Editor’s note: This is an edited version of a three-part series that originally appeared on the author’s website thinkingaboutgolf.com.
In January 1942, about a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Golf Association suspended “for the duration” all of its national championships. Not long afterwards, it was announced the Hale America National Open Golf Tournament would be held at Ridgemoor Country Club in suburban Chicago during the same week in June that the canceled 1942 U.S. Open had been scheduled, 80 years ago this week.
The replacement event was conceived by Tom McMahon, the president of the Chicago District Golf Association. Shortly after McMahon learned that the U.S. Open had been canceled, he traveled to New York and met with the USGA to enlist its participation in a war-relief event to be held in Chicago. At the urging of former Olympic rower John Kelly, who was promoting physical fitness on behalf of the government, the two organizations, later joined by the PGA of America, agreed to jointly sponsor a fundraiser as part of the national “Hale America” public-health program.
McMahon then contacted Fred Corcoran, the tournament manager of the PGA, to reserve the dates of the abandoned U.S. Open for the newly conceived fundraiser. In a unique arrangement, the event would at the same time serve as the 1942 staging of the CDGA’s regular PGA tour event, the Chicago Open. As a result, two medals were awarded to the winner: one for the Hale America, the nationwide fundraiser, and another for the Chicago tour stop. Ben Hogan won and collected both medals.
To create the Hale America medal, the blank medal intended for the 1942 U.S. Open winner was donated by the USGA, with this inscription on the back: “U.S.G.A C.D.G.A. P.G.A. – Hale America National Open Golf Tournament – Ridgemoor C.C., Chicago – June 18-21, 1942 – Winner Ben Hogan – For Benefit of Navy Relief and U.S.O.” Representatives of the three sponsors jointly made the presentation to Hogan. What the Hale America was not was the “Open Championship of the United States Golf Association,” and, accordingly, no “Open Championship” medal from the USGA was awarded. When the USGA’s participation in the Hale America was announced on January 22, executive secretary Joe Dey stated:
The tournament will not be a championship, as the U.S.G.A. has decided its usual national championships should not properly be held in wartime. Rather, the “Hale America” open will be a patriotic demonstration similar to an open patriotic tournament by the U.S.G.A. in 1917, but on a much wider basis.
The 1917 tournament referenced by Dey was the Patriotic Open Tournament, a fundraiser conducted by the USGA as a replacement for the 1917 U.S. Open, canceled because of the “Great War.” Originally scheduled for Brae Burn Country Club near Boston, the club declined, and the event was moved to Whitemarsh Valley Country Club near Philadelphia, a course that also had sought to host the Open that year.
The USGA announced that at Whitemarsh “the same conditions will prevail as were planned for the National Open scheduled for Brae Burn, but which was called off.”
In a first, the USGA charged an admission fee for spectators at Whitemarsh and those proceeds, plus the player entrance fees and prize money, were donated to the American Red Cross.
Jock Hutchison, the runner-up in the 1916 U.S. Open, was the winner of the Patriotic Open with a total of 292, setting a 72-hole scoring record at Whitemarsh. Hutchison was awarded a medal which read on the front “United States Golf Association – 1917,” and on the back “Patriotic Open Tournament – American Red Cross – Whitemarsh Valley Country Club – Winner Jock Hutchison.” He also received a second medal from the American Red Cross.
Hutchison would finish runner-up in the U.S. Open a second time in 1920, the year when he defeated J. Douglas Edgar in the final match to win the PGA Championship, but Hutchison never captured a real U.S. Open.
Francis Ouimet, the USGA’s Championship Committee chairman, was selected to act as chairman of the Joint Tournament Committee for the Hale America, and Lowell Rutherford, vice president of the CDGA, was appointed co-chairman.
At the announcement on January 22, the USGA’s Dey stated the tournament “would be based on broader lines than any major national golf event ever held, in the hope it will attract the largest entry list ever received for a nation-wide competition.”
