One hundred years ago Englishman Harold Hilton won the first national sporting event played here in Rye – the 1911 United States Amateur Golf Championship at the Apawamis Club – in dramatic fashion.

By Perky Jackson

 

One hundred years ago Englishman Harold Hilton won the first national sporting event played here in Rye – the 1911 United States Amateur Golf Championship at the Apawamis Club – in dramatic fashion.

 

In the championship final against Fred Herreshoff of the Ekwanok Club in Manchester, Vt., Hilton had what looked to be an insurmountable 6-up lead after the morning 18 holes, but then inexplicably squandered that margin as Herreshoff played brilliantly during the afternoon’s 18 holes and forced the match into sudden death.

 

What happened on the 37th hole – the first hole then, and indeed still today, at Apawamis – remains the stuff of legend.

 

Emboldened by his strong afternoon play, Herreshoff found the fairway with a long tee shot, putting the pressure squarely on Hilton, who looked to be very worn out. As was his custom, Hilton had gone through dozen of cigarettes – sticks, he called them – during the match in his never-ending efforts to, as he said, “calm the tension”.

 

Hilton’s tee shot was a weak slice that finished in the right rough, leaving him with a shot from slightly more than 150 yards to the raised green. Hilton hit his second shot with what is the equivalent of today’s hybrid club, but the ball sailed far to the right of the green. Hilton dropped his head, no doubt thinking that victory now was lost.

 

Then, as legend has it, Hilton’s ball – a well-worn Haskell – bounced weirdly off a slab of rock and suddenly popped sharply to the left and onto the green, stopping some 10 to 15 feet below the hole. Hilton’s great break clearly unnerved Herreshoff. The Vermonter mishit his second shot, followed that with a poor pitch, and after he missed his putt for par, Hilton calmly two-putted for the championship.

 

Oh, yes. The rock! It’s still there, and an engraved plaque properly identifies it as Hilton’s Rock. Which, of course, is what thousands of Apawamis members and their guests have called it for the last century.

 

Hilton, who learned the game at Hoylake/Royal Liverpool in the southwest of England, was one of the dominant players in golf at the turn of the previous century. In all, he won seven major championships – in those days the British and U.S. Amateurs were considered to be majors – and later was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

 

Still, mention the name of Harold Hilton to golfing historians here in the United States, and the first thing they’ll say is: Hilton’s Rock at Apawamis.
Apawamis will proudly celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hilton’s victory, and the naming of Hilton’s Rock, in grand style October 7 and 8. The Club has invited teams of eight players – from Hilton’s home club Hoylake/ Royal Liverpool; Prestwick in Scotland, where Hilton won the 1911 British Amateur Championship; and Ekwanok, Herreshoff’s home course – to participate in the festivities, and all quickly accepted.

 

The Centennial Celebration will officially begin on Friday night when Apawamis president Sam Carroll and the captains of the three visiting sides play the 1st hole using the types of clubs that Hilton, Herreshoff, and the other 150 competitors used in that 1911 U.S. Amateur.

 

Following a champagne reception alongside Hilton’s Rock, Apawamis will host the Centennial Dinner at the club.

 

On Saturday morning, Apawamis will be awash in golf. The four clubs will play individual matches against each other for the honor of winning the first Hilton Cup. In addition, Apawamis members will participate in a number of Better-Ball competitions while the Hilton Cup is being played. After golf, the Centennial Celebration will conclude with a proper lunch.

 

That 1911 U.S. Amateur was the first official affiliation between Apawamis and the then-fledgling United States Golf Association. Since then Apawamis also has been home to such USGA events as The Curtis Cup, the Girls’ Junior Championship, and the Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, not to mention dozens of other local, state, and regional competitions, and the annual championship of the United States Seniors Golf Association each June.