Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2012 - 21

CHAMPIONSHIP
A REAL
LAYOUT
By Rick Shefchik | Photos Courtesy of the USGA
An excerpt from From Fields to Fairways,
which was recently published by the
University of Minnesota Press.
M
innesota golf fans have
become accustomed to
intense worldwide attention
since the 1970
U.S. Open at Hazeltine National Golf
Club, when Englishman Tony Jacklin
topped an international fi eld in a tournament
televised globally.
The 1991 U.S. Open, the 2002 and
2009 PGA Championships and the 2008
U.S. Women's Open have brought international
golfers, broadcasters, reporters
and fans back to Minnesota; the spotlight
could burn even brighter during
the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.
But before the age of television-
and after the historic 1930 U.S. Open
that attracted heavy media coverage to
Interlachen as the great Bobby Jones
pursued the third leg of the Grand
Slam-Minnesota hosted a number of
big-time tournaments that today are
only dimly remembered.
The PGA Championship fi rst came
to Minnesota in 1932. Played at Keller
Golf Course in Maplewood, the tournament
was still conducted as match play,
rather than stroke play. It was won by
Californian Olin Dutra over a fi eld that
included the reigning U.S. Open champ
Gene Sarazen, fi ve-time PGA winner
Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Paul
Runyan, Leo Diegel, Craig Wood and
Harry Cooper. In the 196 holes Dutra
played, including two qualifying rounds
and fi ve 36-hole matches, he was 22 under
par, serving notice that as good as
Keller was, it was not going to withstand
the skills of the world's best players.
Nevertheless, that tournament offered
the galleries many thrilling moments.
Among them was a 43-hole
marathon match that saw the aging
Hagen saving par after par following
wild tee shots, only to lose on the seventh
extra hole to Johnny Golden, and
veteran Scottish pro Bobby Cruikshank
coming back from a nine-down defi cit
to beat young Al Watrous, who missed
a two-footer that cost him the match
on the fi fth extra hole.
Thanks to some effective lobbying
from executive committee member Totton
Heffelfi nger of The Minikahda Club,
the USGA chose the Minneapolis Golf
Club to host the 1950 U.S. Amateur.
The favorite was Frank Stranahan, the
weight-lifting heir to a Toledo sparkplug
fortune who was the reigning British
Amateur champ. Stranahan started
strong by knocking off 21-year-old Arnold
Palmer in the fi rst round. Palmer
said, " Frank just has too much power,
and when he does get into trouble, in a
trap or the rough, he can bull his way
out without losing ground. " When defending
champ Charlie Coe was eliminated,
the tournament appeared to be
Stranahan's for the taking.
Stranahan kept advancing but
couldn't win over the crowds, who perhaps
found his success too inevitable.
" They certainly weren't very appreciative
of my efforts out there today, " he
Editor's Note: This is the third excerpt from Rick Shefchik's recently published book, From Fields to Fairways.
A fi nal excerpt will appear in the Fall 2012 edition of Minnesota Golfer.
www.mngolf.org
Summer 2012 MINNESOTA GOLFER
19
Part three in a four part series
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