To encourage entries, and entry fees (set at $5), the Joint Tournament Committee departed in two ways from what was customary for the USGA’s Open Championship: it increased the maximum handicap for amateur entries from 3 to 6 and it adopted a two-stage qualifying process. Instead of a single set of sectional qualifying tournaments at locations across the country (the USGA had used 27 sites in 1941), the Hale America would have two rounds of qualifying, with a first stage of “local” qualifying held in late May at a far greater number of sites, 69, to reduce transportation costs for the entrants. That would be followed in June by a second stage of “sectional” qualifying events at 14 locations. The co-sponsors envisioned charging admission fees for spectators at the sectional qualifiers.
Another departure from USGA custom were the exemptions from qualifying for eligible players. In its 1941 U.S. Open championship, the automatic qualifiers fell into three categories: the top 30 finishers, including ties, from the previous year’s U.S. Open; the head professional at the host club; and, introduced for the first time that year, all past U.S. Open champions. At the Hale America, the exemptions were quite different:
- Winners of the US Open and PGA Championship for the previous five years.
- Winners of the 1942 Masters, PGA Championship, Western Open and North and South.Members of the 1942 Ryder Cup team.
- Winners of the 1941 National Amateur Championship and Chicago Open.
- Legendary golfers Bobby Jones, Chick Evans and Walter Hagen.
- Jock Hutchison, winner of the 1917 Patriotic Open Tournament.
Another novelty was PGA professionals who qualified for the PGA championship in Seaview, New Jersey, commencing May 25, were granted exemptions from local qualifying because the dates overlapped.
There eventually were another four “special” invitations issued, which brought the total number of exempt players to 25. Those four invitees were singer Bing Crosby (comedian Bob Hope declined his invite to play in the tournament); Army Cpl. Jim Turnesa, who “thoroughly captured the fancy of golf followers” through his performance at the 1942 PGA in May, eventually losing to Sam Snead in the final; Tommy Armour, the popular veteran who was invited after he failed to qualify; and PGA President Ed Dudley, who, similar to Armour, was invited after he was forced to miss his final qualifying round.
Instead of the typical three-day U.S. Open format of about 160 starters playing two 18-hole rounds followed by a cut, the starting field at the Hale America would be limited to about 100, all of whom would play 72 holes.
Another unique feature was an “Old Guard” division of veteran players who would play for a separate prize. One of those players, Hutchison, was, in effect, the “defending champion” from the 1917 forerunner to the Hale America.
As the entry deadline approached in mid-May, concerns arose over the pace of entries, which was about half of the number experienced at past U.S. Opens. In response, tournament chairman Ouimet issued a public appeal to all amateurs “with handicaps of six or better” to submit an entry for this “great cause,” and the PGA’s Dudley made a similar appeal to every PGA member. After extending the deadline two days, a late surge pushed the total entries just past the goal of 1,500, a record for an open competition, albeit arguably an artificial one. As one commentator put it before the first stage of qualifying play in late May:
Many of the field are average golfers with little or no chance of qualifying or without any such ideas. They are entered because of the Hale America idea and that is why the national field is larger than any other ever assembled in history.
This opinion was supported by the number of no-shows at the qualifying sites:
Many of the golfers found Monday business too pressing and failed to compete. It is likely that many of the shot-makers entered only because receipts of the three-ply tourney which takes the place of the customary National Open will go to war relief.
To add appeal and boost attendance at the tournament, which sportswriter Grantland Rice likened to a “golf carnival,” various sideshow events were scheduled throughout the week, including a four-ball match featuring Bobby Jones and Bob Hope on Wednesday; long-driving and iron-accuracy contests on Thursday; a ball-striking clinic by the top pros on Friday; a trick-shot exhibition on Saturday; and an auction of items donated by the top finishers at the awards ceremony on Sunday. As a further incentive to attend, all handicap cardholders of the CDGA and their families were granted clubhouse access at Ridgemoor.
The sideshows and other changes to the traditional U.S. Open format were enthusiastically embraced by sportswriter Hugh Fullerton:
After seeing the latest reports on the Hale America tournament, this corner has come around to the idea that the brassie brasshats knew what they were doing when they cancelled this year’s regular championships… By junking the traditional tournaments and all the rules, they have been able to whoop it up for one big event that will bring in some real dough for the USO and Navy Relief.
It also provided an opening to issue invitations to several players who missed out in qualifying but who always are popular with the fans.
