Harry L. Givan (August 26, 1911 – December 16, 1999) was an American amateur

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, insurance executive, and co-founder of Seattle's Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. He is regarded as one of the best golfers in the history of the Pacific Northwest. His major national achievement was being selected for the U.S. team in the

1936 Walker Cup The 1936 Walker Cup, the 9th Walker Cup Match, was played on September 2 and 3, 1936, at Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, New Jersey. The United States won by 9 matches to 0 with 3 matches halved. Format Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were ...

. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' ranked Givan 37th among the best 50 athletes in Washington state in the 20th century.

Early life

Givan was born in Sequim, Washington on August 26, 1911. When he was nine, his parents moved him and his sister to his uncle's residence in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. He played his first golf tournament in 1923 at Inglewood Golf Club, acing the 12th hole at age 11. He won his first tournament two years later. Givan attended Lincoln High School in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood. He tried out for football, baseball, basketball, and golf. Golf was his least favorite of the sports he then played. He and a friend decided to earn extra money by caddying at Seattle Golf Club. He learned to play by watching Bob Johnstone, a professional who won the

Northwest Open The Northwest Open is golf tournament played in the Pacific Northwest, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Pacific Northwest section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1905 at a variety of cou ...

eight times. To raise spending money and money for golf clubs, Givan boxed at the old Austin & Salt Gymnasium at 9th and Olive in Seattle. Fighters earned $3 for going the distance in a fight, and $5 for a knockout. He scored 22 knockouts.

College and early golf career

By the time he graduated from Lincoln High, Givan had 19 scholarship offers. He also had an offer to play professional baseball for the San Francisco Seals. To the astonishment of the team's manager, Jim Caveny, Givan turned down a lucrative contract offer citing the fact that he wanted to go to school. Givan attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and became captain of the golf team. His golf breakthrough came when he won Seattle's City Caddy Championship at the original Glendale Country Club shooting 75.

1930s

Givan played his first PNGA Amateur at the age of 18 in 1929. He lost to Lloyd Nordstrom, a star golfer from Sand Point Country Club in Seattle. He did not golf much in the early '30s concentrating instead on studying and earning money to get through school. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1933 with honors in Engineering. He immediately went to work for Puget Sound Power & Light. Later that same year, Givan again entered the PNGA Amateur. He qualified with a 66, and eventually beat Bob White 3 & 1. In 1935, he won the Amateur at Seattle Golf Club beating Scotty Campbell on the 37th hole. He was a surprise selection to the U.S.

team.

World War II and after

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Givan served in the Coast Guard Reserve. After the war, he began selling insurance for Johnson Higgins. He eventually moved up to manage the company until he retired at the age of 62 to, "make more time for golf". During the 1950s, he was among a group of business men who helped obtain funding and land for Northwest Hospital & Medical Center in North Seattle. He chaired its board for several years. Givan's first wife Velma predeceased him. They were married for 49 years before her death. He remarried Peggy Ratliff, who was by his side at his death.

Death

Givan died December 16, 1999 at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center of emphysema. He was 88.

Tournament wins

''this list is incomplete'' *1936

Pacific Northwest Amateur The Pacific Northwest Amateur is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is one of the oldest amateur tournaments in the United States having first been played in 1899. It is organized by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) and the tournam ...

, Washington Open *1937

*1942

*1945

*1946

*1961

{{DEFAULTSORT:Givan, Harry American male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Seattle People from Sequim, Washington Respiratory disease deaths in Washington (state) Deaths from emphysema 1911 births 1999 deaths