Being a golfer, I’m interested in almost everything that has to do with the game. From the history, to the players, to the events, to the courses — it all fascinates me.
Beyond the challenge of playing it well, golf has an amazing cast of characters. Sometimes those characters have an influence that goes beyond golf. Let me tell you about one of them.
His name was Harry Vardon.
An incredible talent
When the general public thinks about golf, if they ever do, it is often because of some character involved with the game. Usually that is a player. Harry Vardon did that for America and Canada in 1900. No internet, no cell phones, no TV for nightly news.
Instead the greatest golfer on the planet came to America from England, toured the country — mostly on the east coast but far into the west — and twice visited Canada.
Later Vardon estimated that he traveled more than 20,000 miles on that tour, playing 88 matches. Large crowds came out to see him, and they were well rewarded. He won 75 of those matches, and of the 13 he lost 12 of them were against the best ball of two or three other players.
In those days there were four “major” championships. The Open Championship (The British Open), and The United States Open were available to professional golfers. The British Amateur and the U. S. Amateur were only played by amateurs.
With only two majors available to him, and an ocean between England and America that had to be traveled by boat, Harry Vardon won 7. He won The Open Championship six times: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914, and the U. S. Open in 1900.
A man of great influence
Few people today — even serious golf fans — know that two of Vardon’s major tournament wins happened after he had been in a sanatorium for eight months (no golf at all) with tuberculosis. His contemporaries said that he was never quite the same golfer from then on. I first learned about it in The Greatest Game Ever Played, one of the finest (in my opinion) golf books ever written.
A movie was made of it, as well it should have been, and it was very good. But a movie can never give all the details like a book, and the whole TB episode for Vardon was omitted. Except for one tiny little clip of no more than a few seconds. Vardon is gripping his putter and you see his hands twitch.
Every golfer would notice that, as the director intended, but without knowing about the residual effects of tuberculosis, most golfers would misunderstand. They would only think of nerves.
But the movie repeatedly shows him overcoming his demons while on the golf course, making everything but the target disappear. Unfortunately the physical toll and effects of tuberculosis — which recurred in smaller bouts over the years — would not go away. The place where they showed up the most seemed to be in his putting.
Whatever the reason, Harry Vardon did not complain. His influence on growing the game of golf in America and Canada in 1900, and again in 1913 when he returned, was “overwhelming.”
Character matters
I could go on and on about Harry Vardon’s accomplishments on the golf course, but I’d rather mention one thing about his game. Then I want to share some things about his character.
No one hit a golf ball straighter than Harry Vardon. It is said that he played seven consecutive rounds of competitive golf without once missing a fairway. One professional golfer played a round of golf with Vardon in 1930, one day after he had returned to golf from a six week convalescence due to TB. He was too tired to play more than 11 holes, but shot a 29 on the first 9. Amazing.
“Every drive and every iron flew dead straight,” Laddie Lucas reported, “no fade, no draw. I never saw this straightness again. Euclid couldn’t have improved upon it.”
Vardon was equally straight in his manner. He knew who he was, where he had come from, and what he had accomplished. But he conducted himself as just another member of the field.
Twenty-one years ago Daniel Wexler wrote in the LA Times, “It is difficult to imagine any champion representing his sport with greater reserve or modesty.” (If Mr. Wexler is still watching golf today, he may be witnessing that in a young man named Scottie Scheffler.)
Playing the game
I read a post on Linked In the other day by professional golfer Hal Sutton. A great player, he has now helped design and build a great course in Texas called Darmour Club.
His post showed a picture of a short par 3 that is actually a blind shot — something quite unusual. One reason Hal liked it is because he believes golfers today have become “too one dimensional.” I agree.
We think, “If I hit it as straight as Harry I’ll always win.” No, you won’t.
And if you live your life as straight as Vardon hit a golf ball, you will still have challenges. Some days will still be bad, and you will not always be victorious. Outside influences, like those side effects, are ever lurking.
In 1920, Vardon was about to win his second U. S. Open. Then a storm for the ages blew in, and he had to play on in conditions none of the other leaders experienced. Simply walking was hard work, especially into the wind. Putting was impossible. But he finished, and at 50 years old he lost by one shot. All without a single public complaint but with honest praise for the winner.
If you ever get to play Darmour, someone will have to show you the way on the second hole. Life is the same, often requiring wisdom and experience to show you where to go.
Learn to travel straight, and never let those storms blow you off course.
Do good. It’s in you.
