Charles B. Macdonald

This article is about the American golfer. For the military historian, see Charles B. MacDonald.

Charles B. Macdonald
— Golfer —
Macdonald in 1895
Personal information
Full name	Charles Blair Macdonald
Born	(1855-11-14)November 14, 1855 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Died	April 21, 1939(1939-04-21) (aged 83)
Nationality	United States
Career
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	DNP
U.S. Open	T11: 1897
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1895
British Amateur	R128: 1906
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2007 (member page)

Charles Blair Macdonald (November 14, 1855 – April 21, 1939) was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the first U.S. Amateur championship, and later built some of the most influential golf courses in the United States, to the extent that he is considered the father of American golf course architecture. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Early years

Macdonald was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario to naturalized American parents — a Scottish father and Canadian (part Mohawk) mother — and grew up in Chicago. In 1872 at age 16, he was sent to St Andrews University,^[1] and while there he took up playing golf with a vengeance. Tutored by Old Tom Morris, Macdonald soon became proficient enough that he played matches on the Old Course at St Andrews against several of the leading golfers of the day, including Young Tom Morris.^[2] Macdonald returned to Chicago in 1874 and became a successful stockbroker, but rarely played golf for the next 17 years (a period he termed the "Dark Ages").^[3]

Chicago

By the late 1880s, a group of Scottish immigrants had brought the game to the New York City area at the St. Andrew's Golf Club, and in 1892 Macdonald convinced several associates to begin playing, and founded the Chicago Golf Club. He at first built nine rudimentary holes, which was the first golf course west of the Allegheny Mountains. In 1893 he expanded the course to 18 holes, creating the first full-length course in the United States. The Chicago Golf Club decided to move to a more permanent home in Wheaton, Illinois, and in 1895 Macdonald built a new 18-hole course there, which is still the club's home today (the original 1892 site is now the Downers Grove Golf Course).^[4]

United States Golf Association

In 1894, the Newport Country Club and St. Andrew's Golf Club both held "national championship" tournaments. Macdonald finished second in both, and on both occasions he angrily denounced the manner in which each competition was held, with the result that both tournaments were declared unofficial.^[2] That fall, delegates from the Chicago Golf Club (including Macdonald), St. Andrew's, The Country Club, Newport Country Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club met in New York City to resolve the problem. The result was the formation of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which would administer the official championship. Macdonald was named Vice President of the organization. The first U.S. Amateur was held in 1895 at the Newport Country Club, and this time Macdonald won, beating Charles Sands 12 & 11 in the final (which is still the record winning margin).

Golf course architecture

In 1900, Macdonald left Chicago to live in New York, becoming a partner in the Wall Street brokerage firm of C.D. Barney (through mergers, now Smith Barney).^[4] With only a couple of exceptions, most golf courses in the U.S. at that time were laid out in rudimentary fashion, with little strategy required of the golfer. Macdonald, by virtue of his experiences at St Andrews and later trips to Great Britain, was determined (not immodestly) to build the most noteworthy course outside the British Isles. He searched Long Island for a suitable site to emulate the classic seaside links of Scotland, and eventually settled on a site in Southampton, New York (near Shinnecock Hills Golf Club) in 1906.^[5] He dubbed the Southampton home at 119 Whites Lane "Ballyshear" and the house was designed by F. Burrall Hoffman. The home was purchased by Michael Bloomberg in 2011.^[6]

In 1908, he organized a group of 70 founders to contribute $1,000 each, and the National Golf Links of America opened for play in 1909.^[7] Many of the holes were his versions of famous holes from British courses, a pattern he would repeat on later courses. Macdonald would tweak the course for the rest of his life, altering every hole somewhat over the next 30 years. The course hosted the inaugural Walker Cup in 1922, and is considered a landmark of golf architecture even today. In 2005, Golf Digest ranked it the #9 course in the United States.

With the National Golf Links course, Macdonald began collaborating with Seth Raynor, who would later become a famous golf architect (a term coined by Macdonald in about 1910^[8]) in his own right. The pair would collaborate on a number of courses over the years, including The Creek Club and Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, New York, the Yale University golf course, the Old White Course at The Greenbrier, and Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda (a course conceived to escape the reach of Prohibition^[9]). One of the most famous was the Lido Golf Club, a course which took an enormous amount of effort to construct and had several unique holes, and was considered at least on par with the National Golf Links while it existed (a course by the same name exists on its location today, but it was built by Robert Trent Jones in 1947).^[2]^[10]^[11]

In 1928, Macdonald published his book Scotland's Gift: Golf, which covers the spread of golf (prominently featuring himself) in the United States from its beginnings in the early 1890s to 1927, when there were some 4,000 courses in the country. It devotes several chapters to four of his courses, and gives his design philosophy. He is often called the "Father of American Golf Architecture".^[12]

Honors

In 2007, Macdonald was elected as a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, in the Lifetime Achievement category.^[3]

Major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Runner-up
1895	U.S. Amateur	12 & 11	Charles Sands

Results timeline

Tournament	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
U.S. Open	DNP	WD	T11	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	1	R16	SF M	SF	SF M
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909
U.S. Open	29	DNP	53	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	DNP	R16	DNP	DNP	DNQ	R32	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNQ
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R128	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1910	1911	1912
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	DNQ	DNP	DNQ
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP

M = Medalist
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for 1906 British Amateur: Golf, July 1906, pg. 29.