Carnival designation notwithstanding, Rice touted the Hale America as a “major event,” if not a National Open (as the U.S. Open was commonly called in those days), and wondered whether the Hale America might be Ben Hogan’s breakthrough national title:
Chicago’s Hale America war golf tournament won’t be another National Open, but it will carry its share of class and will be one of the big spots in golf. When you look at the qualifying list and the star-fueled line-up, the Hale America party must be rated as a major event.
(Click to enlarge images)
All of which brings us along to Ben Hogan. Now that Sammy Snead has finally cracked the hoodoo of bagging a national title – the P.G.A. – it will be doubly interesting to see whether Hogan at last can move into the select group.
For two years Hogan has been applying the torch to the ancient green from coast to coast – a straight and tremendous hitter, a fine iron player, a good putter if not a great one, and a high-class competitor. The big money winner for two years, the Vardon Trophy leader on points, he still finds a major title elusive.
Since a successful fundraiser was “paramount in the minds of players and officials,” the first choice as venue was Ridgemoor Country Club, because of its proximity to Chicago and accessibility to public transportation. Although well-conditioned, Ridgemoor was a “pitch and putt” course for the pros and succumbed to a second-round 10-under-par 62 by eventual winner Ben Hogan. After that round, which got Hogan to within three strokes of the leader, Mike Turnesa, Hogan wryly asked the press, “Think I could get in the money if I get two more 62s?”
In contrast, the Associated Press’ Gayle Talbot wasn’t quite as light-hearted as Hogan after the fireworks in the second round:
United States Golf Association officials, having seen one contestant round Ridgemoor in 62 and a dozen others turn in equally silly scores, are congratulating themselves for not recognizing the Hale America benefit tournament as the National Open.
The last two days have been exciting in a way, and the birdies and eagles will continue through tomorrow, but the players themselves have been the first to insist it isn’t related even faintly to championship golf. The U.S.G.A. would have been mightily embarrassed if it had yielded to urging and run up its official flag.
In a similar vein, Eddie Butler of the Akron Beacon predicted this epitaph for the replacement event:
After all, the official U.S.G.A. program 10 years hence will say: “1942 Open, cancelled because of the war.” Somewhere in the footnotes it’ll say: “Hale America held in Chicago won by Mike Turnesa.”
Inclement weather on the third day sent scores higher and Hogan’s 69 was good enough to catch 36-hole leader Turnesa. Overcoming “impossible” hole locations, with “[e]very cup…set on the side of a hill,” Hogan managed to finish with a fourth-round 68 and won by three strokes over Turnesa and Jimmy Demaret, who had faltered badly on the last four holes.
Newspapers and sportswriters across the country celebrated Hogan’s “first major title.“
Grantland Rice wrote:
Ben Hogan, the hardest worker in golf, leading money winner, leading Vardon Trophy star, finally won his first major championship by taking over the Hale America National Open Tournament at Ridgemoor by one of the record all-time scores at 271, just 17 under par.
The United Press’ Tommy Devine:
Ben Hogan, the Texas mite who stands as a giant among golf professionals, today clutched his first big tournament title – the Hale America, war-time successor to the National Open.
Like Slammin’ Sam Snead, who only three weeks ago notched his first major triumph in winning the PGA title, Blazin’ Ben had won countless lesser tournaments and had come close many times in major tests.
But yesterday when he fired his third par-shattering round, a 68, to finish with a 17-under par total of 271 on the Ridgemoor Country Club course, Hogan hit the high-spot of his brilliant career.
The Associated Press’ Gayle Talbot:
Little Ben Hogan, some 135 pounds of pure whipcord, finally crashed through to win that major golf championship which eluded him so long when he was busy winning most of the money and otherwise establishing himself as the uncrowned king of the links.
However, Talbot added a hard truth:
Yet, ironically, the supreme goal of every golfer still eludes Ben. His name will not appear in golf’s record book as winner of the National Open Title. Because of the war, there will be no open tournament this year.
