Herbert Corey Leeds (January 30, 1855 – September 29, 1930) was an American amateur golfer and

golf course architect A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

. Leeds tied for eighth place in the 1898 U.S. Open held at

Myopia Hunt Club Myopia Hunt Club is a foxhunting and private country club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, northeast of Boston. In the early years of the U.S. Open, the club hosted it four times: 1898, 1901, 1905, and 1908. History Myopia Hunt Club was founde ...

South Hamilton, Massachusetts South Hamilton is a postal address assigned to ZIP code 01982 by the Postal Service and is part of the town of Hamilton, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the Uni ...

, a golf course of his own design. The U.S. Open was played at the Myopia Hunt Club four times, in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, and

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

Early life

Leeds was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, on January 30, 1855. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where, in addition to completing his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

studies in 1877, he played baseball. Leeds was born into a wealthy family and was a life-long sportsman, being adroit at both

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

and golf. It was no accident that he played so well at Myopia Hunt Club—he designed the course himself in 1894 and worked there for 30 years. And he would go on to build several other layouts in his career as a golf course architect. He also designed the private Bass Rocks Golf Club in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

, and the Kebo Valley Club in

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

. Also appearing on his dossier is the Palmetto Golf Club in

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sout ...

, completed in 1895. He was a member of the

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

executive committee in 1905.

Myopia Hunt Club

His course at Myopia Hunt Club measured 6,335 yards and within the confines of the course Leeds made certain that pars would not be easy, let alone birdies. Golfers were challenged with myriad features on the course such as tall mounds, numerous deep sand traps, long blind carries, deep swales, and extremely quick greens. For good measure Leeds added multi-tiered greens and deep gnarly rough. To further menace the players' wayward shots he added a pond and a

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

. The golf course was so difficult that in the 1901 U.S. Open not a single professional in the field was able to break 80 in any round. Willie Anderson's 331 for four rounds is a record that has stood for 114 years and counting and remains the highest winning score ever in the U.S. Open.

Death

Leeds died on September 29, 1930, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Herbert American male golfers Amateur golfers Golf course architects Harvard Crimson baseball players Sportspeople from Boston 1855 births 1930 deaths