Columnist Peter Benton: History of U.S. Open started with an upset

Peter Benton

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 8:56 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

It was on Oct. 4, 1895, that the first U.S. Open was conducted by the U.S. Golf Association, at the nine-hole Newport Golf and Country Club in Rhode Island.

Ten professionals and one amateur played in the 36-hole inaugural event, which was four trips around the Newport layout in one day. Using a gutta-percha ball, Horace Rawlins, a 21-year-old Englishman and an assistant pro at the course, was the surprise winner, shooting 91-82--173. Rawlins received $150 from the prize money, which totaled $335.

Rawlins placed second in the following year's tournament behind James Foulis when it was contested at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. -- which coincidentally is the site of next week's 104th U.S. Open.

In its first decade, the U.S. Open was conducted for amateurs and the largely British wave of immigrant golf professionals coming to the States.

As American players began to dominate, the U.S. Open evolved into an important world golf championship, with the event really taking off after 20-year-old American amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the golf world in 1913 when he outdueled famous English professional Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff.

Another big surge in the popularity of this championship coincided with the incredible career of Georgia amateur Bobby Jones, who won the U.S. Open four times.

In 1933, John Goodman became the fifth and final amateur to win the Open, the others being Ouimet, Jerome Travers (1915), Charles Evans Jr. (1916) and Jones.

The format for this premier tournament has changed several times over the years.

The present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented in 1965 when the event was played at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, and won by Gary Player in a playoff against Australia's Kel Nagle.

Some other pertinent facts and figures: