
It is unlikely that an episode like the one that was baptized as the ‘Winged Foot Massacre’ will ever happen again, when in 1974 many of the players playing on that course in the US Open recorded catastrophic results. Tom Watson, who after a round of 69 and with 18 holes to go led the tournament by one stroke over Hale Irwin, carded nine bogeys on his first nine holes and, with 79 strokes, finished fifth. Irwin won the title with a round of 73 and a +7 overall. “We were all stunned at how difficult the course was,” said the champion.
Next June, Winged Foot Golf Club will once again experience, for the sixth time (1929, 1959, 1974, 1984 and 2006) in its almost centenary existence, the emotion of hosting one of the best tournaments in the world, the US Open, and also one of the best financially endowed: 12.5 million dollars in prize money this year, when the big one celebrates its 125th anniversary and its 120th edition.
Winged Foot is known for its spectacular setting and reputation as one of the premier venues for the U.S. Open. In 1929, six years after its opening, the club first hosted the tournament, in which amateur Bobby Jones hit one of the greatest shots in the history of the championship. The last time this Grand Slam championship was hosted by Winged Foot (2006), Phil Michelson was leading by one stroke when his drive bounced off the corporate tents, which ended up costing him the victory. Geoff Ogilvy did not waste the opportunity and won his first and so far only major.
Winged Foot is a private club with two fabulous 18-hole courses (West, site of the upcoming US Open, and East) located in Mamaroneck, New York. The designer of both layouts was A.W. Tillinghast, one of the most prolific and acclaimed golf architects of his time, with 260 courses designed or reworked by him, all of them in the United States.
Winged Foot Golf Club was founded in 1921 by a group of members of The New York Athletic Club (NYAC) who acquired a 280-acre property for that purpose and hired the most prominent designer of the time. Two years later, in June 1923, the two 18-hole courses were inaugurated.
The construction of the golf courses must have caused quite a stir back then. Winged Foot had sought out the best. A. W. Tillinghast, one of the foremost golf designers of the time, was hired to build the courses. Architect Clifford Wendehack was also hired to build a clubhouse in the Tudor Scholastic style.
Shortly after the opening of the club, Winged Foot hired as a professional the great player Mike Brady, who had finished second in the US Open in 1911 and 1919.
The initial founding members came from the NYAC, and among the renowned golfers who joined later was John Anderson, a two-time US Amateur runner-up. and became a member in 1924, shortly after the course was completed. Jess Sweetser, U.S. Amateur champion in 1922 and runner-up in 1923, also joined the club that year. Other top golfers in the area migrated from their clubs and became members of Winged Foot.
The club was recognized nationally when the USGA awarded the 1929 US Open to Winged Foot West. It took the USGA only six years to select the club to hold an Open.
Not one but two of the finest golf courses in the world were designed by A.W. Tillinghast. The founders wanted two exceptional courses, a rather bold undertaking for the time. Beginning in 1929, the club has hosted major golf tournaments, with its six U.S. Opens standing out of course.
Since opening, both courses have been recognized both individually and collectively. The West Course has been repeatedly ranked in Golf Digest’s Top 10 in the United States. Winged Foot Golf Club is the only golf club with both courses ranked in the top 100 in the world.
In 1929, Winged Foot Golf Club hosted its first US Open. Since then, it has hosted that major four other times, the US PGA in 1997, two US Women’s Opens, one US Senior Open and two US Amateurs.
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IN BRIEF
Playing without being a member, mission impossible?
Despite being one of the most exclusive private golf clubs in the United States, it is possible to play at Winged Foot Golf Club without being a member. The key is the sponsored charity tournaments that are organized at one of its two courses throughout the year.
Ten-year waiting list
Although there are no official figures, some media sources put the initial outlay required to become a member of Winged Foot at US$200,000 and the annual fee at between US$15,000 and US$20,000. The applicant will need the backing of the members and patience: the waiting list is ten years long.
High-profile professors
The club has had golf instructors who later became stars of professional golf. This is the case of the Masters winners of 1941, 1948 and 1956, Craig Harmon, Claude Harmon and Jackie Burke Jr. respectively, and 1965 PGA Championship winner Dave Marr.
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Volunteers for the US Open… paying 185 dollars
Approximately 4,500 people will be part of the Volunteer Program for the next US Open, which, although it was launched in 1895, celebrates its 120th edition in June. Each will be required to complete a minimum of four shifts, each lasting between four and six hours.
Volunteers will not receive any emoluments or compensation in exchange for their work at the US Open. On the contrary, they will have to purchase for $185 the so-called Volunteer Package, which includes the following: a badge valid for the seven days of the tournament (including the previous practice days), a meal voucher for each assigned work shift, access to the volunteer tent, two golf polo shirts, a windbreaker jacket, a cap and a bottle of water.
Attending Winged Foot to see live how the world’s best players perform during the US Open is just a matter of loosening up the wallet. Daily ticket prices are $50 for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (practice rounds), $120 for Thursday and $150 for each of the final three days of the tournament.
There are also packages for several days. For example, the pass for the three days of practice rounds costs 125 dollars, while the one valid for the whole week of the tournament costs 625. There is another more expensive weekly pass, for 950 dollars, which gives access to the so-called Beer Garden, an outdoor facility where food and drinks are served (paying separately) and there are chairs and armchairs to sit and televisions to follow the tournament live, as well as its own bathrooms. Another weekly package is available for 1,200 euros and gives access to the Sports Bar, with similar services as the Beer Garden but with the difference that it is an enclosed and air-conditioned facility.
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Championship designer
The designer of Winged Foot Golf Club’s two layouts, Albert Warren “Tillie” Tillinghast, was one of the most prolific architects in the history of golf, leaving his mark (in whole or in part) on more than 260 courses, all of them in the United States. His name has been in the World Golf Hall of Fame since 2015.
Tillinghast was born in 1876 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Benjamin, owned a rubber products company. When he married Albert took up residence with his wife in Beverly Hills, California. He died at the home of one of his two daughters in Toledo, Ohio, in 1942 at the age of 66.
One of his great inspirations in golf course design was Old Tom Morris, with whom he spent a long season at St Andrews.
Several courses designed or renovated by Tillinghast have hosted numerous Grand Slam tournaments, no less than fifty, played on 24 of his creations. Of these championships, the most repeated is the PGA Championship. Courses with its imprint and notable tournament winners include Medinah (Tiger Woods 2006), Baltusrol (Phil Mickelson 2005) and Winged Foot (Davis Love III 1997).
But it wasn’t just the PGA of America that chose to hold its annual championships on Tillinghast-designed courses. The United States Golf Association (USGA) hosted the US Open eleven times on Tillinghast’s signature courses, including Winged Foot, Bethpage State Park, Interlachen, Inverness and Colonial.
In addition to being a great designer, Tillinghast was a prolific writer of golf articles, publishing some 400 in magazines over 40 years. He was also the author of several books on the sport.
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