Charles Blair Macdonald
| Charles B. Macdonald | |
|---|---|
Macdonald in 1895
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Charles Blair Macdonald |
| Born |
November 14, 1855 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 21, 1939 (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.
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, 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. 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").
By the late 1880s, a group of Scottish immigrants had brought the game to the New York City area, playing at the Saint Andrew's Golf Club. In 1892, Macdonald convinced several associates to begin playing. Shortly thereafter, he founded the Chicago Golf Club. At first, Macdonald built nine rudimentary holes in Downers Grove, Illinois; these nine holes comprised 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. Shortly thereafter, in 1895, the Chicago Golf Club decided to move to a permanent home in nearby Wheaton, Illinois. Macdonald built a new 18-hole course there, a track which is still the club's home today and has hosted multiple U.S. Opens, routinely continuing to rank as one of the top fifty golf courses in the world (the original 1892 site is now the Downers Grove Golf Course).
...
Wikipedia