Log In
The United States Seniors’ Golf Association was founded in 1905 by Apawamis member Horace L. Hotchkiss, as we all know. It lived for 100 years — an entire century — before we created the William C. Campbell Award in 2005 to honor the significant contributions of some members. While most often that award has gone to a living member, it has been awarded on occasion posthumously. So while a few vintage members have thus gained recognition, for the most part, those who belonged to that first century of the USSGA have gone unnoticed, except for an occasional story in a Yearbook or Newsletter. Many of those men during that first 100 years, however, deserve to be celebrated for their achievements in golf and in life.
The USSGA leadership and the Campbell Award Committee believe that, as an organization, we have much to be proud of and that we should celebrate our history by recognizing many of our members’ extraordinary achievements and contributions. With that mindset, the USSGA has created a hall of fame, that we have named the Hall of Distinction — “HOD” for short. We called it that, because these men are not all famous, but they all are distinguished.
We have begun by enshrining those men who were singled out for their achievements in Chapter IV of “The First Seventy-five Years of The United States Seniors’ Golf Association 1905-1980, Republished October 1996 with Update”. In that chapter titled USSGA “Hall of Fame”, men were included for having won a USGA or R&A major title, for playing for, or captaining, a Walker Cup team, or for having served as Captain of the R&A or President of the USGA. And to round it off, we brought that list forward to 2005 — i.e., we cover the first century of our existence. Here, you will find 18 champions, 22 Walker Cup players, 11 Walker Cup Non-playing Captains (some inductees were all three), three were Captains of the R&A, and 40 Presidents of the USGA (seven were also Presidents of the USSGA, and still others were also major champions or Walker Cuppers).
When you enter the Hall on its dedicated page on the USSGA.org website, you will find each member of Distinction separately listed with attendant biographies and photographs, and links to other writings about them. And the entire HOD is fully searchable. You can either go to a name (all are listed), or a category, like “Walker Cup Captains”, “USGA
Presidents”, “British Senior Amateur Champions”, and so forth. Or you can create your own category, and search on that — for example, who went to “Yale” or “Williams”, did anyone serve in “Congress”, who came from the “State of Tennessee” or “Minnesota”, anyone from “Detroit” or “Houston”, did any win the “USSGA Annual Championship” or play for the “International Team”, who won the “William C. Campbell”, “Bob Jones”, or “Ike Grainger” Awards, or whatever stirs your curiosity. We believe you will find it interesting and fun, and it certainly will enhance your knowledge of, and pride in, this great organization to which we all belong.
Although we have begun with 74 Members from limited categories covering our first 100 years, it does not end there. In the future, all members, past and present, will be eligible for admission to this hallowed Hall. Henceforth, we will add new inductees — including in some cases nominees from any member who so chooses — and from a variety of categories, including Honorary Members, doctors, lawyers, architects (golf and otherwise), writers, theologians, philanthropists, volunteers, educators, athletes, the military, businessmen, and wherever your imagination takes us. The mission statement and procedures for future additions will be shared so you can begin to think about who else might belong. We are certain that this HOD will bring great knowledge and enjoyment to our members.
Attached is a list of all those Seniors being inducted as the inaugural class in the USSGA HOD. Have at it!
Robert A. Gardner, 1909
William C. Fownes, Jr., 1910
Francis DeS. Ouimet, 1914, 1931
Jesse W. Sweetser, 1922
Maxwell R. Marston, 1923
William P. Turnesa, 1938, 1948
Jack Westland, 1952
William C. Campbell, 1964
Marvin M. Giles III, 1972
J. Wood Platt, 1955
Thomas C. Robbins, 1958 William D. Higgins, 1964
Robert Kiersky, 1965
Curtis S. Person, 1968, 1969
Lewis W. Oehmig, 1972, 1976
William Hyndman III, 1973
Dale E. Morey, 1974, 1977
Gen. Keith K. Compton, 1978 William C. Campbell, 1979
Marvin M. Giles III, 2009
Jesse W. Sweetser, 1926
William P. Turnesa, 1947
Richard L. Siderowf, 1973, 1976
Marvin M. Giles III, 1975
Francis DeS. Ouimet, 1951
Joseph C. Dey, Jr., 1975
William C. Campbell, 1987
William C. Fownes, 1922 (Capt.), 1924
Francis DeS. Ouimet, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932 (Capt.), 1934 (Capt.)
Robert A. Gardner, 1922, 1923 (Capt.), 1924 (Capt.), 1926 (Capt.)
