Willie Park Jr.

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Willie Park Jr.
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Park Jr.
Born(1864-02-04)4 February 1864
Musselburgh, Scotland
Died22 May 1925(1925-05-22) (aged 61)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Sporting nationality Scotland
Career
StatusProfessional
Best results in major championships
(wins: 2)
Masters TournamentNYF
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenCUT: 1919
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1887, 1889
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2013 (member page)

William Park Jr. (4 February 1864 – 22 May 1925) was a Scottish

golf course architects, with a worldwide business. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.[2]

Early years

Park was born in Musselburgh, Scotland, on 4 February 1864.[3] His father, Willie Park Sr., was one of Scotland's top golfers, winning the first Open Championship in 1860,[4] and three further Open Championship titles. Park Jr. learned golf from childhood. His father also ran a successful golf equipment business, producing clubs and balls to order. Park Sr. also played challenge matches for stakes, and competed in professional tournaments.

The

St. Andrews
during most of the 19th century.

Open champion

Park caddied and played golf professionally, in stakes matches and tournaments, from his mid-teens. He developed his golf skills and played in his first Open Championship in 1880, at age 16, at which time he was already one of Scotland's best players. He worked in the family golf equipment business. Park won the Open in 1887 and 1889. In the latter year he was taken to a playoff by Andrew Kirkaldy. During his competitive career, Park placed in the top ten 12 times at the Open, and was out of the top eight only twice between 1881 and 1892. He was notable for his excellent short game, which compensated for a sometimes unreliable long game. He is famous for the saying: "A man who can putt is a match for anyone."

Businessman

At the time, it was very difficult, if not impossible, for a golfer to make a living from prize money alone. Park often played challenge matches. He took over the family ball and club making business, establishing an export business just when golf was beginning to spread internationally. He patented several golf club designs.

Golf writer

Park's The Game of Golf (1896) was the first book about golf written by a professional golfer. It was well received, and has proven continuously popular since, being available in a modern, unabridged edition from Arcturus Publishers (2010). Park's second book, The Art of Putting, was published in 1920.

Golf course architect

He also worked as a

Donald Ross
, to become a full-time golf course architect.

United Kingdom designs

Park's first well-known design was the Old Course of the

heathland property, which earlier had been thought unsuitable for golf, brought him worldwide fame.[5]
Sunningdale Old has frequently been ranked among the world's top courses.

Park designed Temple Links, now Temple Golf Club, in Hurley, Berkshire, in 1909. He routed the course over rolling chalk downs, giving wide views of the surrounding countryside. Donald Steel described it as "challenging enough to keep good players at full stretch without diminishing the enjoyment of the rank and file".[6]

Canadian designs

Park's highly regarded course designs in Canada include

Ottawa, Ontario (host of the 1994, 2008, and 2017 Canadian Women's Opens), the Calgary Golf and Country Club in Calgary, the Mount Bruno Golf Club in suburban Montreal, and Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac in Laval, Quebec
. Weston G&CC hosts an annual elite amateur men's Willie Park Jr. Memorial tournament, held over 36 holes in one day in late summer; it was started in 1925 to memorialize Park's passing.

United States designs

Park's well-known United States courses include the Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Rolling Road Golf Club in Catonsville, Maryland, the

Nike Tour event. He also laid out the original six holes [8] of The Sadaquada Club (1895) in Whitestown, NY, which were later improved to a full nine by Horace Rawlins, the first winner of the U.S. Open. He also made a stop in State College, Pennsylvania in 1922 laying out plans for the schools White Course which reopened in 1926. The only remaining holes are 6-14. Six was originally a par3 now plays as a dog leg par-5.[9]

Park designed Moonbrook Country Club in Jamestown NY as well as the Castine Golf Club in Castine, Maine in 1921. However, his final design would be a nine-hole course, St. Johnsbury Country Club in 1923 located in St. Johnsbury Vermont. His brother Mungo Park had to go to Vermont to finish the construction after Willie Park Jr. became ill and returned to Scotland.

Family

Park's daughter, golfer Doris Park, was runner-up in the 1937

Death

Overwork on his design business led to a decline in health and his eventual death, at age 61 on 22 May 1925.[11] His health had been in decline for some time; Park knew he was dying, and traveled home from the United States to Scotland, in order to die in his home country.[5] He died in Edinburgh, although his "usual residence" was given as Musselburgh.[11]

Major championships

A group photo of Scotland's 1903 international golf team. Park is standing in the back row, second from the right. They defeated the English team that year.

Wins (2)

Year Championship 18 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1887 The Open Championship 5 shot deficit 82-79=161 1 stroke Scotland Bob Martin
1889 The Open Championship (2) 1 shot deficit 39-38-39-39=155 Playoff 1 Scotland Andrew Kirkaldy

1 Park defeated Kirkaldy by five strokes in a 36-hole playoff.

Results timeline

Tournament 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
The Open Championship 16 T5 T18 8 T4 T4 T4 1 T11 1
Tournament 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
The Open Championship T4 6 7 T19 12 T14 T22 2 14
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
The Open Championship 6 T18 T23 T15 T12 T13 WD
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open NT NT CUT
The Open Championship T38 CUT NT NT NT NT NT

Note: Park only played in The Open Championship and the U.S. Open.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

References

  1. ^ "1887 Willie Park Jr". The Open. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Willie Park Jr. selected for World Golf Hall of Fame". PGA Tour. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  3. ScotlandsPeople
    . Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  4. ^ Duncan, George (1951). Golf At The Gallop. p. 7.
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ Lorne Smith (2009), "Temple", Fine Golf
  7. ^ "Golf Course - Sylvania Country Club".
  8. ^ [1][dead link]
  9. ^ "A History Of The Penn State Golf Courses". Onward State. 31 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Jessie Valentine: queen of golf 1958". BBC. 17 October 2014.
  11. ^
    ScotlandsPeople
    . Retrieved 15 February 2015.