Robert A. Gardner (golfer)

Robert A. Gardner
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Robert Abbe Gardner
Born	(1890-04-09)April 9, 1890 Hinsdale, Illinois
Died	June 21, 1956(1956-06-21) (aged 66) Lake Forest, Illinois
Nationality	United States
Spouse	Katherine Keep
Children	Mary (1919)
Career
College	Yale University
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	DNP
U.S. Open	T23: 1911
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1909, 1915
British Amateur	2nd: 1920

Robert Abbe Gardner (April 9, 1890 – June 21, 1956) was an American multi-sport athlete best known for winning the U.S. Amateur in golf twice.

Early life

Gardner was born in Hinsdale, Illinois. He spent most of his life in the Chicago area. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in 1912, where he was a member of Skull and Bones.^[1]

While a sophomore at Yale, Gardner won the 1909 U.S. Amateur golf tournament over Chandler Egan at the Chicago Golf Club. He was the youngest winner, at 19 years, 5 months, of the U.S. Amateur.^[2] His record stood for 85 years until Tiger Woods won his first of three Amateurs at age 18 years, 8 months.

Golf career

Gardner would make the finals of the U.S. Amateur three more times, winning in 1915^[3] and losing in 1916^[4] and 1921.^[5] He also lost in the finals of two other prominent amateur events, the 1911 Western Amateur and the 1920 British Amateur.

Golf was not the only sport Gardner excelled at. On June 1, 1912, at an intercollegiate track and field competition in Philadelphia, he set the world pole vault record at 13 feet 1 inch (3.99 m).^[6] This record would be short lived as Marc Wright vaulted 13 feet 2 ¹⁄₄ inches (4.020 m) one week later at the Olympic trials in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[7]

Gardner also was national champion in another sport, racquets. He and Howard Linn won the national doubles racquets championship in 1926 and 1929.

Military career

Gardner enlisted in the Army in 1917 and served in France during World War I as a lieutenant in a field artillery unit. After the war he returned to Chicago and joined a stock brokerage firm where he spent the rest of his career. He served as president of the Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) for many years and also served on several United States Golf Association committees. He won the CDGA Amateur Championship three times (1916, 1924, 1925).^[8]

Death

Gardner died in Lake Forest, Illinois at the age of 66.

Golfing highlights

Gardner (left) during the 1916 U.S. Amateur. To the right is Chick Evans, who beat Gardner in the final match.

Wins

1909 U.S. Amateur
1915 U.S. Amateur
1916 Chicago District Amateur
1924 Chicago District Amateur
1925 Chicago District Amateur

Runner-up finishes

1911 Western Amateur
1916 U.S. Amateur
1920 British Amateur
1921 U.S. Amateur

Amateur major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Runner-up
1909	U.S. Amateur	4 & 3	Chandler Egan
1915	U.S. Amateur	5 & 4	John G. Anderson

Results timeline

Tournament	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	T23	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	DNP
U.S. Amateur	1	DNQ	R32	DNP	R32	QF	1	2	NT	NT	R16
British Amateur	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT

Tournament	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	R16	2	R16	SF	R32	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNP	DNP
British Amateur	2	DNP	DNP	R256	DNP	DNP	R256	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R256
British Amateur	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

LA = Low Amateur
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
"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 1920 British Amateur: The American Golfer, June 19, 1920, pg. 8.

Source for 1923 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1923, pg. 10.

Source for 1926 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1926, pg. 58.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup: 1922 (winners), 1923 (winners, playing captain), 1924 (winners, playing captain), 1926 (winners, playing captain)

References

↑ History of the Class of 1912. Yale University. p. 142. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
↑ 1909 U.S. Amateur
↑ 1915 U.S. Amateur
↑ 1916 U.S. Amateur
↑ 1921 U.S. Amateur
↑ World Record Progression - pole vault - men
↑ World Record Progression - Men - Pole Vault
↑ CDGA Amateur Championship history

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert A. Gardner (golfer).

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

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