Lyman Loren "Smiley" Quick (March 19, 1909 – December 23, 1979) was an American professional golfer who played on the

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 ...

in the 1940s and 1950s. Quick was born in

Centralia, Illinois Centralia is a city in Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Illinois with the largest portion in Marion County. The city is the largest in three of the counties; Clinton, Marion, and Washington, but is not a ...

, but lived most of his life in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

in places like Inglewood and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He served as a combat Marine in

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 opposing ...

. His best year as an amateur was 1946 when he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links and was runner-up at the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

after missing a putt from 2 feet at Baltusrol's Lower Course giving Ted Bishop the championship. Quick played on the

1947 Walker Cup The 1947 Walker Cup, the 11th Walker Cup Match, was played on 16 and 17 May 1947, on the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. The United States won by 8 matches to 4. The match should have been played in the United States; the previous match, in 1 ...

team and turned professional in 1948. As a pro, Quick never lived up to the potential he showed as an amateur; the closest he came to winning on the PGA Tour was when he tied for first with Jack Burke Jr.,

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 Dave Douglas at the 1950

Bing Crosby Pro-Am The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on three different courses, currently Pebble Bea ...

. In his later years, he made a living gambling on the golf course with people like

Titanic Thompson Alvin Clarence Thomas (November 30, 1893 – May 19, 1974) was an American gambler, golfer and hustler better known as Titanic Thompson. Thompson traveled the country wagering at cards, dice games, golf, shooting, billiards, horseshoes and pro ...

. Quick hustled boxing great Joe Louis out of a quarter million dollars — enough to buy an apartment in Los Angeles and a fleet of fast cars.

Amateur wins

*1940 Southern California Golf Association Championship *1943 Southern California Golf Association Championship *1946 U.S. Amateur Public Links *1947 Mexican Amateur

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Other wins (5)

*1948

California State Open The California State Open is the California state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Southern California section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1900 and has been played at a var ...

*1949

*1951 Utah Open, Ontario Open (Canada) *1955

Northern California Open The Northern California Open is a golf tournament played in the Northern California, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is run by the Northern California section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1920 at a var ...

Results in major championships

Amateur Professional LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for 1947 Amateur Championship
The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1947, pg. 6.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

: 1947 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quick, Smiley American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Illinois Golfers from California United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II People from Centralia, Illinois 1909 births 1979 deaths