SHOTMAKERS
HANOVER COUNTRY CLUB HAS HOSTED AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF NOTABLES IN ITS 115-YEAR HISTORY.
President Woodrow Wilson, referred to in the August 1913 issue of American Golfer as the “first player in the land,” made several trips to hanover during his presidency. Wilson and his playing partner were unable to find caddies, so Wilson’s chauffeur and his Secret Service bodyguard carried the bags. Wilson, a Princeton grad, found hcc “a test for his skill and possibly knows now why the Dartmouth College team occasionally proves such a tough customer for the Princeton representatives in intercollegiate play,” the magazine reported. Undaunted, Wilson returned to play in 1914 and 1915.
Glenna Collett, a six-time u.s. women’s amateur champion, came to Hanover at the peak of her career in October 1925 to visit her brother Edwin, class of 1929. With partners, she and the club’s first professional, Tommy Keane, squared off in a best-ball match. Collett shot a 79 and won the match with a tough par putt on the 18th green.
Francis Ouimet, who popularized golf in America when he defeated British stars Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in the 1913 U.S. Open, attracted a large gallery when he played hcc on october 10, 1931, less than a month after winning his second U.S. amateur title. He shot a 76, disappointing the crowd, according to The Dartmouth.
Gene Sarazen, the first professional golfer to win all four major golf championships, entertained a crowd of 400 with a shotmaking demonstra- tion at HCC in 1936, the year after he won the Masters. Sarazen returned in 1971 to play a round with Bill Johnson.
Babe Ruth, the Yankees slugger, was once a guest at the Hanover Inn, and club lore indicates he played a round at hcc in 1941. in retirement ruth said, “i played 365 rounds of golf last year. thank God for whoever invented golf. i’d be dead without it.”
President Dwight Eisenhower did not have time for a full round the morning of his 1953 Com- mencement speech, but he played the first five holes, with a different caddie on each hole—each of whom received a silver dollar. In his speech later that day he mentioned the satisfaction of playing golf by the rules.
Jackie Robinson, who had retired from the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1956 season, visited HCC in 1959, when he played a round with Tommy Keane and his son Tommy III.
Jack Nicklaus and his son Jackie, a prospective student, spent an October 1979 weekend touring campus, attending the Holy Cross football game and playing HCC. Nicklaus and head pro Bill John- son played a 10-hole match for a beer, won by John- son with an eagle putt on the 18th hole. “it was the best-tasting beer i have ever had,” Johnson said. Jackie eventually chose to attend the University of north carolina. in 1989 his father’s design com- pany redesigned the 7th and 10th holes. —R.S.
