Most golf fans know that the great hall of fame golfer, Harry Vardon, toured the United States in 1900, 1913 and 1920. Few know, however, that on two of those trips (1900, 1920), Vardon stopped in Lackawanna County and played exhibition matches at the old Country Club of Scranton course in Dunmore, Pa.
Vardon was golf’s first superstar. He was the British Open Champion in 1896 and 1898. In 1899, he had perhaps his greatest year by winning nearly 75% of his tournaments and matches, including his third British Open, as well as a famous 72-hole challenge match with his great rival, Willie Park, Jr., which Vardon won, 11&10.
Vardon arrived in America on Feb. 3, 1900 under the sponsorship of A. G. Spaulding and Brothers. Spaulding’s reason for sponsoring the trip was to encourage interest in American golf and to promote sales of its newly developed “Vardon Flyer” golf ball and Vardon golf clubs. While the trip itself was a great success, Vardon’s gutta percha balls and smooth leather faced wood clubs were soon outdated by technology and replaced in the Spaulding catalog by rubber core balls and grooved clubs.
Vardon’s first match after winning the U.S. Open in 1900 was at the Country Club of Scranton.
Vardon spent his first day in America touring the sights in New York City and attending a vaudeville show. After a trip to Massachusetts to meet with Spaulding executives and to inspect its manufacturing facility, Vardon returned to New York. He then played his first golf in the United States at the Garden City Golf Club with Walter J. Travis, beginning a lifelong friendship between the two giants of the game. Before departing on Dec. 10, 1900, Vardon had played in 79 matches, most of them singlehandedly against two opponents, and won all but two. The highlight of his trip, which is now known as the “Vardon Invasion,” was his victory, on Oct. 4, 1900, in the U.S. Open at the Chicago Golf Club.
Vardon’s first match after winning the U.S. Open was at Country Club of Scranton on Oct. 9 of that year. The New York Times reported that the club was conducting its annual “Scranton Cup” tournament and that Vardon “would practically open the Tournament … in a thirty-six (36)-hole exhibition match.” The Scranton-Times reported in a headline that “Today is Vardon Day.” Not known at the time for its egalitarian sentiments, the Country Club of Scranton nonetheless demonstrated the historical significance of the match by announcing in the Scranton-Times that “admission is not confined to members of the Club” and that those paying the $1 admission charge ($ .50 for those under 15) would be given a badge which “will entitle the holder to tea.”
The Country Club of Scranton course in Dunmore was constructed on land owned by the Pennsylvania Coal Company and Hudson Coal Company. The boundaries of the course were Marywood University Campus on the north, the O’Neill Highway on the south and the Dunmore and Forest Hills Cemeteries on the west. On the east, the course extended to the area where interstate I-81 is presently located. The clubhouse, from which there was a panoramic view of the Lackawanna Valley, was located at the present site of Marywood’s softball field, which is visible from I-81.
The course Vardon played was originally laid out as a nine-hole course in 1896 and was designed by Tom Bendelow. It opened on Thanksgiving of that year. The second nine, designed by Tom Gourlay, was added in 1898. The 18-hole layout was 4,723 yards long.
Known as the “Johnny Appleseed” of American golf, Bendelow was one of the country’s first great golf course designers. He is credited with designing more than 500 courses, including the three 18-hole courses presently in use at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. He was also a Spaulding employee and was responsible for arranging Vardon’s trip to America and for caddying for him while he was here.
Vardon arrived in Scranton on Oct. 8. He played a practice round at the club that afternoon and was entertained that night at a party at the Country Club of Scranton sponsored by J.H. Brooks, who would play golf with him the next day. Brooks had been an All-American baseball player at Princeton and was one of the top amateur golfers in the eastern United States. He would later win the club championship in 1920 and 1921.
In the morning match, Vardon played two club members, A. Z. Huntington and Thomas Watkins. Vardon shot a score of 70, one stroke off the course record of 69 held by Brooks. Huntington and Watkins scored 78 and 83, respectively. Their better-ball score was 73. Vardon won the match, 4&3.
Watkins had been a coal mine owner and broker. Two years after his match with Vardon, he would be appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to the Anthracite Coal Commission. Watkins was instrumental in settling the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902.
After lunch at the Country Club of Scranton, Vardon faced J. H. Brooks and T. C. Fuller in the afternoon match. Vardon shot an even par 70 and defeated Brooks and Fuller, 2&1. Brooks and Fuller scored 76 and 86, respectively. Their better-ball score was 76. Vardon found the afternoon match “more interesting” than the morning match.
Vardon described the conditions of the course as being very favorable in the morning but “too dry” in the afternoon. A 1911 edition of Grantland Rice’s American Golfer magazine reported that in 1900, Vardon had referred to the club’s second nine as “nine nasty little pitches” and that soon after the second nine was abandoned and many “inter-city cup and team matches with surrounding towns were cancelled.” Over the ensuing decades, “successive captains and committees have attempted to make something of the nine holes that remained” and “after years of wasted effort and when interest in the game was beginning to languish, it was recognized by those in charge of golfing matters that it was necessary to start over again.” The club then hired John Reid, a highly regarded golf professional and course designer from Philadelphia, and was soon “well on its way to a modern 6,300-yard golf course.”
