jones completes the original Grand Slam, winning the U.S. and British Amateurs and the U.S. and British Opens in the same year. Since Jones is an amateur, however, the financial windfall belongs to professional Bobby Cruickshank, who bets on Jones to complete the Slam, at 120-1 odds, and pockets $60,000.

The Minehead Club makes Captaincy elective. They had been the last club to award the Captaincy to the winner of the annual competition.

The Duke of York (later King George VI) is elected Captain of the R & A.

Shinnecock Hill Golf Club opens its modern course on Long Island, NY.

Bob Harlow is hired as manager of the PGA’s Tournament Bureau, and he first proposes the idea of expanding “The Circuit,” as the TOUR is then known, from a series of winter events leading up to the season ending North & South Open in spring, into a year-round TOUR.

1931

Billy Burke defeats George Von Elm in a 72- hole playoff at Inverness to win the 1931 U.S. Open, in the longest playoff ever played. They were tied at 292 after regulation play, and both scored 149 in the first 36-hole playoff. Burke is the first golfer to win a major championship using steel-shafted golf clubs.

The USGA increases the minimum size of the golf ball from 1.62 inches to 1.68 inches, and decreases the maximum weight from 1.62 ounces to 1.55. The R&A does not follow suit. The lighter, larger “balloon ball” is universally despised and eventually the USGA raises the weight back to 1.62 ounces.

1932

The first Curtis Cup Matches are held at Wentworth in England.

The concave-faced wedge is banned.

Gene Sarazen introduces the sand-wedge.

1933

The Prince of Wales reaches the final of the Parliamentary Handicap Tournament.

Augusta National Golf Club, designed by Alister Mackenzie with advice from Bobby Jones, opens for play.

Craig Wood hits a 430-yard drive at the Old Course’s fifth hole in the British Open, this is still the longest drive in a major championship.

Hershey Chocolate Company, in sponsoring the Hershey Open, becomes the first corporate title sponsor of a professional tournament.

1934

The first Masters is played. Horton Smith is the first champion. In this inaugural event, the present-day back and front nines were reversed.

1935

Glynna Collett Vare wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur a record sixth time.

Pinehurst #2 is completed by Donald Ross, generally described as his masterpiece.

Gene Sarazen double-eagles the par-5 15th hole to catch the leaders at the Masters. His “Shot Heard Round the World” propels him to victory, and due to the coverage of his feat, propels both the game of golf and Augusta National to new heights of popularity.

1936

Henry Cotton wins his third consecutive British Open.

Johnny Fisher becomes the last golfer to win a major championship (the U.S. Amateur) with hickory-shafted clubs.

1937

The Bing Crosby Pro-Am is inaugurated in San Diego. A few years later it moves to the Monterey Peninsula.

1938

The British amateurs score their first victory over the United States in the Walker Cup Matches at the Old Course.

The Palm Beach Invitational becomes the first tournament to make a contribution to charity-$10,000.

The 14-club rule is instituted by the USGA.

1940

The British Open and Amateur are discontinued for the duration of the Second World War.

1942

The U.S. Open is discontinued for the duration of the war. A world-wide shortage of rubber, a vital military supply, creates a shortage and huge price increase in golf balls. Sam Snead manages to complete an entire four-day tournament playing one ball, but the professional circuit is severely curtailed.

The U.S. government halts the manufacture of golf equipment for the duration of the war.

1943

The PGA Championship is cancelled for the year, and the Masters is discontinued for the duration of the war.

1944

The PGA expands the TOUR to 22 events despite the absence of many of its star players due to military service.

1945

Byron Nelson wins 18 tournaments in a calendar year to set an all-time PGA TOUR record-including a record 11 in a row and a record 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His total prize earnings during his 11-win streak, $30,000, is less than last place money for the PGA TOUR Championship by 1992.

The Tam O’Shanter Open offers a then-record purse of $60,000.

1946

The U.S. Women’s Open is instituted. Petty Berg is the first winner.

1947

Mildred “Babe” Zaharias becomes the first American to win the British Women’s Open, at Gullane.

Golf is televised for the first time, in a local St. Louis telecast of the U.S. Open.

Golf World magazine is founded.

1948

Bobby Locke becomes the first South African to win the British Open.

Bobby Locke sets a PGA TOUR record with a 16-stroke winning margin in the Chicago Victory National Championship.

Herbert Warren Wind’s authoritative The Story of American Golf is published.

The U.S. Junior Amateur is instituted. Ken Venturi loses to Dean Lind in the first final.

The USGA Golf Journal is founded.

1949

Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women’s Open by a record margin of 14 strokes.

Marie Roke of Wollaston, MA aces a 393-yard hole-the longest ace ever recorded by a woman.

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