References

↑ Robert Sommers (October 1, 2010). "From The Golf Journal Archives - Charles Blair Macdonald". United States Golf Association. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
1 2 3 Weisgerber, Bob (September 2003). "Charles Blair Macdonald: The Evangelist of Golf, a Review". Golf Today Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
1 2 "Charles Blair Macdonald Enters World Golf Hall of Fame". World Golf Hall of Fame. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
1 2 "Downer's Grove Golf Course History". Downer's Grove Park District. Archived from the original on 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ "National Golf Links of America". Golf Club Atlas. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ "Mike's fore! score". New York Post. 2011-07-20.
↑ English, John P. (September 1957). "Findlay S. Douglas – A Record in Service" (PDF). USGA Journal and Turf Management. USGA. pp. 5–8. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ "Golf Club Atlas front page". Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ Schranck, Frederick (2003-07-06). "Scotland's Gift: Virtual Bookstore Review". Hole by Hole. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ Klein, Bradley S. "Charles Blair Macdonald: Golf Course Architect". Golf Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ Quinn, Dr. William. "Back to the Links". Metropolitan Golf Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
↑ "Charles B. Macdonald". USGA. Archived from the original on 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2007-06-13.

External links

U.S. Amateur champions

1895 Charles B. Macdonald 1896 H. J. Whigham 1897 H. J. Whigham 1898 Findlay S. Douglas 1899 Herbert M. Harriman 1900 Walter Travis 1901 Walter Travis 1902 Louis N. James 1903 Walter Travis 1904 Chandler Egan 1905 Chandler Egan 1906 Eben Byers 1907 Jerome Travers 1908 Jerome Travers 1909 Robert A. Gardner 1910 William C. Fownes Jr. 1911 Harold Hilton† 1912 Jerome Travers 1913 Jerome Travers 1914 Francis Ouimet 1915 Robert A. Gardner 1916 Chick Evans 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 S. Davidson Herron 1920 Chick Evans 1921 Jesse P. Guilford 1922 Jess Sweetser 1923 Max R. Marston† 1924 Bobby Jones 1925 Bobby Jones 1926 George Von Elm 1927 Bobby Jones 1928 Bobby Jones 1929 Harrison R. Johnston 1930 Bobby Jones 1931 Francis Ouimet 1932 Ross Somerville 1933 George Dunlap 1934 Lawson Little 1935 Lawson Little 1936 John Fischer† 1937 Johnny Goodman 1938 Willie Turnesa 1939 Bud Ward 1940 Dick Chapman 1941 Bud Ward 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Ted Bishop† 1947 Skee Riegel 1948 Willie Turnesa 1949 Charles Coe 1950 Sam Urzetta† 1951 Billy Maxwell 1952 Jack Westland 1953 Gene Littler 1954 Arnold Palmer 1955 Harvie Ward 1956 Harvie Ward 1957 Hillman Robbins 1958 Charles Coe 1959 Jack Nicklaus 1960 Deane Beman 1961 Jack Nicklaus 1962 Labron Harris Jr. 1963 Deane Beman 1964 William C. Campbell 1965 Bob Murphy 1966 Gary Cowan† 1967 Bob Dickson 1968 Bruce Fleisher 1969 Steve Melnyk 1970 Lanny Wadkins 1971 Gary Cowan 1972 Vinny Giles 1973 Craig Stadler 1974 Jerry Pate 1975 Fred Ridley 1976 Bill Sander 1977 John Fought 1978 John Cook 1979 Mark O'Meara 1980 Hal Sutton 1981 Nathaniel Crosby 1982 Jay Sigel 1983 Jay Sigel 1984 Scott Verplank 1985 Sam Randolph 1986 Buddy Alexander 1987 Billy Mayfair 1988 Eric Meeks 1989 Chris Patton 1990 Phil Mickelson 1991 Mitch Voges 1992 Justin Leonard 1993 John Harris 1994 Tiger Woods 1995 Tiger Woods 1996 Tiger Woods† 1997 Matt Kuchar 1998 Hank Kuehne 1999 David Gossett 2000 Jeff Quinney† 2001 Bubba Dickerson 2002 Ricky Barnes 2003 Nick Flanagan† 2004 Ryan Moore 2005 Edoardo Molinari 2006 Richie Ramsay 2007 Colt Knost 2008 Danny Lee 2009 An Byeong-hun 2010 Peter Uihlein 2011 Kelly Kraft 2012 Steven Fox† 2013 Matthew Fitzpatrick 2014 Gunn Yang 2015 Bryson DeChambeau 2016 Curtis Luck

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 14132455 LCCN: n2002091469

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