Willie Anderson - The first great American golfer
by Francis R. S. Boumphrey M.D.
(This article first appeared in the November '06 edition of the SoHG newsletter.)
Background
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| Willie Anderson and Alex Smith |
It was a bitterly cold march day in 1897 as the young Scotsman disembarked from the S. S. Pomeranian. It had been the voyage from hell. 97 had embarked in Glasgow - now 27 were dead and others were sick and dying - all victims of 'ship fever'. First would come chills and fever; then a headache followed by a red, raised, irritating rash; then delirium accompanied by labored breathing and then usually death. It would be several years before ship fever was recognized as bacterial disease spread by the bite of the human louse, a creature that thrived in the crowded stowage areas of immigrant ships, a disease that could be controlled by the simple application of DDT. But in 1896 it was accepted simply as a fact of life. For the poor life was hard, and you either made it or you didn't. The young Scotsman understood this only too well for it verified and matched his inborn philosophy - he understood that life was hard, live was a struggle, a struggle to be overcome by dour perseverance, grind and application - and this nightmare reinforced his inate pessimism.
The 16 year old Willie Anderson, for such was the young man, was one of the lucky ones. He had embarked with another young Scots professional, 23 year old Thomas Warrender. Both were intent on making a golfing career in America. Willie Anderson went on to become the first great professional of American golf; history does not record what became of Thomas Warrendar.
William Law Anderson was born in Abbey Mews Cottage on 21st October 1879, in that breeding ground of great golfers, North Berwick. His father was Tom Anderson and Tom was employed on the North Berwick West Links as green keeper and starter. Willie was raised in a house on the High Street; attended the local public school; and as was the custom in those days, at the age of 14 he was apprenticed as a club maker under Alex Aitken in Gullane. We don't know what became of Tom's wife - she may have died in childbirth, or been struck down by one of the many epidemics common to those days - but what we do know is that by 1897 Tom Anderson Sr. and his two sons Willie and Tom Jr. were in the United States. There is some vague evidence that Frank Slazenger, the golf entrepreneur was responsible for Tom coming to the United States, but the record is very far from clear.
Almost immediately the 16 year old Willie was appointed professional at the Misquamicut Club on Rhode Island, but by the next year he was playing out of Watch Hill. This seems to have been the start of a pattern of a almost gypsy existence for Willie. He rarely stayed in one place for more than a year, and often was employed at two clubs, one for the summer, and one for the winter season. However, from Watch Hill he entered the U.S. Open for the first time, and at the tender age of seventeen immediately marked himself as an up and coming man. The championship was played over 36 holes at the Chicago Golf Club and Willie finished second, one stroke behind Joe Lloyd, an expatriate from Essex, England. He was one stroke from becoming the youngest ever to win the National Open; one stroke from becoming the only man to win 5 National Championships. The local mavens and odds makers may have been surprised, but this early success would have come as no surprise to the citizens of North Berwick, who must have known of his outstanding talent. There has been some claim that Willie learnt his game in the United States and thus should be counted the first 'home-grown' professional golf star, but if so Anderson must have done an awful lot of learning in a year!
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| Willie Anderson has his arm round Alex Smith, open winner in 1906 and 1910. The first Open winner Horace Rawlins is seated in front. |
Willie Anderson - The Enigma
So little is known about this first great of American Golf!
We are so used in this day and age of saturated media coverage - whether PR, hype or reality - to know all the details of our sporting "heroes" lives, that it is difficult for us to realize that back at the turn of the 19th century little personal information was recorded of sporting stars. What knowledge we have of other players comes not just from the dry public records, but from family memoirs, from letters, from later writings of the star himself, or from reminiscences of the stars contemporaries. Circumstances have conspired to draw a veil over the life details of one of the 'greats' of American golf. Willie left no family - they all died shortly after him, or are unknown to posterity; he did not live long enough to write memoirs; he lived before famous literary contemporaries such as Hagen or Sarazen, and all we have is a few anecdotal or second hand quotes from those who knew him together with the dry public records. In these days of paraparezi any star is photographed to death, with Willie Anderson, these five bare photos are about all we can find! Another difficulty arises in that the Professional game is not much touched upon in the press. Most accounts turn on the amateur game. Indeed a search of the premier sports magazine of the period "Outing" up till the year 1902 finds hardly any mention of the National Open Golf Championship. However, bare as the record may be, a picture emerges of a truly outstanding golfer and an enigmatic, possibly troubled personality.
