Stewart Murray "Skip" Alexander, Jr. (August 6, 1918 – October 24, 1997) was an American collegiate and

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 ...

. Alexander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was raised in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. He attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

from 1937 to 1940. During that time, he helped Duke win the Southern Conference Championship in golf three times, won the individual conference title twice, was a two-time Southern Intercollegiate medalist and twice reached the quarter-finals of the National Intercollegiate Tournament. Alexander turned professional in 1941 and joined the PGA Tour in 1946. In 1948 he won his first tour event, the Tucson Open. He would win twice more on tour. On September 24, 1950, Alexander was the lone survivor of a plane crash in Evansville, Indiana, in which he was severely burned over 70% of his body. After 17 operations, one of which was to permanently freeze his badly burned fingers around the grip of a golf club instead of removing them, he returned to help the United States win the 1951 Ryder Cup. Sam Snead, the Ryder Cup captain that year, paired Alexander against the British champion, John Panton, in the singles portion of the competition. Although the thought was that it might well be a throwaway match, it would at least save their other players from playing Panton, who was beating everyone at that time. Alexander, with both hands bleeding, won the match by the largest margin in Ryder Cup history to that point, 8 & 7. Alexander served as the golf pro at Lakewood Country Club (now known as St. Petersburg Country Club) in St. Petersburg, Florida starting in 1951, and served in that capacity for 34 years. Alexander was awarded the 1959 Ben Hogan Award for golfers who make a comeback after suffering a physical handicap. He was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1986 and in 1987 was inducted for into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame as well as the

Duke Hall of Fame Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

. His son Buddy, a former U.S. Amateur champion (1986) was the head golf coach at the University of Florida in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

from 1988–2014. He also coached at Georgia Southern University (1977–80) and Louisiana State University (1983–87). Alexander died at his home in St. Petersburg.

Amateur wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1941 North and South Amateur

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (3)

Other wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1946 Carolinas Open, Gainesville Open

Team appearances

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 ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

(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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Skip American male golfers Duke Blue Devils men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Philadelphia Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina Sportspeople from St. Petersburg, Florida 1918 births 1997 deaths