William Henry Tucker, Sr. (15 August 1872 – 6 October 1954) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and golf course architect of English birth. Tucker placed seventh in the 1896 U.S. Open, held 18 July at

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a Links (golf), links-style golf club located in an Shinnecock Hills, New York, unincorporated area of the Southampton (town), New York, Town of Southampton on Long Island, New York (state), New York, situated betwee ...

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

. Although a fine golfer, the bulk of his career would not be spent as a tournament player but rather as a golf course architect.

Early life

Tucker was born in England on 15 August 1872. He was the son of William Henry Tucker and Katherine Dunn who had married in Scotland earlier in 1872. Katherine was daughter of

Willie Dunn, Sr. Willie Dunn Sr. (19 August 1821 – 14 February 1878) was a Scottish professional golfer who played during the mid-to-late 19th century. He was born in Musselburgh, Musselburgh, Scotland, in 1821 and died there. Dunn had three top-10 finishes in ...

and the sister of Tom Dunn and

Willie Dunn Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

. William Henry Tucker was a gardener from

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. After being widowed, Katherine also emigrated to the United States and lived with Tucker. She was still alive in 1930. Tucker had three younger brothers,

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

, John and Thomas, who also emigrated to the United States. His brother John Dunn Tucker was the first professional at Pinehurst and designed the second nine holes of the number 1 course. As a youngster Tucker was taught how to play golf by his father, a green keeper at

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

Golf Club. He also became a proficient

sod Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

roller but rather than golf course maintenance he yearned for a career as a professional golfer.

Golf career

At first, he moved to

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

, France, where he worked for

. He didn't stay there long and soon returned to London where he worked as a club maker for

Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). The company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger on London's Cannon Street.J. R. Lowerson, 'Slazenge ...

. He was the professional at Redhill & Reigate Golf Club in the early 1890s, playing in the

1894 Open Championship The 1894 Open Championship was the 34th Open Championship, held 11–12 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. J.H. Taylor won the Championship by five strokes from runner-up Douglas Rolland. This was the first Open Champions ...

. He emigrated to the United States in 1895 and went to work with his brother Sam who was the professional at St. Andrew's Golf Club in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

. The brothers manufactured hand-made golf clubs that they marketed under the name "Defiance". While at St. Andrew's, Willie helped with the design of St. Andrew's Mount Hope course. Later he designed such courses as the original North Hills in Douglaston and built the present 27-hole

Ridgewood Country Club The Ridgewood Country Club (RCC) is a country club located in Paramus, New Jersey, a suburb northwest of New York City in Bergen County. It was founded in 1890 in neighboring Ho-Ho-Kus, but has been at its current location since 1926. Its facilit ...

course in Paramus, New Jersey, for A. W. Tillinghast.

1896 U.S. Open

The 1896 U.S. Open was the second U.S. Open, held July 18 at

. Tucker finished in seventh place with rounds of 78-82=160 and won $5. His brother Sam had played in the 1895 U.S. Open and finished in the ninth position.

James Foulis James Foulis (22 August 1871 – 3 March 1928), also known as James Foulis Jr., was a Scottish professional golfer who won the second U.S. Open in 1896. He also finished tied for third in the inaugural 1895 U.S. Open held at Newport Golf Clu ...

won the tournament, his only

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, finishing three strokes ahead of runner-up

Horace Rawlins Horace Thomas Rawlins (5 August 1874 – 22 January 1935) was an English professional golfer who won the first U.S. Open Championship in 1895. Early life Rawlins was born at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, England, the son of Thomas Horatio and ...

, the defending champion. Like the first Open, it was a sideshow to the more established and better known

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 ...

. However, there were 35 entrants and 28 finished the 36 holes.

Golf course architecture

Tucker designed the St. Martin's course at the

Philadelphia Cricket Club The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania. History Founded on February 10, 1854, the Philadelphia Cricket ...

. It is named "St. Martin's" after the adjacent episcopal church, St. Martin's in the Fields. The club originally opened a 9-hole course in 1895, which was quickly replaced by the 18-hole St. Martin's course in 1898, designed by Willie Tucker. This course hosted the U.S. Open championships in

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

and

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

, won by

Alec Ross Alexander Ross (15 September 1879 – 25 June 1952) was a Scottish professional golfer. He was a native of Dornoch and learned his golf in his home country, but like many British professional golfers of his era he spent many years working a ...

and

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

, respectively. Today, this course has been reduced to a 9-hole layout. Despite the reduction, the 7th, 8th, and 9th holes are the same layout as they were played during the 1907 and 1910 U.S. Open championship. Tucker was one of the early pioneers in American golf course architecture. He designed at least four courses in the

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, area – including Douglaston Golf Club and Clearview Golf Club – and in the American midwest at

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, and courses as far west as

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

state. In 1895 he designed the original Denver Country club course which today is Overland Park golf course, the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. He built a golf course at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and designed the Preakness Hills Country Club in

Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York ...

, the latter completed in 1926.

Family

Tucker was married to Annie Ada, née Jeal (1873-1951). They had a son, Willie Tucker, Jr., who was also a golf course architect.

Death and legacy

Tucker died on 6 October 1954 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. The Championship Course at the University of New Mexico, designed by Tucker, has been home to the William H. Tucker Invitational for the past 43 years. The tournament is the second longest running college tournament in the U.S. and the golf course hosted the 61st playing of the event in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Willie English male golfers Golf course architects English emigrants to the United States 1872 births 1954 deaths