The 1912 U.S. Open was the 18th U.S. Open, held August 1–2 at the Country Club of Buffalo in Amherst, New York, a suburb east of Buffalo. (The course is now Grover Cleveland Golf Course, owned by Erie County. The Country Club of Buffalo relocated several miles east in 1926 to Williamsville ().) Twenty-year-old John McDermott successfully defended his U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of runner-up Tom McNamara.
At the end of the second round on Thursday, Mike Brady, Percy Barrett, and Alex Smith were tied for the lead, with defending champion McDermott two back.
In the third round on Friday morning, played in rainy conditions with thunderstorms threatening to disrupt play, McDermott managed to card a 74 despite hitting two drives out of bounds. He still trailed Brady by three going into the final round in the afternoon, but Brady struggled on his way to a 79 and 299 total. McNamara, seven back at the start of the round, fired a course-record 69 to post 296; his 142 over the last two rounds was a new tournament record, but not enough to catch McDermott. Despite a bogey on the last hole, McDermott carded a 71 for a 294 total, two shots ahead of McNamara.
McDermott, age 20, was already a two-time U.S. Open champion, but by 1914 his golf career was over. After a series of personal setbacks, he began suffering from mental illness and spent most of the rest of his life in a mental institution.
Jim Barnes, a future champion in 1921, tied for 18th in his first U.S. Open. Horace Rawlins, the winner of the inaugural Open in 1895, made his final appearance and missed the cut.
The par-6 tenth hole measured , the longest hole in U.S. Open history up to that point and the only time a hole was given a par more than five.
Course
(present-day Grover Cleveland Golf Course) HoleYardsParHoleYardsPar13454 1060662315411400434064123404438041321035455514170363004155165712531615538430517540593004183334 Out3,05637In3,27037Source:Total 6,32674
Round summaries First round Thursday, August 1, 1912 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Mike Brady 72 −2 Dan Kenny George Sargent T4 Frank Peebles 73 −1 Walter Travis (a) T6 Grange Alves 74 E Percy Barrett Alex Campbell Jack Campbell Jack Croke John McDermott Tom McNamara David Ogilvie Source:
Second round Thursday, August 1, 1912 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Percy Barrett 74-73=147 −1 Mike Brady 72-75=147 Alex Smith 77-70=147 T4 Jack Campbell 74-75=149 +1 John McDermott 74-75=149 Frank Peebles 73-76=149T7 Jim Barnes 77-73=150 +2 George Sargent 72-78=150 T10 Tom Anderson, Jr. 75-76=151 +3 Alex Campbell 74-77=151 Source:
Third round Friday, August 2, 1912 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mike Brady 72-75-73=220 −2 2 John McDermott 74-75-74=223 +1 3 Alex Smith 77-70-77=224 +24 George Sargent 72-78-76=226 +4 5 Tom McNamara 74-80-73=227 +56 Otto Hackbarth 77-77-75=229 +7T7 Charlie Murray 75-78-77=230 +8 Walter Travis (a) 73-79-78=230 T9 Alex Campbell 74-77-80=231 +9 Jack Dowling 76-79-76=231 Source:
Final round Friday, August 2, 1912 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 John McDermott 74-75-74-71=294 −2 3002 Tom McNamara 74-80-73-69=296 E 150T3 Mike Brady 72-75-73-79=299 +3 90 Alex Smith 77-70-77-75=2995 Alex Campbell 74-77-80-71=302 +6 706 George Sargent 72-78-76-77=303 +7 60T7 Jack Dowling 76-79-76-74=305 +9 45 Otto Hackbarth 77-77-75-76=3059 Charlie Murray 75-78-77-76=306 +10 40T10 Tom Anderson, Jr. 75-76-81-75=307 +11 25 Frank Peebles 73-76-83-75=307 Walter Travis (a) 73-79-78-77=307 0 Source:
Amateurs: Travis (+11), J. Anderson (+14), Gardner (+23), Lee (+29).
References
External links USGA.org