1937 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1937 U.S. Open was the 41st U.S. Open, held June 10–12 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Ralph Guldahl won the first of his two consecutive U.S. Opens, two strokes ahead of runner-up Sam Snead, making his U.S. Open debut.
Snead opened with a 69 to share the lead with Denny Shute. Through 54 holes, Snead and Guldahl trailed Ed Dudley by a stroke. During the final round on Saturday afternoon, Dudley shot a 76 and fell out of contention, while Snead birdied the last to finish with a 71 and a 283 total. Guldahl, playing well behind Snead, holed a putt for eagle at 8, then a birdie from at 9. After bogeys at 10 and 11, he rallied with birdies on the next two holes. He then went even on his last five holes to finish with a 69 and a 281 total, two better than Snead and a stroke better than the previous tournament record, set the previous year by Tony Manero.
Two years earlier, Guldahl had become so frustrated with the game that he quit to become a carpenter. After deciding to return to the game, he went through a period of dominance throughout the late-1930s. He won the Western Open, then considered on-par with the major championships, three years in a row; was runner-up in the Masters Tournament in 1937 and 1938 before winning in 1939; and successfully defended this U.S. Open title in 1938. For Snead, age 25, this tournament was just the beginning of a hard-luck career in the U.S. Open; he finished runner-up four times at the only major he never won.
Guldahl won the title with 19 clubs in his bag. The USGA rule regarding a maximum of 14 clubs went into effect the following January.
Set at, Oakland Hills was the first U.S. Open venue to surpass ; its average elevation is approximately above sea level.
The South Course previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, also at par 72, and it returned at par 70 in 1951, 1961, 1985, and 1996. It also later hosted the PGA Championship in 1972, 1979, and 2008. The second par-5 holes on each nine were played at par-4.

Course layout

South Course
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4435122004474493514164912153,5144484135551424504053801985373,5237,037
Par453444453364453444353672

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Length of the course for previous major:

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 10, 1937
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Denny Shute69−3
T1Sam Snead69−3
T3Ed Dudley70−2
T3Johnny Goodman 70−2
T3Bill Holt 70−2
T3Frank Strafaci 70−2
T3Frank Walsh70−2
T8Ralph Guldahl71−1
T8Fred Morrison71−1
T8Henry Picard71−1
T8Mike Turnesa71−1

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Second round

Friday, June 11, 1937
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Ed Dudley70-70=140−4
T1Ralph Guldahl71-69=140−4
T1Frank Walsh70-70=140−4
T1Jimmy Thomson74-66=140−4
T5Harry Cooper
72-70=142−2
T5Pat Sawyer72-70=142−2
T5Frank Strafaci 70-72=142−2
T5Sam Snead69-73=142−2
T9Vic Ghezzi72-71=143−1
T9Johnny Goodman 70-73=143−1

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Third round

Saturday, June 12, 1937
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Ed Dudley70-70-71=211−5
T2Ralph Guldahl71-69-72=212−4
T2Sam Snead69-73-70=212−4
4Bobby Cruickshank73-73-67=213−3
T5Harry Cooper
72-70-73=215−1
T5Al Brosch74-73-68=215−1
T5Johnny Goodman 70-73-72=215−1
8Pat Sawyer72-70-75=217+1
T9Henry Picard71-75-72=218+2
T9Gene Sarazen78-69-71=218+2
T9Frank Walsh70-70-78=218+2

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Final round

Saturday, June 12, 1937
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Ralph Guldahl71-69-72-69=281−71,000
2Sam Snead69-73-70-71=283−5800
3Bobby Cruickshank73-73-67-72=285−3700
4Harry Cooper
72-70-73-71=286−2600
5Ed Dudley70-70-71-76=287−1450
6Al Brosch74-73-68-73=288E375
7Clarence Clark72-75-73-69=289+1275
8Johnny Goodman 70-73-72-75=290+20
9Frank Strafaci 70-72-77-72=291+30
T10Charles Kocsis 72-73-76-71=292+40
T10Henry Picard71-75-72-74=292+4175
T10Gene Sarazen78-69-71-74=292+4175
T10Denny Shute69-76-75-72=292+4175

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= amateur

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

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