Jesse W. Sweetser, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932
Maxwell R. Marston, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1934
Dr. Oscar F. Willing, 1922, 1923
George V. Rotan, 1923
Watts Gunn, 1926, 1928
Roland R. MacKenzie, 1926, 1928, 1930
Jack Westland, 1932, 1934, 1953
A. Frederick Kammer, 1947
William P. Turnesa, 1947, 1949
John W. Dawson, 1949
William C. Campbell, 1951, 1953, 1955 (Capt.), 1957, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1975
Dale E. Morey, 1955, 1965
William J. Patton, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1969 (Capt.)
William Hyndman III, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1969, 1971
Dr. Edgar R. Updegraff, 1963, 1965, 1969
A. Downing Gray, 1963, 1965, 1967
Edgar M. Tutwiler, Jr., 1965, 1967
Richard L. Siderowf, 1969, 1973, 1975, 1977
Marvin M. Giles III, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975
Francis DeS. Ouimet, 1936, 1938, 1947, 1949
William P. Turnesa, 1951
Jesse W. Sweetser, 1967, 1973
Jack Westland, 1961
Richard S. Tufts, 1963
John M. Winters, 1971
Dr. Edgar R. Updegraff, 1975
Lewis W. Oehmig, 1977
Richard L. Siderowf, 1979
Marvin M. Giles III, 1993
A. Downing Gray, 1995, 1997
R.H. Robertson, Shinnecock Hills G.C., Southampton, NY 1901-02
Ransom H. Thomas, Morris County Golf Club, Convent Station, NJ 1905-06
Daniel Chauncey, Garden City Golf Club, NY 1907-08
Herbert Jacques, The Country Club, Brookline, MA 1909-10
Silas H. Strawn, Glen View Golf Club, IL 1911-12
Frederick S. Wheeler, Apawamis Club, Rye, N.Y. 1918-1919 * President USSGA 1926-1929
William C. Fownes Jr., Oakmont Country Club , PA 1926-27
Findlay S. Douglas, Apawamis Club, Rye, NY 1929-30 * President USSGA 1937—1941 Recipient of Bob Jones Award 1959
Prescott S. Bush, Round Hill Club, Greenwich, CT 1935
John G. Jackson, Deepdale Golf Club, Great Neck, NY 1936-37 * President USSGA 1941-1945
Archibald M. Reid, St. Andrew's Golf Club, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 1938-39
George W. Blossom, Jr., Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, IL 1942-1943
Morton G. Bogue, Deepdale Golf Club, Great Neck, NY 1944-45
Charles W. Littlefield, Montclair Golf Club, NJ 1946-47 * President USSGA 1954-55 Fielding Wallace, Augusta National Golf Club, GA 1948-49
James D. Standish Jr., Country Club of Detroit, Gross Pointe Farms, MI 1950-51
Totton P. Heffelfinger, Minikahda Club, Minneapolis, MN 1952-53
Isaac B. Grainger, Montclair Golf Club, NJ 1954-55 * President USSGA 1959-1961 Recipient of Bob Jones Award 1988
Richard S. Tufts, Pinehurst Country Club, NC 1956-57 Recipient of Bob Jones Award 1967
John D. Ames, Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, IL 1958-59 * President USSGA 1969-1971
John G. Clock, Virginia Country Club, Long Beach, CA 1960-61
John W. Winters Jr., Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, OK 1962-63
Clarence W. Benedict, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, NY 1964-65
William Ward Foshay, Round Hill Club, Greenwich, CT 1966-67 * President USSGA 1971-1973
Hord W. Hardin, Bellerive Country Club, Creve Coeur, MO 1968-69
Philip H. Strubing 2d, Sunnybrook Golf Club, Plymouth Meeting, PA 1970-71
Lynford Lardner Jr., Milwaukee Country Club, WI 1972-73
Harton S. Semple, Sewickley Heights Golf Club, Sewickley, PA 1974-75
Harry W. Easterly Jr., Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, VA 1976-77
Frank D. Tatum Jr., San Francisco Golf Club, CA 1978-79
Will F. Nicholson Jr., Denver Country Club, CO 1980-81
William C. Campbell, Guyan Golf & Country Club, Huntington, WV 1982-83 Recipient of Bob Jones Award, 1959
James R. Hand, Sleepy Hollow Country Club, Scarborough-on-Hudson, NY 1984-86
William C. Battle, Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, VA 1988-89
C. Grant Spaeth, San Francisco Golf Club, CA 1990-91
Stuart F. Bloch, Wheeling Country Club, WV 1992-93
Reg Murphy, Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, MD 1994-95
F. Morgan Taylor Jr., Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, FL 1998-99
Theodore F. Holland, M.D., Meridian Hills Country Club, IN 2000-02
Reminder: Keep your member profile updated through the website or by calling the office. This information is automatically available to each of our events, which reduces the administrative burden on the Committee.