Largest Winning Margins in U.S. Amateur Matches

What are the biggest blowouts in U.S. Amateur Championship history? In an 18-hole match at the U.S. Amateur, 9-and-8 is the largest margin of victory. In a 36-hole match, 14-and-13 is the largest winning margin. And in a championship match, the biggest blowout is a 12-and-11 victory — in the very first U.S. Amateur ever played.

The U.S. Amateur Championship was first played in 1895. For all but the period 1965-72, it has used a match-play elimination bracket (in 1965-72, it was a stroke-play tournament). This tournament, run by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the feather in the cap of any amateur golfer.

Largest Winning Margins, Any 18-Hole Match

Four golfers in U.S. Amateur history have won an 18-hole match by a 9-and-8 score, which means that these matches ended after just 10 holes.

9 and 8 — Harry Todd def. Matthew Zadalis, second round, Omaha (Neb.) Field Club, 1941
9 and 8 — Gerald Kesselring def. Russell Brothers, second round, Minneapolis (Minn.) Golf Club, 1950
9 and 8 — Don Keith def. Thomas Beck, first round, The Olympic Club (Lake Course), San Francisco, Calif., 1958
9 and 8 — Bill Rogers def. Rick Cain, fourth round, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, 1973

By far the best-known golfer among the eight listed above is Bill Rogers. None of them, including Rogers, went on to win the U.S. Amateur (or reach the semifinals). But Rogers did go on to win the 1981 British Open.

Largest Winning Margins, Any 36-Hole Match

14 and 13 — Jerome Travers def. George Crump, first round, Country Club of Detroit, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., 1915
14 and 13 — Bobby Jones def. John B. Beck, third round, Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, Mass., 1928
14 and 12 — Charles B. Macdonald def. Stewart Stickney, first round, Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, Ill., 1899

Jerry Travers and Bobby Jones were both U.S. Amateur champs. In fact, they are the two most-frequent winners: Jones is the only 5-time champ, Travers is the only other golfer to win four times.

But Travers didn't win the tournament in 1915 when he first set the 36-hole margin-of-victory record of 14-and-13. Jones did win in 1928, when he tied Travers' record.

Jones had an incredible run in his final three matches in 1928. His 14-and-13 win over Beck happened in the quarterfinals. Then he beat Phillips Finlay, 13 and 12, in the semifinals. Finally, in the championship match, Jones dispatched Phil Perkins by a 10-and-9 score. And that match makes the following list.

Largest Winning Margins, 36-Hole Championship Match

The championship match has always been, and remains today, scheduled for 36 holes. Since 1979, the final is the only match in the U.S. Amateur that is 36 holes (since 1979, all pre-championship matches are 18 holes).

These are the largest margins of victory in a U.S. Amateur championship match:

12 and 11 — Charles B. Macdonald def. Charles Sands, Newport (R.I.) Golf Club, 1895
11 and 10 — Charles Coe def. Rufus King, Oak Hill Country Club (East Course), Rochester, N.Y., 1949
11 and 9 — Dick Chapman def. W.B. McCullough Jr., Winged Foot Country Club (West Course), Mamaroneck, N.Y., 1940
10 and 9 — Bobby Jones def. Philip Perkins, Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, Mass., 1928
9 and 8 — Bobby Jones def. George Von Elm, Merion Cricket Club (East Course), Ardmore, Pa., 1924
9 and 8 — E. Harvie Ward def. Bill Hyndman III, Country Club of Virginia (James River Course), Richmond, Va., 1955
9 and 8 — John Fought def. Doug Fischesser, Aronimink Country Club, Newtown Squre, Pa., 1977
9 and 8 — Hal Sutton def. Bob Lewis, Country Club of North Carolina, Pinehurst, N.C., 1980
9 and 8 — David Gossett def. Sung Yoon Kim, Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, 1999

The very first U.S. Amateur Championship in 1895 ended with Charles B. Macdonald — better-remembered today as one of the giants of golf course architecture — winning over Charles Sands by a 12-and-11 score in the final.

And nobody has had a larger margin-of-victory in a U.S. Amateur final since. Charlie Coe and Dick Chapman (inventer of the Chapman System ) have come closest. And Bobby Jones makes the list twice.

Related articles:

Sources:
United States Golf Association. "Championship Formats," https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/media/online-media-center/usga-records/championship-formats.html.
United States Golf Association. "U.S. Amateur Records," https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/media/online-media-center/usga-records/u-s--amateur-records.html.
United States Golf Association. Official USGA Record Book, 1895-1990 (affiliate link, commissions earned), Triumph Books, 1992.

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