H. Ward Wettlaufer (October 31, 1935 – March 31, 2016) 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 ...

er with numerous titles to his name, including the

Eastern Amateur The Eastern Amateur is an annual 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 no ...

, two

Porter Cup The Porter Cup is a 72-hole, medal-play elite amateur golf tournament held annually at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. It was first played in 1959 and over the years has hosted some of the biggest names in golf. Past champions ...

championships,

North and South Amateur The North and South Men's Amateur Golf Championship, commonly known as the North and South Amateur, is an annual golf tournament held since 1901 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. An invitational tournament, participants are ...

, and the

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 ...

as a member of the "unbeatable" 1959 U.S. team. A native of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Wettlaufer served for 50 years since graduation from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

as an executive and CEO of a family business manufacturing and distributing commercial printing supplies.

Tournament wins

*1953 International Junior Masters *1956 Tam O'Shanter World Amateur, Bermuda Amateur *1958

*1959

*1960

*1965

*1966

, Georgia State Amateur, Atlanta Open *1990 Wild Dunes Senior Champion *1991 Wild Dunes Senior Champion *1995 Society of Seniors Medal Play

Other career highlights

* Canadian Open, low amateur, 1956 *

NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. The teams that win their respective Division I conference championships are given automatic spots in th ...

, runner-up, 1956 *

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was first ...

, quarterfinalist, 1956 *Tam O'Shanter World Amateur Championship, runner-up, 1957 *

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 ...

, semifinalist, 1958 *Carling Cup team member, 1958, 1960 *NCAA First Team All-American, 1958, 1959 * Masters Tournament, contestant, 1959–61 *Insurance City Open, low amateur, 1960 * U.S. Open, contestant, 1960, 1965 *Walker Cup, alternate, 1966 *

Southern Amateur The Southern Amateur is an amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1902 and is organized by the Southern Golf Association. From 1902 to 1963, it was played at match play. Since 1964, it has been played at stroke play. In December 2021, ...

, runner-up, 1966 *Country Club of Buffalo, Club Champion 22 times in five decades from the 1950s to 1990s *

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

, contestant, 1991 *Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, 1995 *Member of U.S. Senior Team Medal Play, 1996, winners *U.S. Senior Amateur Man of the Year, 1996 *Top-10 ranked National Senior Amateur, four years

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

(winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wettlaufer, Ward American male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from New York (state) Hamilton College (New York) alumni Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York 1935 births 2016 deaths