Trisha Shetty (Editor)

1902 U.S. Open (golf)

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Dates
  
October 10–11, 1902

Course(s)
  
Garden City Golf Club

Format
  
Stroke play − 72 holes

Location
  
Garden City, New York

Organized by
  
USGA

Field
  
83

1902 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1902 U.S. Open was the eighth U.S. Open, held October 10–11 at Garden City Golf Club in Garden City, New York, on Long Island, east of New York City. Laurie Auchterlonie established a new 72-hole U.S. Open scoring record to win his first U.S. Open title by six strokes ahead of Stewart Gardner and Walter Travis.

Laurie Auchterlonie turned in a record-breaking performance on his way to the championship. He posted rounds of 78-78-74-77, becoming the first golfer in U.S. Open history to card four sub-80 rounds. His 307 total was six shots better than the previous tournament record, set by Harry Vardon in 1900. Stewart Gardner and amateur Walter Travis, the designer of Garden City Golf Club, both posted a 313 total to share 2nd place.

The weather on Saturday, October 10, during the first two rounds, was fine when the golfers enjoyed clear skies. In the final two rounds on Sunday, however, the weather worsened with cloudy skies in the morning and a pouring rain in the afternoon. The adverse playing conditions didn't seen to affect the scoring; in fact many players played well in the rain on Sunday afternoon. John Shippen—playing out of Marine Field Club in New York—became the first American-born player to finish in the money in an Open Championship in the United States.

The low scores were in large part due to the introduction of the Haskell golf ball, which soon replaced the gutta-percha ball as the prominent golf ball in use.

Final leaderboard

(a) denotes amateur

References

1902 U.S. Open (golf) Wikipedia