Oakmont, Penn. (June 13, 2007) – Charles Blair Macdonald, instrumental in the founding of the United States Golf Association and credited with building the first 18-hole golf course in the United States, will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Nov. 12 as part of the 2007 Class of Inductees.
"Charles Blair Macdonald is recognized today as the Father of Organized Golf in the United States," said David Fay, Executive Director of the United States Golf Association and Member of the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors. "Without Macdonald, the USGA would not have been created. And without his leadership and strong character, the game in this country could easily have gone astray. As a player, administrator, architect, rule maker, and chronicler of the game’s history, he was one of golf’s true giants."
Macdonald was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario in 1855. He grew up in Chicago, Ill. until he was sent as a 16-year old to study at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Macdonald learned the game while there, competing in matches against Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, as well as other elite St. Andrews golfers.
In 1874, Macdonald returned to Chicago, taking notice of the sport’s absence from the United States. For the next 17 years, a period he referred to as "The Dark Ages," his only opportunities to play golf came when he occasionally traveled to Great Britain for business. In the spring of 1892, however, Macdonald convinced a group of associates to band together to form the Chicago Golf Club. One year later, in 1893, he would expand the club’s first rudimentary nine-hole course, so that it became the first 18-hole golf course in America. Macdonald, who would later coin the term "golf architect," also designed The National Golf Links of America in Long Island, New York, where the inaugural Walker Cup Match between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland was held in 1922. Other design credits include the Course at Yale in Connecticut, Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda, and The Lido Golf Club and Piping Rock Golf Club in New York.
Macdonald’s impact on the game in America goes well beyond golf course architecture. In December 1894, with his urging, five influential clubs joined forces to charter the Amateur Golf Association of the United States, which would later become the United States Golf Association. He was also a highly respectable player, having won the first official U. S. Amateur Championship in 1895. The margin of his victory that year, 12 and 11, remains an all-time record in that event.
"We look forward to appropriately honoring this important individual in November at the Induction Ceremony, and for years to come as his story remains central to that of the USGA’s history and further, golf’s beginnings in the Unites States," said Jack Peter, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Hall of Fame. "In recent years other prominent figures from golf’s early days have taken their rightful place in the Hall of Fame—including Alister MacKenzie, Willie Park Sr., and Allan Robertson—and it is fitting that the Father of American Golf joins that list of pioneers."
Macdonald was selected through the Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Achievement Category, which is determined by the Selection Committee of the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors. Other members of the 2007 Class of Inductees include Hubert Green (Veteran’s Category), Se Ri Pak (LPGA Points System) and Curtis Strange (PGA TOUR Ballot). The final 2007 Inductee announcement will take place at The Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland in July.
For more information about the 2007 Class of Inductees or the World Golf Hall of Fame, call 904-940-4123 or visit www.wgv.com.
About the World Golf Hall of Fame
World Golf Hall of Fame, located in St. Augustine, Fla., is the ultimate destination for the celebration and recognition of golf’s greatest players and contributors and an inspiration to golfers and fans throughout the world. A collaboration of 26 national and international golf organizations support the Hall of Fame, including the PGA TOUR, LPGA, USGA, PGA of America and The R&A. The museum houses interactive exhibits and historic and personal artifacts that tell the stories of its members and the game of golf. Adjacent is the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX® Theater. For more information, visit www.wgv.com.
Contact:
Peyton Taylor
904-940-4059
ptaylor@wghof.org
www.wgv.com