Vardon won his fourth and fifth British Opens in 1903 and 1911. He returned to America in 1913 with fellow English golfer Ted Ray. He and Ray traveled the country in a series of golf matches and, though they did not play at the Country Club of Scranton, the pair played in the Shawnee Open shortly before its famous playoff loss to Francis Ouimet in the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline in Massachusetts. John Reid, who was then the club’s resident professional, participated in the Shawnee Open with Vardon and Ray.
Vardon had referred to the club’s second nine as “nine nasty little pitches.”
Vardon won his sixth British Open in 1914, but when he and Ray returned to America in 1920, he had not won a major tournament in six years. Much like Tom Watson at last year’s British Open, Vardon, then 50 years old, was hoping to cap his career with another major victory when he entered the U.S. Open at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio. He took the lead at the end of the third round, two strokes ahead of Ray. He increased that lead to four strokes after 11 holes, but after a violent wind storm blew in from Lake Erie, he played the final seven holes in 7 over, losing to Ray by one stroke.
The defeat was devastating to Vardon. He said later that a victory in the U.S. Open would have been his greatest achievement in golf, but that his defeat was his greatest disappointment. Perhaps he also understood that the 1920 Open represented the transfer of the balance of power in golf from Europe to the United States. During Open qualifying and on the first day of play, Vardon was paired with an 18-year-old golfing prodigy from Atlanta, Georgia. Playing in his first Open, Robert T. Jones, Jr. finished eighth with an 11-over-par 299 and would soon go on to replace Vardon as the world’s foremost golfer, winning 13 major championships between 1923 and 1930. Vardon would never win another major tournament.
After Inverness, Vardon and Ray set off on a whirlwind schedule of matches that brought them to over 60 golf venues in the next two months. Vardon and Ray arrived in Scranton at the Jersey Central Station on Lackawanna Avenue at 11:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, 1920. Included in the greeting party were J. H. Brooks, who had played with Vardon 20 years before. Reporting on Vardon and Ray’s late arrival, the Scranton Republican noted that there was no social event at the club that evening in honor of the golfers. “The course to be followed of 36-holes this morning and afternoon covers practically six miles. Because of this it was thought best to dispense of any big gathering.” The newspaper also reflected the club’s desire for the public to attend the event. “Arrangements have been made to provide sandwiches and coffee at noon for the spectators who desire to witness both morning and afternoon play and be served with luncheon at the Club. Tickets may be purchased at entrance to the Country Club grounds both before noon and afternoon.” Their efforts were apparently successful as over 1,000 spectators attended the match the next day.
In the morning, Vardon and Ray defeated Brooks and Dick Woolworth, the son of dime store magnate, C. S. Woolworth. Woolworth shot a score of 74, tying Ray and besting Vardon by two strokes.
Vardon and Ray were victorious again in the afternoon over Woolworth and Douglas Tory. Ray matched Woolworth’s then existing course record with a score of 70. Vardon’s 73 was two better than Tory and six better than Woolworth, who finished the day with a 79. According to press reports, the highlight of the afternoon round was Ray’s eagle 3 on the 430 yard, par 5, fifth hole.
The Scranton Republican also reported, as a matter of local interest, that the afternoon match was the first time that Vardon and Ray had played on a course with a mine cave bunker. “On the score card appears the following rule: a ball lying in a mine cave on hole 7 or 16 when driven from the back tee may be dropped back from the mine cave without penalty.”
Ray’s attire during the afternoon match apparently scandalized the members of the Fourth Estate. The Scranton-Times described his appearance as follows. “Discarding the usual costume and wool stockings used by devotees of the links, he appeared wearing long baggy trousers that had seen days of service and an old gray sweater and a white canvas hat and stout russet low shoes. He looked much more like a keeper of the course than a golf champion.”
After a dinner at the club, Vardon and Ray travelled to Bethlehem, Pa. for a match at the Northampton Country Club with a twosome that included Eugene Grace, the president of Bethlehem Steel, who was then planning the construction of the Saucon Valley Country Club. The Pennsylvania Golf Association website describes this match as an effort by Grace to “kindle interest” in his new club.
In 1927, the Country Club of Scranton moved to a new location in Clarks Summit, Pa. An 18-hole course was designed by famous golf course architect Walter Travis. A third nine designed by Michael Hurdzan was completed in 1988. The old course in Dunmore continued in operation as Apawanna Golf Club, a nine-hole public golf course. The Apawanna course closed in 1960 with the construction of interstate 81, which eliminated much of the course. The remaining land is now occupied by Marywood University, the IHM Congregation and the Dunmore Cemetery.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 110,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
