When the U.S. Open was in Chestnut Hill: A Philadelphia First

Posted 6/14/18

by R. John Burnes Every year, on precisely this week, I make it a point to play the St. Martins course of the Philadelphia Cricket club. My goal remains the same: to beat the winning US Open score of …

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When the U.S. Open was in Chestnut Hill: A Philadelphia First

Posted
by R. John Burnes

Every year, on precisely this week, I make it a point to play the St. Martins course of the Philadelphia Cricket club. My goal remains the same: to beat the winning US Open score of the 1907 tournament, during the current US Open week. I have yet to accomplish this feat.

In 1907, our national championship was still in its infancy, turning just 12 years old and the game itself having just been established in America a few years earlier. Theodore Roosevelt was our President, a first class postage stamp was two cents, and there were only forty-five stars on the US Flag.

The tournament was held over two days of June 20 and 21, a Thursday and Friday that year, as Pennsylvania Blue Laws would prohibit a Sunday finish. In fact, Father’s Day wouldn’t be established for another two years, now the traditional finishing day in regulation.

1907 and 1910 Historical Marker on the St. Martins Golf Course.

The collection of players that participated in the event and the course that is now hidden provided a unique back drop that will never be duplicated. 

In the field were past champions Horace Rawlins, the first Open champion, Willie Anderson, a four-time winner, and Laurie Auchterlonie, the 1902 champion. 

The local professional scene was well represented with Gil Nicholls, Pro at Wilmington Country Club, Jack Hobens, a founder of the PGA, and a future pro at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, George Low, also a future pro at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, James Campbell, who won the Philadelphia Open in 1905 and 1907, pro at Whitemarsh, Bernard Nicholls, a past pro at Philadelphia Country Club and future pro at Whitemarsh, Jack Campbell, pro at Overbrook, and William D. Robinson and William Vincent "Willie" Hoare, past pros at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

The Amateur scene was also well represented with Jerome Travers winning the low Amateur designation. He would win the US Amateur that year, and win it another three more times. He would also win the US Open in 1915. Dr. Simon Carr placed well and was better known in the community as Father Carr, a leader in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He would be part of a small group of gentlemen who would establish Pine Valley a few years later. A Philadelphia Cricket Club member named Albert Warren Tillinghast participated in our Open Championship and led all amateurs after three rounds before bowing out because of heat exhaustion. Donald Ross played well enough to earn a tie for a twelfth place finish. Ross and Tillinghast would come to be recognized as two of the greatest golf course architects the world would ever know. 

 

Aleck Ross (left) with his older brother Donald.
 

The routing of the golf course was different than it is today and was the club's first course named Wissahickon. Holes one through three are original holes as played in the Open, with hole number four finishing to the left of the current green. Hole numbers five, seven, and nine would not exist in their current state, while six green remains as is today. The course would be slightly altered again for the 1910 US Open as indicated by the historical plague adjacent to the practice green and first tee complex.

The blueprint image of the old Wissahickon course below has the routing penciled-in by an ambitious researcher from years ago.

The blueprint routing of the old Wissahickon Course

 

The distances of the holes for the championship were as follows:

No. 1-355 yards, par four No. 2-250 yards, par four No. 3-433 yards, par five No. 4-367 yards, par four No. 5-350 yards, par four No. 6-369 yards, par four No. 7-481 yards, par five No. 8-284 yards, par four No. 9-176 yards, par three No. 10-147 yards, par three No. 11-492 yards, par five No. 12-311 yards, par four No. 13-398 yards, par four No. 14-316 yards, par four No. 15-333 yards, par four No. 16-333 yards, par four No. 17-330 yards, par four No. 18-240 yards, par four

 Of particular note on the routing, Jack Hobens would birdie the par 3 tenth in the morning of the third round, then flush a hole in one in the afternoon final round, totaling only a three after playing the hole twice. His hole in one would be the first in US Open history.

Aleck Ross, brother of Donald, would be crowned champion of our first US Open. He finished with scores of 76-74, 76-76 for a total of 302. This winning ten-over par score would be the most over par in the tournament history, a record until the 1919 edition at Brae Burn Country Club. The grand prize for Ross’s accomplishment would be $300. This year’s winner of our national championship will receive a check for $2.2 million.

During the final round of the event, Aleck would gain another title as father. His son would be born that US Open afternoon.

 Happy Father’s Day.

 R John Burnes is the A.W. Tillinghast chair of the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s history committee. He can be reached at rjburnes@yahoo.com  

   
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