As far as the public record is concerned, we may have only the dry public record, but what a record it is!
The Record
Here are the bare facts of Willie's Tournament Record:
- U.S. Open : 1901, 1903, 1904, 1905
- Western Open : 1902, 1904, 1908, 1909
- Southern California Open :1899
Since the Championship debuted in 1895, nobody else has ever accomplished that hat-trick of US.Open's. Willies record of four victories is shared by Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus but bettered by nobody. Willie played in 14 straight Open's, was second once, third once, fourth twice, fifth three times, 11th twice and 15th once. In other words he finished in the top five eleven out of fourteen times!
In those days the Western Open, founded in 1899 was the other 'major', so the second remarkable statistic is that between the years 1901 and 1909 he won 8 out of 18 of the majors available for him to win, and there were only two years when he did not hold a major title. No one before or since has been so dominent for such a long period of time.
His first major was the 1901 US. Open played at Myopia Hunt Club near Boston, Massachusetts. Both Willie and Alex Smith posted a 72-hole score of 331, to tie the tournament, resulting in the first 18-hole play-off in Open history, Anderson won by one stroke, 85-86. He won here playing the Guttie Ball, Willie is the only player to win Opens with both the Guttie and the rubber-cored ball.This championship also showed the egalitarian side of Willies character. In those days professionals were treated like paid servants. They were not allowed to enter the clubhouse, and were expected to eat in the kitchen. Willie was furious when informed of this. Swinging a mashie and taking a divot out of the practice green he growled: " No, we're no goin tae eat in the kitchen." Willie prevailed, a truce was arranged and eventually the professionals ate in a specially erected tent. Taking into account the class barriers of those days together with Willie's relatively young age, this stand was extremely courageous and revealed the gritty, stubborn and rebellious side to Willie's character. Perhaps this also explains why he did not last for more than a year at most of the high-class clubs where he was appointed as a professional!
It would not be till almost 20 years later, during the 1920 open, that the Inverness club in Toledo, Ohio opened their club house to professionals, an act that would lead Walter Hagen to take up a subscription and present a clock to the club in appreciation of that deed.
The next year, on 17th September 1902, Anderson captured his first Western Open title at the Euclid Club in Cleveland, with a historic 299. No golfer had previously broken 300 for 72-holes in America. He was not so successful in that years Open played in October at the Garden City Golf Club, finishing fifth, but the pattern of domination had been set. Between now till the year of his death, Willie was the man to beat.
His second Open came in 1903 at Baltusrol when he held off David Brown of Musselburgh in another play-off. Brown, known as "Deacon", had won The British Open of 1886. In the play-off, Anderson stayed true to his reputation for dourness an hardly spoke a single word to Brown all day. He beat him by two shots. This was heady stuff, till this time no one had repeated as open champion. The next year, 1904 he made it three, two in a row at Glen View in Illinois. Anderson recovered from a slow start to post a closing round 72 which in those days those days that was extraordinary golf - probably equivalent to a 62 nowadays. Anderson won by five shots. Willie then went on to win the Western Open, becoming the first man to win both in a single year as well as the first man to win two!
One has only to imagine what the present day golfing press would make of such a streak. There would be multi-million dollar contracts, endorsements, man of the year awards and much more. Imagine what they would say when he won his fourth Open, to make it three in a row, at Myopia Hunt again, home of his original triumph! Once again he beat Alex Smith, who's smiling demeanor, and graciousness in defeat must have contrasted markedly with Willies dour persona. Probably if the records had been reversed and the personable Alex had achieved what Willie achieved, golf would have captured the heart and minds of the average American in the early 1900's. Instead we had to wait until 1913, the year of Francis Ouimet's great triumph before golf truly captured the public imagination.
The Golfer
There is no doubt or argument that Anderson was the first truly great player to emerge in the U.S. , but how great? This is difficult to assess, since balls, clubs and the condition of courses were below todays standard. His old school friend Fred McLeod once remarked that Anderson at his best, was as good as either Walter Hagen or Bobby Jones, and McLeod knew and played with both Hagen and Jones. Robert Sommers writing in the USGA's Golf Journal asked rhetorically - "How good was Willie Anderson?" and answered - "Those who played against him and watched the great players of later years said he was as good as anyone who ever played." Alex Smith was of the opinion that only his untimely death prevented him from establishing an unbeatable record for Opens won.
