Chandler Egan

Chandler Egan
— Golfer —

circa 1904
Personal information
Full name Henry Chandler Egan
Born (1884-08-21)August 21, 1884
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died April 5, 1936(1936-04-05) (aged 51)
Everett, Washington[1]
Nationality  United States
Spouse Alice Barrett Scudder
(m.1917–1936) his death
Nina Lydia McNally
(m.1910–1916)[2]
Children Eleanor (1911–2012)[3]
Career
College Harvard University
Status Amateur
Best results in major championships
(wins: 2)
Masters Tournament 60th: 1935
U.S. Open T8: 1906
The Open Championship DNP
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Amateur Won: 1904, 1905
British Amateur T129: 1934
Chandler Egan
Medal record
Men's golf
Representing the
 United States
Olympic Games
1904 St. Louis Men's team
1904 St. Louis Individual

Henry Chandler Egan (August 21, 1884 – April 5, 1936) was an American amateur golfer and golf course architect of the early 20th century.

Early life and college

Egan was born in Chicago, Illinois, which at the end of the 19th century was the epicenter of golf in the United States — the first 18-hole golf course in the country, the Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, was built there in 1895. Egan played his first game of golf in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin at the age of 12.[4] He attended secondary school at the Rugby School in Kenilworth, and was a star football player on its team. The school did not have a golf team, so Chandler developed his golf game at his father's club, Exmoor Country Club. He was accepted to Harvard University, where he soon became the captain of the college golf team. The team won three team NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships from 1902 to 1904, and Egan won the individual title in 1902.[4][5]

Championships and Olympics

Egan won his first non-collegiate tournament in the 1902 Western Amateur, which was played at the Chicago Golf Club. Not only was the tournament played in his home metropolitan area, but the runner-up was his cousin Walter Egan.[4] A year later, the Egan cousins switched places with Walter winning and Chandler coming in second, and Chandler Egan would win the tournament again in 1904, 1905 (with Walter again the runner-up), and 1907.[6]

In 1904, Egan achieved the pinnacle of U.S. amateur golf success by winning the U.S. Amateur, played at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey. He defended his title a year later at his home turf of the Chicago Golf Club.[7]

Egan appeared to be peaking at the right time to also win an individual gold medal at the 1904 Summer Olympics, which featured golf for the last time in 1904. While Egan's U.S. team (which also included cousin Walter) won team gold, Egan had to settle for individual silver, as he was defeated by Canadian George Lyon, who at 46, was more than twice Egan's age.[4][8] Egan later admitted he had been outclassed by the wily Lyon, whose massive drives forced Egan out of his usual game.[5]

Move to Oregon

Following his runner-up finish in the 1909 U.S. Amateur, Egan abruptly disappeared from competition.[4] He reappeared in the news in May 1911 with his purchase of 115 acres (0.47 km2) of apple and pear orchard in Medford, Oregon.[4][5] He reemerged on the competitive golf circuit in 1914, with a runner-up finish in the Pacific Northwest Amateur championship to Jack Neville. A year later, Egan and Neville would meet again, and this time, Egan was the winner.[9] He would win the Pacific Northwest Amateur four more times, in 1920, 1923, 1925, and 1932.[9] Egan traveled south to win the California State Amateur in 1926.[10] He played on two U.S. championship Walker Cup teams in 1930 and 1934.[4][5]

Golf architecture

In the 1910s, Egan moved into golf course design, designing such notable Oregon courses as the Eugene Country Club, Eastmoreland Golf Course, Oswego Lake Country Club, Riverside Golf & Country Club, Tualatin Country Club, and Waverley Country Club.[5][11] In 1929, Egan partnered with legendary golf architect Alister MacKenzie to renovate Pebble Beach Golf Links for the 1929 U.S. Amateur, in which Egan played and reached the semifinals.[5] In 1929 Egan also aided MacKenzie and Hunter during the design and construction of The Union League Golf and Country Club, now known as Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, California. After Seth Raynor submitted plans to re-design Sequoyah Country Club in Oakland, California just prior his death in 1926, it was Egan who ultimately did a 1930 re-design there. He designed the Indian Canyon municipal course in Spokane, Washington in 1930, which opened in 1935.

Death and legacy

In 1936, Egan had completed plans for West Seattle Golf Course in Seattle, and was working on the half-finished Legion Memorial Golf Course in nearby Everett in late March. He came down with lobar pneumonia, was hospitalized for nearly a week, and died.[1][5][12][13] His funeral was held in Seattle and he was buried in Medford.[12]

Egan was named to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Hall of Fame in 1985,[5] and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.[14]

Egan's Olympic medals were discovered after the death of his daughter in 2012. They went on display in 2016 at the USGA Museum, Oakmont Country Club during the U.S. Open and the World Golf Hall of Fame.[15]

Golf courses designed

Egan designed the following golf courses:[11]

Tournament wins (18)

Amateur major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionshipWinning ScoreRunner-up
1904 U.S. Amateur 8 & 6 United States Fred Herreshoff
1905 U.S. Amateur 6 & 5 United States Daniel Sawyer

Results timeline

Tournament 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
U.S. Open DNP DNP T20 LA DNP T8 LA DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Amateur QF R32 1 M 1 R16 R32 DNP 2
The Amateur Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open DNP T23 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP NT NT DNP
U.S. Amateur DNQ DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP NT NT DNP
The Amateur Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP NT NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Amateur DNP DNQ DNP DNP R32 DNP DNP DNP DNP SF
The Amateur Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF DNP 60
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Amateur DNQ DNP R32 R16 R64 R64
The Amateur Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP R256 DNP

M = Medalist
LA = Low amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for 1934 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 22, 1934, pg. 10.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Simple rites set for Chandler Egan". Rochester Journal. International News Service. April 6, 1936. p. 10.
  2. ↑ Class of 1905: Fourth Report. Harvard College. June 1920. p. 109.
  3. ↑ "Eleanor E. Everett". Brown-Forward Funeral Service. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Schwartz, Todd. "Breaking 100". Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Henry Chandler Egan". Pacific Northwest Golf Association. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Western Amateur Championship History". Western Amateur. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  7. ↑ "History". U.S. Amateur. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Chandler Egan". databaseOlympics.com. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  9. 1 2 "Men's Amateur Championship". Pacific Northwest Golf Association. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  10. ↑ "SCGA Tournament History". Southern California Golf Association. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  11. 1 2 "H. Chandler Egan - Courses Built". WorldGolf.com. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  12. 1 2 "West Seattle designer left lasting mark on Northwest golf". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. April 28, 2004. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Pneumonia fatal to Chandler Egan". Windsor Daily Star. April 6, 1936.
  14. ↑ "Hall of Fame Roll of Honor Members". Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  15. ↑ Axon, Rachel (June 13, 2016). "Rare golf medals from 1904 Olympics discovered". USA Today.
  16. ↑ "Riverside Golf & Country Club History". Riverside Golf & Country Club. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
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