Show me the way
Being a golfer, I’m interested in almost everything that has to do with the game. From the history, to the players, to the events, to the courses — it all fascinates me.
Beyond the challenge of playing it well, golf has an amazing cast of characters. Sometimes those characters have an influence that goes beyond golf. Let me tell you about one of them.
His name was Harry Vardon.
An incredible talent
When the general public thinks about golf, if they ever do, it is often because of some character involved with the game. Usually that is a player. Harry Vardon did that for America and Canada in 1900. No internet, no cell phones, no TV for nightly news.
Instead the greatest golfer on the planet came to America from England, toured the country — mostly on the east coast but far into the west — and twice visited Canada.
Later Vardon estimated that he traveled more than 20,000 miles on that tour, playing 88 matches. Large crowds came out to see him, and they were well rewarded. He won 75 of those matches, and of the 13 he lost 12 of them were against the best ball of two or three other players.
In those days there were four “major” championships. The Open Championship (The British Open), and The United States Open were available to professional golfers. The British Amateur and the U. S. Amateur were only played by amateurs.
With only two majors available to him, and an ocean between England and America that had to be traveled by boat, Harry Vardon won 7. He won The Open Championship six times: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914, and the U. S. Open in 1900.
A man of great influence
Few people today — even serious golf fans — know that two of Vardon’s major tournament wins happened after he had been in a sanatorium for eight months (no golf at all) with tuberculosis. His contemporaries said that he was never quite the same golfer from then on. I first learned about it in The Greatest Game Ever Played, one of the finest (in my opinion) golf books ever written.
A movie was made of it, as well it should have been, and it was very good. But a movie can never give all the details like a book, and the whole TB episode for Vardon was omitted. Except for one tiny little clip of no more than a few seconds. Vardon is gripping his putter and you see his hands twitch.
Every golfer would notice that, as the director intended, but without knowing about the residual effects of tuberculosis, most golfers would misunderstand. They would only think of nerves.
But the movie repeatedly shows him overcoming his demons while on the golf course, making everything but the target disappear. Unfortunately the physical toll and effects of tuberculosis — which recurred in smaller bouts over the years — would not go away. The place where they showed up the most seemed to be in his putting.
Whatever the reason, Harry Vardon did not complain. His influence on growing the game of golf in America and Canada in 1900, and again in 1913 when he returned, was “overwhelming.”
Character matters
I could go on and on about Harry Vardon’s accomplishments on the golf course, but I’d rather mention one thing about his game. Then I want to share some things about his character.
No one hit a golf ball straighter than Harry Vardon. It is said that he played seven consecutive rounds of competitive golf without once missing a fairway. One professional golfer played a round of golf with Vardon in 1930, one day after he had returned to golf from a six week convalescence due to TB. He was too tired to play more than 11 holes, but shot a 29 on the first 9. Amazing.
“Every drive and every iron flew dead straight,” Laddie Lucas reported, “no fade, no draw. I never saw this straightness again. Euclid couldn’t have improved upon it.”
Vardon was equally straight in his manner. He knew who he was, where he had come from, and what he had accomplished. But he conducted himself as just another member of the field.
Twenty-one years ago Daniel Wexler wrote in the LA Times, “It is difficult to imagine any champion representing his sport with greater reserve or modesty.” (If Mr. Wexler is still watching golf today, he may be witnessing that in a young man named Scottie Scheffler.)
Playing the game
I read a post on Linked In the other day by professional golfer Hal Sutton. A great player, he has now helped design and build a great course in Texas called Darmour Club.
His post showed a picture of a short par 3 that is actually a blind shot — something quite unusual. One reason Hal liked it is because he believes golfers today have become “too one dimensional.” I agree.
We think, “If I hit it as straight as Harry I’ll always win.” No, you won’t.
And if you live your life as straight as Vardon hit a golf ball, you will still have challenges. Some days will still be bad, and you will not always be victorious. Outside influences, like those side effects, are ever lurking.
In 1920, Vardon was about to win his second U. S. Open. Then a storm for the ages blew in, and he had to play on in conditions none of the other leaders experienced. Simply walking was hard work, especially into the wind. Putting was impossible. But he finished, and at 50 years old he lost by one shot. All without a single public complaint but with honest praise for the winner.
If you ever get to play Darmour, someone will have to show you the way on the second hole. Life is the same, often requiring wisdom and experience to show you where to go.
Learn to travel straight, and never let those storms blow you off course.
Do good. It’s in you.
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