His one trip over to Britain to play in the British Open at St. Andrews ended in failure. He took 86 and 88 for the first two rounds and failed to qualify for the last day's play. Anderson described the St Andrews links as the most difficult he had ever played. However there were rumors that his performance was affected by over-socializing and over-indulgence in Scotland's national drink, probably occasioned by many reunions with friends and relatives.
Anderson was an exceptionaly strong man, with muscular shoulders, brawny forearms and, like many other great golfers, had exceptionally large hands. The picture of him holding a club absolutely shrieks of his latent power. He played with the flat sweeping St. Andrews swing and was known for his accuracy, especially with his mashie. Gene Sarazen was once practicing bunker shots when another pro casually asked him if Willie Anderson could have gotten out of those bunkers as well as he was doing."Get out of them?" Sarazen said. "He was never in them!". However as with much in the Willie Anderson story, this must have been hearsay, as Gene was only 8 eight years old when Willie died, and did not start caddying at Apawamis till a few years after Willie had left. Doubtless he was quoting other and preceding cadies. Commentators noted though that Willie's unhurried move through the ball disguised effortless power. He was also known as a smooth and rhythmical putter but all agreed that his main attribute was his unflappable demeanor, and his ability to concentrate.
He was known as a serious, even grim, competitor. Again McLeod noted - "When you played golf with him, you played golf. He would even tell you on the first tee: 'We're the best of friends, but friendship ceases right here'. When you played him if he was 1 up he wanted to be 2 up and if he was 2 up he wanted 3. If he beat you he was the nicest fellow in the world."
When he won his first championship, during the play off he was 5 strokes down to Alec Smith, the oldest of the five golfing brothers. He is said to have said "Gimme a smoke and I'll win it yet". And that is precisely what he did, reeling off a string of 4's to beat Smith on the last hole.
He certainly took the Open very seriously and was probably the first professional to 'prep' specifically for the event. In both 1906 and 1910 he took jobs at the club that was to host the next tournament - and it should be noted that he failed to win on both occasions. In 1910 he finished unplaced, 5 shots behind the winning scores - Alex Smith won that year in a play off over McDermott and his younger brother MacDonald.
The consensus among the professionals was that had he not died, Wille would have added to his victories and probably accumulated an unapproachable record. Alex (Aleck) Smith, who finished second to Anderson in two U.S. Opens, was certainly of that opinion, "Most likely, had he lived longer, Willie would have set a record for Open Championships that would never be beaten." And Alex was not one to make such a statement lightly.
His Character
Willies dour personality, his gypsy like life, his stubbornness, his combativeness have already been alluded to. More damning are the rumors which have persisted that Willie was a lush, and that alcohol was the cause of his death. One writer avers that drink took a hold of him, and that because of this performance declined over the years. However it is difficult to reconcile this statement with this victories in the 1908 and 1909 Western Opens - hardly a mark of failing powers - and in spite of later mavens and naysayers, contemporaries considered Willie the man to beat right up to the time of his death. There is no doubt that a lot of professional golfers were heavy drinkers. When the Scottish player Fred Herd won the 1898 US Open, the tournament organizers would not present him with the championship trophy until he handed over a deposit in cash. They had not misplaced concerns that Herd would hock the cup for drinking money.
Certainly Willie liked his drink. "Well, there was this about Willie," said Tom Mercer, a fellow pro from the early 1900s. "If he didn't like a person, he couldn't pretend that he did. He was not what you would call a glad-hander. Yet he went the route with the rest, and probably his convivial habits had much to do with undermining his health and hastened his end." However it is likely that Wille only drank as much as his fellow professionals and that his early demise was due to completely different reasons.
Willie was certainly a dour character. Perhaps as some have speculated his ill-fated sea trip had scarred his soul, but it is more likely that this was just his innate character. His propensity for hoping from job to job - he had 10 professional jobs in 14 years, not to mention the winter jobs - bespoke either of an inability to satisfy his employees, an ability to grate on them - witness his famous " No, we're no goin tae eat in the kitchen.", or perhaps he simply had difficulty in socializing with others. Whatever the reason it certainly did not lead to his putting down lasting roots or forming deep friendships; and this as was mentioned earlier is one of the chief reasons we know so little of him apart from the official record. There were few to tell the tale.
