|
CHAMPIONS AND RUNNERS-UP |
| In 1937, Charles V. Rainwater,
President of the Southern Golf Association, conceived the idea of
the Southern States Four-Ball, a unique tournament that would
become an annual event until it died in 1948. It was only the
third tournament that the SGA ever conducted. Two teams from
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky
entered the Four-Ball. North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Arkansas entered one team. Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi,
and Oklahoma were enthusiastic about the tournament, but did not
have sufficient time to arrange for teams. A unique trophy, dedicated to Bobby Jones, was given to the state winner and suitable trophies were given to each member of the winning team. All matches were conducted at 36 holes and played on East Lake's No. 1 course where the great Jones learned to play. Rainwater was in charge of the event. Her was assisted by Julius Hughes, President of the Atlanta Golf Association, and East Lake pros George and Harold Sargent. "It was a scene calculated to be an emotional one and it was", Ralph McGill of The Atlanta Constitution wrote about Bobby Jones's son unveiling the tournament trophy. "Robert Tyre Jones III, just 10 years old, clad in a blue suit, a lock of raven hair falling a bit over his forehead, and for the first time appearing publicly with his famous father, was so very proud it showed in his face and his bearing. At 10 years of age he is coming to know what golf is and what his father was to golf. And is today." "The trophy is a plaque, a large plaque, one of the finest trophies in golf. There are a few lines saying it commemorates the things Bobby Jones has done for golf. And there are about its base, only slightly reduced, reproductions of the four cups Bobby Jones won in his 'grand slam' series of 1930--the American open and amateur cups and the British amateur and open cups." "I hope," Bobby Jones said, "they don't get to calling this a memorial. I very, very much appreciate it. But, I hope they won't call it a memorial. I'm not dead yet." On the first day in 1937 there was one lone match that drew a nice gallery until it was learned that Bobby Jones was playing in the 18-hole stroke play event. Jones was not in the competition, but he shot two-under par 69 in the company of Rainwater, Polly Boyd, and Jimmy Tupper. Frank Mulherin, Georgia's State Amateur champion from Augusta, won the event with a 68. In the quarterfinals, Fred Haas and Edwin McClure of Louisiana defeated Georgia's No. 2 team, Mulherin and Crawford Rainwater, in 48 holes. Because of darkness, the last six holes were played on the next day. Georgia's No. 1 team, Charles Yates and Dick Garlington of East Lake, defeated the Haas-McCluire tean, 5 and 4 in the finals. --From Southern Golf Association, The First Hundred Years by Gene McClure. |
|
CHAMPIONS |
Results |
RUNNERS-UP |
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, October 12-16 |
||
| Charles Yates & Dick Garlington, Georgia |
def. |
Fred Haas, Jr. & Edwin McClure, Louisiana |
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, October 10-14 |
||
| Charles Yates & Julius Hughes, Georgia |
def. |
Sam Perry & Gordon Smith, Alabama |
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, October 2-6 |
||
| Bobby Dunkelberger & Skip Alexander, North Carolina |
def. |
Frank Ford & Harold Hall, South Carolina |
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, September 30-October 3 |
||
| Tommy Barnes & Gene Gaillard, Georgia |
def. |
Jennings Gordon & John Oliver, Georgia |
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, September 29-October 2 |
||
| Tommy Barnes & Gene Dahlbender, Jr., Georgia |
def. 5 & 4 |
Dick Hackett & Dan Yates, Georgia |
|
|
||
|
Atlanta Athletic Club, East Lake No. 1 Course, Decatur, Georgia, October 1-4 |
||
| Tommy Barnes & Gene Dahlbender, Georgia |
def. |
Dan Yates & Arnold Blum, Georgia |
|
Country Club of Birmingham, West Course, Birmingham, Alabama, August 18-21 |
||
| Tommy Barnes & George Hamer, Georgia |
def. |
Avery Beck & Tommy Card, North Carolina |
|
General Oglethorpe Golf Club, Savannah, Georgia, September 16-18 (Stroke Play) |
||
|
Gardner Dickinson, Jr. & Preseley Thornton, Alabama Tommy Barnes & George Hamer, Georgia Gene Dahlbender & Bob McCoy, Georgia Harvie Ward & Bob Snow, North Carolina |
271 279 281 281
|
|
| By action of the Board of Directors of the Southern Golf Association in 1949, the play of this tournament was indefinitely suspended and the championship trophy temporarily retired to East Lake Country Club, Atlanta, Georgia, the home club of Bobby Jones. | ||