Richard Davol Chapman (March 23, 1911 – November 15, 1978) 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. ''

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'' magazine crowned Chapman "the Ben Hogan of amateur golf". Chapman was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and othe ...

. He was the 1940 U.S. Amateur golf champion. He was a member of

Winged Foot Golf Club Winged Foot Golf Club is a private golf club in the northeastern United States, located in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. The club was founded in 1921, by a group largely made up of members of The New York Athletic Cl ...

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...

, which was the site of his first major triumph. He remains one of only three players to have won a

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 ...

title on their home course. He holds a place in the

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 ma ...

record book for the most appearances (19) as an amateur, a distinction he shares with

Charles Coe Charles Robert Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer who is considered by many to be one of the greatest American amateurs in history. A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional either becau ...

. Although Chapman was quite the international player, winning the 1951

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 1 ...

, he also won state amateur championships in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and the Carolinas. He also won the prestigious North and South Amateur. At the 1958 U.S. Amateur, Chapman and his son, Dixie, both qualified, giving a rare father-and-son appearance. Chapman's career was put on hold for

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where he served as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war, Chapman picked up where he left off, with a string of victories in the British, French,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, and Italian amateurs. Chapman is one of only two players (the other is

Harvie Ward Edward Harvie Ward, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – September 4, 2004) was an American golfer best known for his amateur career. He is best known for winning both the U.S. Amateur (twice) and the British Amateur. Born in Tarboro, North Carolina, Ward a ...

) who has won the U.S., British, and Canadian Amateur Championships. "Blessed with a strong competitive spirit and an inquiring mind into the technicalities of the swing," reads the entry on Chapman in ''Who's Who in Golf''. "Chapman not only played the game but wrote about it and worked at its many phases." In the 1950s, Chapman collaborated with the USGA on a handicap format for foursomes play called the Chapman System, also known as Pinehurst or American Foursomes. The system worked as follows: two golfers on the same team each tee off, then play the other's ball. From there, they select the ball with which to complete the hole and continue as in foursomes. Chapman played on the winning

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 ...

teams in 1947, 1951, and 1953. Chapman's final success came in 1967 with a victory in the International Senior Amateur. A stroke in the early 1970s hampered his career, and he died in

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in 1978. Chapman was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame Members

Amateur wins (16)

''this list is probably incomplete'' *1934 Westchester Amateur *1936

Connecticut Amateur The Connecticut Amateur is the state amateur golf championship in Connecticut. First played in 1899, it is one of the oldest state amateur championships in the United States. History In modern times, the tournament usually begins with two quali ...

*1938

*1939 French Open Amateur, New York State Amateur *1940 U.S. Amateur *1948

Golf Illustrated Gold Vase The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England. It was a 36-hole scratch stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is co ...

*1949

Canadian Amateur The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play in ...

*1950 Massachusetts Amateur *1951

, New England Amateur *1952 French Open Amateur *1953 Carolinas Amateur *1957 Carolinas Amateur *1958 North and South Amateur *1960 Italian Open Amateur

Major championships

Amateur wins (2)

Results timeline

''Note: Chapman never played in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.''
M = Medalist
LA = Low Amateur
NT = No tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place Source for The Masters
www.masters.com
br> Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
br> Sources for British Amateur
The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1935, pg. 22.The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1936, pg. 20.The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1937, pg. 21.The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1939, pg. 3.The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1948, pg. 6.The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1952, pg. 2.www.opengolf.com
br> Source

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

(winners),

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

(winners),

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

(winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Dick American male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Connecticut United States Army Air Forces officers Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut 1911 births 1978 deaths