As a four time winner of the national open Anderson should have been feted by a country fast becoming enamored with golf, but he failed to win the hearts of the golfing public. Instead it was left to one of his few friends, Alex Smith to do this. The oldest of the Carnoustie brothers had a warm character and a ready wit, he appeared to play for fun, and never brooded over his losses. Interestingly it is his collapse to Willie in the 1901 Open where he lost five strokes over four holes, and then blew up on the final hole, and his subsequent grace in defeat, that made him appear to the public a human and lovable figure. Although they were friends Willie appeared to be different from Alex in every way. He did not blow up; he was a dour competitor; and although polite and sportsman like, he detested losing - and showed it!
Notable Firsts
Professional golfers did not make much money from tournaments back in those days. It would be several tears before Walter Hagen pioneered this trail! Their living came from professional appointments at clubs, and their abundance came from playing in exhibition matches. Willie played in a large number of these, and certainly knew his dollar -value when negotiating fees! Prior to Willies time the only golfer who had been able to work the circuit heavily had been that super-star, Harry Vardon himself. Willie must be considered a pioneer here.
Willie also worked the endorsement circuit. He was supplied with golf clubs by the Worthington Manufacturing Company, and the woods bearing his signature were the first example of an autograph branded club made in America.
We have already mentioned Willie's reaction to the standard treatment of golf professionals, and although it is only conjecture, Anderson must surely have lowered the bar for professional acceptability. His egalitarianistic streak must surely have grated on the more elitist members of the many top-flight clubs where he held appointments. In one instance, what was Willie's loss may have been his fathers gain. When Willie left Montclaire, his father took over and remained employed there until his death.
When their playing days are over or waning, golfers traditionally move into the role of either golf designer or elder statesman, and this is where they make their more permanent mark. Willie did not have the opportunity to do either although there is mention that he helped in the redesign of several courses in the last two or three years before his death. Only the fates know what he may have accomplished had he lived.
Final Days
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| Photo taken three days before his death |
As this writer knows only so well, it is easy to follow the footsteps and echo the opinions of previous writers, but surely the time has come to put an end to the myth of a sotten Willie Anderson loosing his edge and succumbing from Alcoholism. All the evidence, however scant it is, points to him dying of a heart attack, just as his death certificate suggests.
Reporters have may have talked of the 'Willie Anderson decline', but to put things in perspective, although he failed to place in the top ten in his Last US open, the first time he had failed to do this, his score of 303 was only 5 shots behind the winner. Although he was sorely disappointed, especially as this was his home club, this can hardly be called a decline. He was second in the Florida Open in April; He was still beating Opponents in challenge matches; He was a finalist for the Eastern Professional Golf Association Tournament in July; all this is hardly a mark of a washed up player. His 'decline' seems to be exactly parralell to one of Tiger Woods current 'slumps'!
In July of 1910 "Hazard" of the American Golfer was writing:
"Without a doubt Willie Anderson and Gilbert Nichols must be considered as serious contenders for this year's Open title. During the past month these two have played considerably together and the excellence of their performances indicates that each is in particularly good form."
On the other hand evidence does point to the fact he was ill in the last months of his life. "Hazard" wrote "He was a sick man; he knew it, but he had given his best..." (see below). Men who know they are sick are not alcoholics, or at least the sickness they are aware of is not alcoholism. In Alcoholism denial is a major symptom of the disease! Again, he obviously did not have cancer or some chronic wasting disease, - the accompanying photograph taken just before his death shows no evidence of this. However a reporter talking of his behaviour just before his death wrote as follows:
"Willie Anderson, whose sudden death was to come three days later, played quite well all day until the last few holes in the afternoon when he seemed to tire perceptibly. Sitting in the clubhouse, after the match, he remarked that he did not intend to play another game this year. He evidently felt worse at that time than any one else suspected."
Previously he had failed to show to defend his Western Open title at the end of August.
All this is consistent with a man suffering from Ischaemic Heart Disease, where especially in the young, extreme tiredness and fatigue can be the predominant symptom. Did alcoholism contribute to this? It is unlikely. Willies playing record in the months preceding his death does not point to the level of addiction necessary to cause an Alcoholic Cardio-myopathy. It is highly likely that he died of what his death certificate claimed he died of, Arterio-sclerosis, which was often used back in 1910 as a synonym for a Myocardial Infarct or heart attack.
"Hazard" of the American Golfer wrote this tribute:
"The death of Willie Anderson has everywhere been truly regretted for he had made a host of friends in Philadelphia. It is quite unnecessary to more than refer to his remarkable golfing record. The country is well aware of his many triumphs and his fellow professionals freely admit that when he "was right" he was without a peer. Always quiet and unassuming, he played the game, allowing his clubs to speak for him.
