Gardner Edward Dickinson, Jr. (September 14, 1927 – April 19, 1998) was an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. Born in

Dothan, Alabama Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...

, Dickinson was a student of

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

and crafted his swing in the Hogan tradition. He played college golf at

Louisiana State Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...

, where he and teammate

Jay Hebert Junius Joseph "Jay" Hebert (February 14, 1923 – May 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer. He won seven times on the PGA Tour including the 1960 PGA Championship. His younger brother, Lionel Hebert, also won the PGA Championship, in 1 ...

led the Tigers to the national title in 1947. In a long PGA Tour career, he won seven times between 1956 and 1971. In his last win, the 1971

Atlanta Classic The Atlanta Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, a regular stop in suburban Atlanta for over four decades. It was founded in 1967, although previous events dating to 1934 are included in the PGA Tour's past winners list. AT&T was the last ...

, he beat

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

in a sudden-death playoff. During his PGA Tour career, Dickinson competed in 12 Masters Championships. His best finish came in 1973, when he tied for tenth. He played on the 1967 and 1971

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

teams. With a 9–1–0 match record, Dickinson holds the record for best winning percentage (minimum of seven matches). In team Ryder Cup play, he never lost a match with partner

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

(5–0). Dickinson was one of the founders of the Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour). He authored the book ''Let 'er Rip'' — a lengthy, bitey rant in which he opines on everything from golf officials and his fellow players to topical issues such as how young people dress. He also designed the 36-hole Frenchman's Creek Club in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

. Dickinson later taught the game to players such as LPGA great

JoAnne Carner JoAnne Gunderson Carner (born April 4, 1939) is an American former professional golfer. Her 43 victories on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women ...

and his future wife

Judy Clark Judy Clark (June 9, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film and television actress and singer. Clark adopted a brash and energetic singing style, similar to that of musical-comedy star Betty Hutton (with trade critics almost alw ...

, who is a former player and president of the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. After a long illness, he died at age 70 in

Tequesta, Florida Tequesta is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,158 at the 2020 Census. It is the northernmost municipality in the South Florida- Miami metropolitan area, which in 2010 had a total population ...

in 1998. Dickinson was voted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. A well-known quote by Dickinson is: "They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that."

Professional wins (11)

PGA Tour wins (7)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Other wins (4)

*1952

Florida Open The Florida Open is the Florida state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is now organized by the Florida State Golf Association (FSGA). It has been played annually since 1942 at a variety of courses around the ...

*1956

West Palm Beach Open The West Palm Beach Open Invitational, first played as The West Palm Beach Open, was a PGA Tour event in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was held at the West Palm Beach Country Club, now known as the West Palm Beach Golf Course, an 18-hole, par- ...

*1965 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with

Ruth Jessen Mary Ruth Jessen (November 12, 1936 – September 21, 2007) was an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1956 and won 11 LPGA Tour victories in all. Amateur career Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Jessen ...

) *1978 Legends of Golf (with

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

)

Results in major championships

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1969 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1964 PGA – 1968 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Gardner American male golfers LSU Tigers golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Alabama Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Dothan, Alabama People from Tequesta, Florida 1927 births 1998 deaths