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Opening Drive
Celebrating the Golden Age
As you ’ ll read in this issue of Virginia Golfer , VSGA Amateur Championship host Belle Haven Country Club is marking its 100th anniversary in 2024 , another in a long line of centennial celebrations happening this decade . It ’ s not a coincidence . The first four decades of the 20th century are considered the Golden Age of Golf Design . Noted golf writer Geoff Shackleford narrows it down even more to the years 1910-1937 .
Virginia was no exception to this . Let ’ s consider some Virginia clubs and Golden
Age architects who made an impact on course design in the Roaring ’ 20s .
• Belle Haven , 1924 ( W . F . Gordon and Tom Ryan )
• Boonsboro CC , 1923 , course opened in 1929 ( Fred Findlay )
• The Cascades at The Homestead Resort , 1923 ( William Flynn )
• Country Club of Virginia , James River , 1928 ( Flynn )
• Ole Monterrey GC , 1920 ( Flynn )
• Sewells Point GC , 1928 ( Donald Ross )
• Spotswood CC , 1928 ( Findlay and Ed Ault )
• Farmington CC , 1927 ( Findlay )
• Winchester CC , 1923 ( Findlay and Raymond F . Loving , Jr .)
• Army Navy CC , Arlington , 1928 ( Herbert Strong )
• Cavalier G & YC , 1928 ( Charles Banks )
Others celebrating centennials this decade include Lonesome Pine Country Club ( 1924 ), Country Club of Petersburg ( 1921 ), Fredericksburg Country Club ( 1927 , original nine ), Ingleside Golf Resort ( 1929 ), Loudoun G & CC ( 1927 , original nine ), Ocean View GC ( 1926 ), and Shenvallee Golf Resort ( 1927 ).
Many of these courses have undergone extensive renovations over the years , but the bones of original designs remain . Architecture nuts can immediately identify a Flynn design , or Ross greens , or the way Findlay expertly weaved fairways and greens through mountainous terrain . If you get a chance to play some of these classic courses this summer , take some time to reflect on the importance of Golden Age architects to Virginia golf . Their fingerprints are everywhere . Also in this issue :
• There are plenty of ways to get your junior involved in golf : Youth on Course , the VSGA Junior Golf Circuit , PGA Junior League , various junior tours , etc . Clubs around Virginia are finding ways to host their own programming as well . Art Utley fills you in on what three clubs in Virginia are doing to increase junior participation .
• Looking for a short golf road trip to cooler climes this summer ? Look no farther than our neighbors to the West . Lisa Mickey guides you through West Virginia ’ s copious options , including plenty of affordable state parks courses .
Thanks for reading , and as always , my inbox is open to ideas . Cheers !
Chris Lang , Editor clang @ vsga . org by CHRIS LANG
If you get a chance to play some of these classic courses this summer , take some time to reflect on the importance of Golden Age architects to Virginia golf . Their fingerprints are everywhere .
Slammin ’ Sammy ’ s Diamond Jubilee cont ’ d ...
in the final four rounds at the PGA was 36 holes , whereas the only match in the U . S . Amateur that is scheduled for 36 holes is the title match . It was an exhausting test of golf , with golfers playing up to 216 holes in seven days .
Snead , the favored son of Hot Springs and member of the Inaugural Class of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame , wasn ’ t the only Virginian in the field . Per longtime PGA Middle Atlantic Section historian Dr . Harold Guy , another Virginia Golf Hall of Famer — Chandler Harper — earned one of the three allocated spots at the MAPGA ’ s Mt . Pleasant qualifier .
Furthermore , the PGA allowed the MAPGA to fill slots that other sections didn ’ t , allowing eight MAPGA members in total to advance to Richmond . The group included Jack Isaacs ( Virginia Golf Hall of Fame ), Harold “ Shorty ” Oatman and Johnny Kelly . Native Virginian Lew Worsham , another Virginia Golf Hall of Famer , was in the field as well .
Snead , Worsham , Harper , Isaacs and Oatman all advanced to the round of 64 . Isaacs won his first-round match before falling to medalist Ray Hill in the round of 32 . Harper and Oatman lost their round-of-64 matches . Worsham won twice before succumbing to Palmer in the round-of-16 , leaving Snead as the lone Virginian standing .
Snead ousted Dave Douglas 1-up and Jimmy Demaret 5 and 3 to reach the final match , which was played in front of a friendly , partisan crowd at Hermitage .
Palmer navigated the challenge well , at least early on . He made a birdie on No . 2 to take a 1-up lead and never trailed in the morning round , though Snead won No . 18 ( Belmont ’ s current 12th hole ) with a par to send the match to the afternoon all square . Snead finally took his first lead with a birdie on No . 4 in the afternoon session , a lead he wouldn ’ t relinquish . Snead pushed his lead to as much as 3-up and clinched his 3 and 2 win when both players made par on 16 .
Snead became the first player to ever win the Masters and PGA Championship in the same calendar year , though the feat was later replicated by Jack Burke Jr . ( 1956 ) and Jack Nicklaus ( 1963 , 1975 ). It was the second of three PGAs for Snead ,
6 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY / J UNE 2024 vsga . org