"I played with him many times during the past year, particularly just before the open championship. I knew he was "not right," although not from his lips. His drives were apparently just as of old, and his irons were finding the pin with the same monotonous regularity, but he was worrying over his putts - and worrying still more because he knew that much would be expected of him in the open over his own green.
"For the first time in history he failed to get in the money, but from his lips there fell no word of excuse - only praise for those who had beaten him out. After the second day, when the contestants had gone, I spent a half hour with him in his club shop - his wife and baby were with him. There were tears in his eyes, but he was the same stoic as before the crowd of sympathetic admirers of the afternoon. He was taking his medicine without wincing - and it was bitter. He was a sick man; he knew it, but he had given his best during those two days and his best had been a failure, and he carried this thought to his grave; but I know that Willie Anderson in his hour of defeat was greater than he had ever been in victory.
"The Philadelphia Cricket Club has arranged a subscription for his widow and his baby. Another subscription has been started throughout America to erect a monument over his grave in the cemetery at Chestnut Hill. I am reminded of the monument over the grave of young Tommy Morris, in the ruins of old St. Rule. Had I to word his epitaph I could say nothing which would better serve to express all that storied urn might tell than - "
"To WILL ANDERSON
A GOLFER"
Sadly nothing is known of his wife and daughter; his father died three years later, and his brother Tom followed him two years after that victim of a car accident. They are all buried together in Philadelphia. When he came to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame no-one connected to him could be found to accept the award. Gene Sarazen, the legendary player and a former caddie at one of Anderson's other clubs, Apawamis, received it on his behalf. Even in North Berwick, his native town he is unknown, there is no monument to him; no mention of his great record. As the Biblical poet Sirach wrote in the Book of Ecclesiasticus:
"There are some of them who have left a name
so that men declare their praise.
"And there are some of them who have no memorial,
who have perished as though they had not lived;
"they have come as though they had not been born,
and so have their children after them."
All Willie Anderson has is a decaying tombstone in the Chestnut Hill Cemetry in Philadelphia. Surely such a great golfer deserves to be given his due recognition - to be remembered in the same breath as the other golfing greats of the 20th centuary!
Appendices
An account of Willie Anderson's last match, from American Golfer Nov 1910
Among the October events here was the visit of the well-known professionals, the late Willie Anderson and Gilbert Nichols. While the visiting professionals were defeated in their matches here, they gave a fine exhibition of golf, the match in which they lost to Mr. W. C. Fownes, Jr., the national champion, and Mr. E. M. Byers, former amateur champion, being of an especially high order. It was played at the Allegheny Country Club, October 23, Mr. Fownes and Mr. Byers winning, 1 up in 36 holes.
The distances for the course:
- Out-350 367 222 365 398 443 200 300 367-3012
- In -293 294 233 182 500 328 333 394 239-2796 - 5808
The scores were:
MORNING.
Mr. Fownes and Mr. Byers:
- Out - 4 3 3 4 4 5 4 4 4 - 35
- In - 4 4 4 2 4 5 4 3 4 - 34 - 69
Anderson and Nichols:
- Out - 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 - 34
- In - 4 4 4 3 6 4 4 4 4 - 37 - 71
AFTERNOON,
Mr. Fownes and Mr. Byers:
Anderson and Nichols:
- Out - 4 5 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 - 35
- In - 3 4 3 3 5 4 4 4 4 - 34 - 69 - 140
Score: Mr. Fownes and Mr. Byers, 1 up.
The par of the course is 72. In the morning round Mr. Fownes carried the burden for the amateurs on the outward journey, his score for this being 35. Mr. Byers did the same thing coming in, his score for the last nine being 34. As a result Mr. Fownes and Mr. Byers were 2 up at noon.
In the afternoon the professionals succeeded in squaring the match at the seventeenth. On the thirty-sixth hole, with the score all even, Mr. Byers holed from the edge of the green for a 3 to win the match. Mr. Byers in each round scored a 2 on the short but troublesome thirteenth.
The professionals were in apparently the best form. Willie Anderson, whose sudden death was to come three days later, played quite well all day until the last few holes in the afternoon when he seemed to tire perceptibly.
Sitting in the clubhouse, after the match, he remarked that he did not intend to play another game this year. He evidently felt worse at that time than any one else suspected. The visiting professionals played several times at Oakmont, being defeated 2 up and 1 on that course by Peter Robertson and "Jock" Hutchinson, local professionals, in a special match, October 21. They highly praised the Oakmont course and the work of bunkering which was being done there.
