Charlie Hoffner | |
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Hoffner, c. 1922
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Personal information | |
Full name | Charles Harvey Hoffner |
Born |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
October 20, 1896
Died | November 9, 1981 Manatee County, Florida |
(aged 85)
Height | 5 ft 6.5 in (1.69 m) |
Nationality | United States |
Spouse | Anna E. Smith |
Children | Audrey, Doris, Charles |
Career | |
Turned professional | c. 1912 |
Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Professional wins | 4 |
Best results in major championships |
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Masters Tournament | DNP |
U.S. Open | T13: 1914, 1919 |
The Open Championship | T54: 1921 |
PGA Championship | T17: 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925 |
Charles Harvey Hoffner (October 20, 1896 – November 9, 1981) was an American professional golfer. His best finish in an important tournament was a win at the first Philadelphia PGA Championship in 1922. In major championships, Hoffner tied for 13th place in the 1914 and 1919 U.S. Opens. He finished T17 in the 1920, 1922, 1924, and 1925 PGA Championships.
Hoffner played in the 1921 International Challenge Match held at the Gleneagles Kings Course in Scotland. The match was the forerunner to the Ryder Cup matches. Upon his return to Philadelphia, Hoffner wrote an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer about the importance of the international sporting match for the greater good of relations between the people and governments of the two continents.
Hoffner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1896, the son of Ellerslie W. Hoffner and his wife Matilda. His first exposure to golf came as a caddy at Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. At the young age of just 16, in 1912, he was promoted to assistant professional there and he remained in that position for the next two years.
He had two brothers, George and Robert, who were both accomplished players. His wife, Anna E. Smith of Philadelphia, was a descendant of Robert Morris, Jr., one of America's founding fathers. Their son, Charles Hoffner, Jr., was the head professional at several golf clubs in the Boca Raton, Florida, area.
Around 1916 Hoffner took a job at the Atlantic City Country Club serving as assistant under John McDermott. Over the course of his career he would serve at six different clubs, spending the longest period at Philmont Country Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. In the early 1930s, he owned a golf facility in South Miami Beach, where he was known to teach golf to part time Miami Beach resident Al Capone. He finished tied for second with Jim Barnes in the 1916 Metropolitan Open behind Walter Hagen. At the 1919 Metropolitan Open he came third behind winner Hagen and second place finisher Emmett French.