Ralph J. Guldahl (November 22, 1911 – June 11, 1987) 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, one of the top five players in the sport from 1936 to 1940.
He won sixteen PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, including three majors (two U.S. Opens and one Masters).
Early life and education
Born in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, Guhldahl was a 1930 graduate of
Woodrow Wilson High School.
Professional tournament career
Initial success, slump
Guldahl started playing on the professional tournament circuit in 1931, and won an event in his rookie season before turning 20 years of age, setting a record that would not be matched until 2013, when
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
won the
John Deere Classic. In 1933, at the age of 21, Guldahl went into the last hole of the
U.S. Open tied for the lead with
Johnny Goodman
John George Goodman (December 28, 1909 – August 8, 1970) was the last amateur golfer to win the U.S. Open, in 1933, and also won the U.S. Amateur in 1937.
Born to Lithuanian immigrants in South Omaha, Nebraska, Goodman was orphaned at the ...
. A par would have taken him into a playoff, but he made bogey and finished second. After further frustrating failures, Guldahl quit the sport temporarily in 1935 and became a car salesman.
Comeback
Guldahl made a comeback part way through the next
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
season in 1936, won the prestigious
Western Open
The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour.
The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...
and finished second on the money list. He won the Western Open in 1937 and 1938 as well. That tournament was recognized as one of the world's most important events at the time, on the level of a major championship or close to it.
Guldahl's manner of play was relaxed: "He paused to comb his hair before every hole, and would forestall any suspense by announcing exactly where he intended to plant the ball."
Breakthrough at major level
Guldahl won three
major championships. He claimed the
U.S. Open title in
1937, with a then-record score of 281. He successfully defended the national title with his win in
1938, and was the last to win the U.S. Open while wearing a necktie during play in 1938. Guldahl was runner-up at the
Masters in both
1937 and
1938, before taking that title in
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidden to ...
. He played on his only
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 ...
team in
1937, the last before a decade hiatus due to
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 ...
.
Guldahl reached the top in golf ahead of more famous players of his generation, including
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 ...
and fellow Texans
Byron Nelson
John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hoga ...
,
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
Jimmy Demaret
James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and ...
, who all went on to build much longer and more productive pro careers. Guldahl's 16 PGA Tour wins all came in a ten-year span between 1931 and 1940. Guldahl put together five straight seasons—from 1936 to 1940—with multiple PGA Tour titles.
Book contract and decision to retire
Guldahl was offered a book contract for a guide to golf, taking two months to complete ''Groove Your Golf'', a book that used high-speed photographs of Guldahl on each page to create "flip-book" movies. After completing the book in 1939, he returned to the PGA Tour. His last two wins came in 1940. Two-time PGA champion
Paul Runyan
Paul Scott Runyan (July 12, 1908 – March 17, 2002) was an American professional golfer. Among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, he won two PGA Championships, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instruc ...
commented, "It's the most ridiculous thing, really. Guldahl went from being temporarily the best player in the world to one who couldn't play at all."
[ His son, Ralph, claimed that his father over-analyzed his swing and it fell apart. According to his wife, Laverne: "When he sat down to write that book, that's when he lost his game."][
In an interview with '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1979, Guldahl himself offered a different explanation for the slump in his game. When asked about destroying his talent by practicing in front of a mirror while writing the book, he responded: "Nonsense. No such thing ever happened."[ During the interview, he offered several reasons for retiring: he was tired of life on the road; he wanted more time with his family; and the wartime slowdown in tournaments caused his game to grow rusty and he had little inclination to train. "I never did have a tremendous desire to win."][
Paul Collins summed up Guldahl's decision to retire with these words: "Guldahl's fate had little to do with overthinking his game, and much to do with the untutored Dallas boy who once loved to play abandoned courses and baseball diamonds alone. Far more than fame, what Ralph Guldahl wanted was a nice, quiet game of golf."][ Guldahl played occasionally in the 1940s but then quit tournament golf for good, except for several seasons in the 1960s, when he played in the Masters, as an eligible past champion, without notable success.
]
Club professional
He spent the rest of his working life as a club professional. In 1961, he became the club pro at the new Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, California
Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan.
Histo ...
, where he was an instructor until his death.[ Among his students was billionaire ]Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
.
Legacy
Guldahl was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1980. Guldahl was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...
in 1981. He died in Sherman Oaks, California
Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...
, in 1987 at age 75.
In 1989, Guldahl was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame when it was created during the celebration of the school's 60th Anniversary. He is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
PGA Tour wins (16)
*1931 (1) Santa Monica Open
*1932 (1) Arizona Open
The Arizona Open Championship is the annual open state championship of golf in Arizona. The competition is 54-holes of stroke play (3 rounds on an 18-hole course), with the winner being the player with the lowest total number of strokes. Following ...
*1934 (1) Westwood Golf Club Open Championship
*1936 (3) Western Open
The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour.
The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...
, Augusta Open, Miami Biltmore Open
The Coral Gables Open Invitational was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1931 to 1937 and 1959 to 1962. It was played at what is now the Miami Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is ...
*1937 (2) U.S. Open, Western Open
The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour.
The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...
*1938 (2) U.S. Open, Western Open
The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour.
The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...
*1939 (4) Greater Greensboro Open
The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open.
History
Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...
, Masters Tournament
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...
, Dapper Dan Open
The Dapper Dan Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played intermittently in the 1930s and 1940s. It was sponsored by Dapper Dan Charities, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based charitable organization founded in 1936 as a b ...
, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball
The Miami International Four-Ball was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1924 to 1954. It was played primarily at what is now the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club in Miami, Florida. It was also played at the Miami Biltmore Golf Course in Co ...
(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 ...
)
*1940 (2) Milwaukee Open
The Milwaukee Open was a professional golf tournament in Wisconsin on the PGA Tour, played only in 1940. It was held August 2–4 at North Hills Country Club in Menomenee Falls, northwest of Milwaukee. Three-time major winner Ralph Guldahl shot ...
, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball The Inverness Invitational Four-Ball was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1935 to 1953. It was played at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
Format
The tournament featured an unusual team round robin format. From 1935 to 1951, the field co ...
(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 ...
)
Major championships are shown in bold.
Major championships
Wins (3)
Results timeline
NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 25 (1930 U.S. Open – 1946 Masters)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (five times)
See also
*List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
This is a list of the fifty golfers who have won the most official (or later deemed historically significant) money events on the PGA Tour. It is led by Sam Snead and Tiger Woods with 82 each.
Many players won important events early in the 20th ce ...
*List of men's major championships winning golfers
The men's major golf championships, also known simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious events in professional golf. The competitions are the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship, contested a ...
References
External links
*
Texas State Historical Association
– Ralph Guldahl
Braemar Country Club
– History – Ralph Guldahl
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guldahl, Ralph
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Winners of men's major golf championships
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
Golf writers and broadcasters
Golfers from Dallas
1911 births
1987 deaths