Rememberance
"Hazard" of the American Golfer wrote this rememberance:
"The death of Willie Anderson has everywhere been truly regretted for he had made a host of friends in Philadelphia. It is quite unnecessary to more than refer to his remarkable golfing record. The country is well aware of his many triumphs and his fellow professionals freely admit that when he "was right" he was without a peer. Always quiet and unassuming, he played the game, allowing his clubs to speak for him.
"I played with him many times during the past year, particularly just before the open championship. I knew he was "not right," although not from his lips. His drives were apparently just as of old, and his irons were finding the pin with the same monotonous regularity, but he was worrying over his putts - and worrying still more because he knew that much would be expected of him in the open over his own green.
"For the first time in history he failed to get in the money, but from his lips there fell no word of excuse - only praise for those who had beaten him out. After the second day, when the contestants had gone, I spent a half hour with him in his club shop - his wife and baby were with him. There were tears in his eyes, but he was the same stoic as before the crowd of sympathetic admirers of the afternoon. He was taking his medicine without wincing - and it was bitter. He was a sick man; he knew it, but he had given his best during those two days and his best had been a failure, and he carried this thought to his grave; but I know that Willie Anderson in his hour of defeat was greater than he had ever been in victory.
"The Philadelphia Cricket Club has arranged a subscription for his widow and his baby. Another subscription has been started throughout America to erect a monument over his grave in the cemetery at Chestnut Hill. I am reminded of the monument over the grave of young Tommy Morris, in the ruins of old St. Rule. Had I to word his epitaph I could say nothing which would better serve to express all that storied urn might tell than - "
To WILL ANDERSON
A GOLFER
Obituary
American Golfer December
Willie Anderson, professional of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, died at his home in Philadelphia on October 25, from hardening of the arteries. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, thirty-one years ago. When only fifteen years old he came to this country, where all his golf was practically learned. When but seventeen years old he took part in the first Open championship at the Chicago Golf Club in 1897, and was beaten only by one stroke by Joe Lloyd, of the Essex County Club. In 1901 he won his first national title of Open champion, beating Aleck Smith at Myopia, after a tie. Again in 1903, he tied with David Brown, at Baltusrol, but won on the play-off. In 1904, at Glen View, he led the field in no less than five strokes ahead of the next man, Gilbert Nichols. And again in 1905 he won at Myopia. He won the Open championship of the Western Golf Association in 1902, 1904, 1908 and 1909. In the first Open championship of the Metropolitan Golf Association at Fox Hills in 1905, he tied with Aleck Smith for premier position, but lost on the play-off.
Anderson may be said to have died in harness as two days before his death he took part in a four-ball match with Gilbert Nichols, of Wilmington, as a partner, against Mr. W. C. Fownes, Jr., the amateur champion, and Mr. E. M. Byers, at the Allegheny Country Club, Sewickley, Pa.
Tom Anderson, professional at the Montclair Golf Club, N. J., is his father and he has a brother, Tom, who is professional at the Inwood Golf Club
American Golfer 1909 Oct
Account of 1909 Western Open
Playing the best golf of his long career, Willie Anderson of the St. Louis Country Club, retained his title of Western Open Golf Champion at the Skokie Country Club's links by completing his 72-hole medal scoring task with the unparalleled total of 288 strokes. His average for the four rounds in the two-day tournament was 72, breaking the grand total record of National Open Champion George Sargent, made at Englewood, N. J., when he won his title last summer with a mark of 290.
Anderson, hard pressed from the start by his old rival, Stewart Gardner of Exmoor, gained on the latter by his steady work yesterday and, drawing away in the afternoon with a neat 72, won easily. Gardner, with a card of 146, 72, 79—297, finished second, three strokes ahead of Jack Croke, of Grand Rapids, who took third prize. Former National champion Freddie McLeod of Midlothian, was fourth with 302, while ex-national champion Lawrence Auchterlonie of Glen View and Harry Turpie of Edgewater, tied at 304, divided fifth prize.
Beside the W. G. A. prize of $200, Anderson will receive a gold medal. This is the fourth western championship he has earned and the national title has fallen to him four times. Harry Turpie, while put out of the running by a miserable 81 in the morning round to-day, established his right as a veteran who occasionally plays sensational golf, by nosing Croke and Anderson out of the chance to play off their tie at 71 for the best score made in any round, turning in a card of 69, which equals the best work ever done on the course.
See pdf file for full details