November 1st and 2nd, 2024
The Springhaven Cup Invitational
1923: HOW IT ALL STARTED
The tournament was first officially contested in 1923 as "The Springhaven Cup Invitational " although history and documentation date the "Springhaven Cup" back to 1902. In 1923, Springhaven Club head pro, Andy Campbell, along with tournament committee founders Jack Sproul and M.H. Paul, officially began to construct "The Springhaven Cup Invitational". The tournament was designed to elicit the play of the nations elite golfers. The format was a 3-day event beginning with an 18 hole qualifier, followed by multiple 16-player match-play brackets.
On Thursday September 6th, 1923, over 250 contestants from all over the country descended upon Springhaven for the inaugural Springhaven Cup Invitational. The first competition was won by Springhaven Club superstar William "Bud" McIntire. McIntire qualified for match play with a score of 80 (1 below the cut of 81) followed by the match play victories below:
Opening Round - Defeated Marcus Greer 3&1 (1921 Quebec Amateur Champion and Philadelphia Amateur Runner-Up)
Quarterfinals - Defeated Joe Coble 1up through 20 holes (1924 US Amateur Public Links Champ, 1927 PGA Section Champion)
Semifinals - Defeated J. Wood Platt 1 up (USGA Sr. Amateur Champion, Pennsylvania Amateur Champion, 7x Philadelphia Amateur Champion, 7x Silver Cross Champion, 4x Patterson Cup Champion)
Finals - Defeated Charley Doelp (Kendrick Cup Champion)
1927: THE SPRINGHAVEN CUP MOVES FROM LOCAL TOURNAMENT TO NATIONAL INVITATIONAL
From 1923-1925, The Springhaven Cup Invitational was predominantly supported by local and regional players and was dominated by home course star William "Bud" McIntire. In 1926, a more well known player on a national level, J. Wood Platt, was the tournament champion and this helped place the tournament on the national scene.
In 1927, the tournament took it's first steps in attracting the best in the game across the country. Out of the 250 competitors, notables included:
- J Wood Platt (USGA Sr. Amateur Champion, Pennsylvania Amateur Champion, 7x Philadelphia Amateur Champion, 7x Silver Cross Champion, 4x Patterson Cup Champion)
- Watts Gunn (US Amateur Finalist, NCAA Champion, 3x Georgia Amateur Champion, 2x Walker Cup Team Member)
- Paul Haviland (MET AM Champion, Connecticut AM Champion, N.E. Am Champion, NCAA Team Champion)
- W.B. "Duff" McCullough (8x GAP Major Champion, 7x Crump Cup Champion, PA AM Champion, US Amateur Runner Up defeating 4 Walker Cup members en route to the final, GAP Hall of Famer)
- Roland MacKenzie (US Open Medalist, 3x Walker Cup Team Member)
Watts Gunn was crowned the qualifying medalist and survived the match play portion en route to his 1927 tournament victory. Gunn's 1927 victory helped thrust Springhaven into the spotlight. His 1927 campaign victories also included:
- Georgia Amateur (victory over Atlantic Athletic Clubmate and friend Bobby Jones)
- Southern Amateur
- NCAA Champion
He was also a Walker Cupper in 1926 and 1928 and the 1925 US Amateur finalist at Oakmont where he lost to best friend and clubmate Bobby Jones. This marked the last time two members of the same club met in the US Amateur finals.