As it turned out, Hogan appeared unwilling to accept anything less than the U.S. Open crown. In his post-victory interview, this was Hogan’s reaction to the unwelcome reality:
“What difference does it make? If this wasn’t an Open, I don’t know what it could be. Everybody was in it. I’m glad to win, whatever they call it.”
Hogan’s opinion that the Hale America was de facto the 1942 U.S. Open did not appear to be shared at the time by the press, fellow pros or any other notables. The 1941 U.S. Open champion, Craig Wood, was scathing in post-tournament interviews:
“It was farcical to play a tournament as important as the Hale America on a course such as Ridgemoor,” Wood said. “The advertised par for the Ridgemoor course was 72. Actually, it should have been 68. We could drive the green on most par-4s and always could get home on the second shot on par-5s. The pins were placed in easy positions for the first few rounds, which also accounts for those scores that came out of the early play.
“Not only that, but the rough had been cut so close to the ground that sometimes you’d get a better lie in the rough than you could on the fairways. I think it was a mistake not to stage the real U.S. Open this year. It could have been built into a bigger tournament than ever.”
PGA tournament manager Fred Corcoran authored the coverage of the event that appeared in the PGA’s magazine, and, although he lavished Hogan with superlatives, he was unequivocal that the event was not a US Open.
“It is ironical that in the year of his triumph he could not go into the record books as the U.S. Open champion,” Corcoran said. “But big as the great show was – and it had all the color and the pageantry of the Open – it was only a substitute as the United States Golf Association last January canceled all its national championships.”
Six months after Hogan’s win, the opinions of the nation’s sportswriters were no different in their year-end reviews published in late December:
William D. Richardson, New York Times:
The curtailment of its schedule by the United States Golf Association less than a month after Pearl Harbor, followed by similar action on the part of sectional, State and district organizations, cast a pall on the season, which saw only one major championship contested – the P.G.A. at the Absecon Country Club near Atlantic City …
Instead of its open championship, the U.S.G.A. held a Hale America tournament at the Ridgemoor Country Club, in conjunction with the P.G.A. and the Chicago District Golf Association. The proceeds of more than $20,000 were turned over to the Navy Relief Society and the United Service Organizations …
The Canadian and Western open championships and the Masters at Augusta, Ga., just about rounded out the year as far as outstanding tourneys were concerned.
The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote:
Even the U.S.G.A., still hearing the thunderclap of Pearl Harbor at its annual conclave early in the year, later generated enough courage to hold a tournament for the benefit of war charities in lieu of its national championship. And, although it carried no title for the winner, this event, called the Hale America tournament and held at the Ridgemoor Country Club, contributed its full share to the terrific pace of a season among the bunkers that had opened so inauspiciously.
Charles Bartlett, Chicago Tribune:
Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Betty Jameson comprised American golf’s leading foursome in the 1942 season, which saw all United States Golf association’s four main events canceled for the duration of the war. In lieu of the missing quartet, golf galleries witnessed the Hale America National Open tournament, conducted jointly by the Chicago District, United States and Professional Golfers’ associations; the $15,000 Tam o’ Shanter Open event, and two tournaments sponsored by the Women’s Western Golf association.
Dillon Graham, Associated Press:
Slammin’ Sammy Snead finally got out from behind golf’s eight-ball this year. The handsome ex-hillbilly from West Virginia, who blew the National open three summers ago, slammed his long-time jinx to earn his first major title. He beat Corp. Jim Turnesa 2 and 1 for the Professional Golfers’ crown.
That was the only national tournament on the links in 1942, all others having been canceled because of the war. But the year had its golfing highlights, such as Ben Hogan’s triumph in the patriotic Hale America tourney that served as an unofficial championship, Byron Nelson’s victory in Chicago’s Tam o’ Shanter open that was threatened briefly by a sit-down strike, and Betty Jameson’s continued domination of the girls’ competitions.
Following his win, Hogan appeared to be the lone voice calling for the Hale America to be recognized as the official National Open. But that had not always been the case. About a week after the USGA announced its participation in the Hale America, Gene Sarazen blasted the USGA for canceling its National Open and suggested that, in response, the PGA should hold one in its place. Sarazen acknowledged that the USGA had every right to cancel its Open but argued that action did not preclude another organization from sponsoring a “National Open,” with the identical format.
