The Besmirching of an Original Great

Willie Dunn was one of the most important golfers in the early days of American golf. Born in Blackhealth, London, England, he was born into golf royalty. Willie’s father was Willie Dunn Senior of Musselburgh, who was a legendary golfing foe of Old Tom Morris and Allan Robertson, and a golfer who helped shape the pre-Open era of golf.

Willie would follow his father’s footsteps to become the golf professional at Westward Ho, then later moved to Biarritz. It was at Biarritz where Willie met William Vanderbilt, grandson of the famed Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt convinced young Willie to take the voyage to the virgin golf grounds of the New World to renovate his beloved Shinnecock Hills.

In the United States, Willie Dunn Junior was nothing short of a golfing rockstar. Upon setting foot on American soil, he became its greatest golfer & one of the foremost experts on the game of golf. His expertise was in his style of play, his ability to teach, his ability to design a golf course, and his knack for making golf clubs and golf balls for a sport straining to keep up with demand.

In short, Willie Dunn helped transform the game of golf in America designing new golf courses, teaching new players and winning arguably the first ever U.S. Open in 1894 (a story for another day).

One of Willie Dunn’s first massive design projects transformed Shinnecock Hills into one of America’s first championship courses- a design that would host the second USGA U.S. Open in 1896. Unfortunately for Dunn, his reign would be short lived, as a design revolution would emerge over the next decade that would ultimately destroy his architectural legacy.

The revolution would begin in the early 1900’s spearheaded by the great, but unheralded John Low. Low’s words on golf design inspired a generation of architects including two of America’s adopted sons, CB MacDonald and Walter Travis.

In 1907 construction started on National Golf Links of America. CB Macdonald with the assistance of his son-in-law HJ Whigham and Walter Travis, embarked on the risky endeavor of bringing old world designs to the new world.

By 1908, despite the rather public breakup of Macdonald and Travis’ friendship & with it Travis’ design credit for NGLA, Travis used his considerable resources to scream from the rafters that golf needed to change its Victorian ways & embrace these new/old methods of golf design.

In 1908 Walter Travis, by then a three time US Amateur Champion, British Amateur Champion, Golf Course Architect, Author and Editor of one of the most influential golf periodicals, The American Golfer wrote this (see below) scathing tear down of Willie Dunn’s design legacy.

Within a decade, aided by the invention and popularity of the wound Haskell Ball, which made Victorian courses obsolete due to their lack of length, Dunn’s design legacy was virtually erased.

In truth, the Victorian Era of Golf Design was not worthy of continuing. Travis, though crass in his takedown of Dunn, when many golf course architects including CB Macdonald designed hundreds of these courses, was ultimately correct in his messaging. It was an awakening that kicked off the Golden Age of Architecture in America.

Unfortunately for Willie Dunn, the erasure of his legacy was finalized almost a decade after his death in 1952. For over 60 years the USGA recognized Willie Dunn as the first U.S. Open Champion, despite the formation of the USGA after his 1894 victory. In or around 1960 the recognition of Dunn’s US Open Victory was erased from the USGA’s record books and with it, the remainder of his legacy.

As you can see from this program, which was printed 56 years after Willie Dunn’s 1894 US Open victory, the USGA lists Dunn as the first U.S. Open Champion. This program was also not a one off- for over 50 years the USGA, as well as the sports media considered Dunn the first U.S. Open Champion. However sometime around 1960, a decision must have been made by the USGA to reverse that title and erase Dunn’s name from the record books. That is why most golfers have never heard of Willie Dunn.

I am hoping to record a TalkinGolf History Podcast on Willie Dunn, Junior in the next year- stay tuned.

As always thank you for reading this newsletter and sharing it with your friends. It is my pleasure to share these little sometimes unknown stories with you.

Until next time…

Yours in Golf History,

Connor T. Lewis