THE SPRINGHAVEN CUP BECOMES A TRUE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:
By 1930 Springhaven had accomplished its goal of creating a premier invitation event that would attract world class competition. In 1930, tournament chairman, Jack Collins Jr., capitalized on the US Amateur taking place at nearby Merion, and enlisted a field that included:
- Francis Ouimet (US Open Champion, 2x US Amateur Champion, 7x Mass Amateur Champion, Western Amateur Champion, North/South Champion, 8x Walker Cup Team Member, 3x Walker Cup Captain)
- Cyril Tolley (2x British Amateur Champion, 6x Walker Cup Team Member)
- T.P. Perkins (British Amateur Champion, US Amateur Finalist, NY Amateur Champion, Walker Cup Team Member)
- Chuck Hunter (British Columbia Amateur Champion, Washington State Amateur Champion, California State Amateur Champion)
- Roland Mackenzie (US Open Medalist, 3x Walker Cup Team Member)
- George Dunlap (US Amateur Champion, 2x NCAA Champion, 7x North/South Champion, 3x Walker Cup Team Member)
- Chick Evans Jr (US Open Champion, 2x US Amateur Champion, 9x Western Amateur Champion, 3x Walker Cup Team Member)
- Watts Gunn (US Amateur Finalist, NCAA Champion, 3x Georgia Amateur Champion, 2x Walker Cup Team Member)
- J. Wood Platt (USGA Sr. Amateur Champion, Pennsylvania Amateur Champion, 7x Philadelphia Amateur Champion, 7x Silver Cross Champion, 4x Patterson Cup Champion)
-Max Marston - (US Amateur Champion, 3x PA Amateur Champion, 2x NJ Amateur Champion, 4x Walker Cup Team Member)
TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
This particular event, dating back to 1923, is the third longest running amateur invitational in the country. Former competitors and winners include:
- US Amateur Finalists and Champions
- Chick Evans Jr. (2x champion)
- Watts Gunn (runner-up)
- William Hyndman (runner-up)
- Jay Sigel (champion)
- Buddy Marucci (runner-up)
- Max Marston (champion)
- George Dunlap (champion)
- British Amateur Finalists and Champions
- Cyril Tolley (2x champion)
- William Hyndman (runner-up)
- Jay Sigel (champion)
- Canadian Amateur Finalists
- J. Wood Platt (runner-up)
- Jay Sigel (runner-up)
- US Open Champions
- Chick Evans Jr.
- Western Amateur Champions
- North / South Champions
- Southern Amateur Champions
- Canadian Amateur Champions
- French Amateur Champions
- NCAA Champions
- Walker Cup Team Members
A NEW FORMAT:
In 1941, at the request of the membership, the tournament committee made the event a more inclusive invitation & member based event. They also moved the competition for the "Champions Cup" to a 36 hole Individual Medal Play for the first time. Along with the competition for the Cup, there were 4 other member and guest based events that took place over the weekend of September 28, 1941. The eventual champion was J. Wood Platt, who bested Billy Hyndman in a playoff after firing a course record 65 in the afternoon round.
THE MOVE TO A TEAM COMPETITION (1950-55)
The tournament continued in its original individual format until 1950 where tournament chairman, J Herbert "Herb" Glenn, changed the event to a two man team event. This change was strongly urged by the Springhaven membership. The first pairing to take home the championship were Bob Albertus and Leo Heller, who defeated Allan Sussel and Ira Gruber in the final match.
From 1950-1954 the event was competed as a better-ball of partners match play tournament with 18 holes of qualifying, followed by multiple 16 team match-play brackets.
THE MOVE TO MEDAL PLAY (1955-PRESENT)
In 1955 tournament chairman, Herb Glenn, again elected to slightly modify the tournament format to a member guest style event with one Springhaven Member inviting a guest of another club. The two-man, 36-hole, better ball of partner medal format was won by Charles Albertus and Allan Sussel.
The Springhaven Cup Invitational (est. 1923) is one of America's oldest running amateur invitational golf tournaments in the country, only Pinehurst's North / South Invitational and Garden City's Travis Cup have longer tenure's.
THE COURSE:
The Springhaven Club has been around since 1896 and moved to its current location since 1904. It was the first course in the world designed by a woman, Ida Dixon, and our first head pro, Horace Rawlins, won the first US Open at Newport Country Club in 1895. The course, albeit on the short side by today's standards (~6,600yds) is extremely challenging with narrow fairways and small greens. The greens themselves are arguably some of the best conditioned greens in the region.