“Instead of the usual match-play competition confined to PGA members, the organization could sponsor a medal-play tournament open to everybody and call it the National Open,” Sarazen said. “It wouldn’t be anybody’s private National Open. Just a National Open.”
Some have suggested that Sarazen’s campaign for a National Open was responsible for the tournament’s unwieldy name: Hale America National Open Golf Tournament. When the event was first announced, the name was reported as “Hale America Open Golf tournament,” without “National” preceding “Open.” That was the title used in newspaper articles related to the event through February and March. But, in mid-April, the modifier “National” appeared.
However, Sarazen’s well-publicized comments in late January are only part of the story. Dissatisfaction with the USGA’s decision to cancel its National Open extended well beyond Sarazen in the professional ranks. Sportswriter Ira Wolfert explained the issue:
Calling off the National Open amounted to taking $15,000 out of the pockets of the man who might have won it. This is according to Gene Sarazen who figures that the advertising value of the title adds up to that much …
To make matters even more confusing, the USGA decided to hold the National Open after all, but instead of giving it its $15,000 name it invented the name of Hale America for it. This name, according to professional golfers, is worth as much to the bank as a tin cup and pencils.
Wolfert also reported that the pros weren’t happy with the increasing frequency of being awarded war bonds instead of cash prize money. Things supposedly came to a head at the Seminole Victory Tournament in mid-March, when the wealthy Palm Beach golf club decided to pay the prizes in war bonds and, in response, the pros threatened to boycott the Hale America. But, in the end, the pros retreated:
Something like a revolt occurred among the golfers after that. They decided to let the country club set play the Hale America. The revolt never came out into the open, and every time a peep of it could be heard, the USGA leaped into action with healing unguents, smelling salts, side-of-the-mouth threats and appeals to the cause of war relief.
The result of the revolt is that the tournament is now called the Hale America National Open. Nobody is very satisfied with this. All it means is the USGA topped the ball, wound up in the rough and then made a partial recovery. However, nothing is going to be done about it for the very reason nothing can be done about it. It’s that or nothing and nothing is a very lean companion for a man in a business that is going downhill and may soon be out of sight.
Although many of the tour pros dutifully, and quietly, sent in their entries to the “synthetic reproduction of the national open” that carried no championship title, Sarazen returned to the topic in June, with the following headline appearing above golf writer Dillon Graham’s column published on June 9: “Gene Sarazen Insists ‘Hale America’ Be Recognized As National Open Tourney.”
Graham explained Sarazen’s reasoning:
If all tournaments were cancelled, [Sarazen] says, it would be right to eliminate the open, too. But, as long as there is to be a national competition with virtually the same golfers who would normally be on hand for the open, he believes the title should be at stake.
“With fellows like Sam Snead and Bud Ward (National Amateur champion in ’39 and ’41) unable to play, it wouldn’t be fair to call it a championship tournament and put the results in the record book.” – Bobby Jones
About two weeks later, Graham published a rebuttal submitted by an unidentified “well known golf authority” that included the following:
The whole idea of the Hale America is to raise money for the Navy Relief Society and USO. That becomes obvious when Jones plays. Bobby never intended to go back again into competition …
Friends persuaded Jones to play annually in the Augusta tourney as a sort of active host. Then, a second time, the pressure was put on. This time it was the country calling. He had to agree to go to the post in Chicago. It was, naturally, the thing to do.
And, indeed, at about the same time, Jones went on record endorsing the USGA’s decision not to award the Open Championship title that year:
“The U.S.G.A. called off its events because of transportation and other problems brought on by the war,” Jones said. “Also because some of the most outstanding players would be in the armed forces and unable to compete. With fellows like Sam Snead and Bud Ward (National Amateur champion in ’39 and ’41) unable to play, it wouldn’t be fair to call it a championship tournament and put the results in the record book.”
Facing that kind of opposition, it’s not surprising Hogan’s entreaties yielded nothing. He too went silent on the topic. In the years that followed, the Hale America would from time to time be listed as one of Hogan’s “important titles,” but it would be another decade before Hogan would again assert ownership of the 1942 U.S. Open crown.