A Retrospective: Important Dates in New Jersey Golf - December Edition
Photo Courtesy: USGA
With the NJSGA's 125th Anniversary coming up next year, we will focus a spotlight on some of the NJSGA's most fascinating people, events, and courses. Enjoy these important dates in New Jersey golf history, compiled monthly by Kevin Casey, author of Remarkable Stories of New Jersey Golf. Here is a look at notable December dates:
December 2, 1879 – John M. Shippen, son of a Black Presbyterian minister, was born. As a sixteen-year-old, Shippen tied for sixth in the 1896 U.S. Open, coming within a few shots of becoming the first American-born U.S. Open champion. Furthermore, in an event in which he was one of only two players born in the United States, by pocketing his $10 share of the purse, Shippen became arguably the first American-born golf touring professional.
Shippen would compete and serve as a professional golfer (including playing out of NJ’s Spring Lake Golf Club) for several decades, including in five more U.S. Opens, in 1899, 1900, ’02, ’08, and ’13; fifth place in 1902 standing as his best Open finish. But in an era increasingly marked by Jim Crow laws and segregationist sentiment, Shippen’s opportunities to compete against his peers slowly dried up (case in point, after Shippen’s 1913 finish, no Black man played in the U.S. Open until Ted Rhodes competed in 1948).
By 1924, Shippen had largely retired from competition, but he led the creation of the United Golf Association, a loosely knit golf tour for Black professionals. In 1931 he became the head professional and groundskeeper at Shady Rest Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains, the first golf club in the U.S. managed by and for Blacks. Shippen remained at Shady Rest until 1964, finally retiring when the club became the municipal course known as Scotch Hills Country Club. The club has since been renamed Shady Rest as an homage to its storied history.
A New Jersey resident for almost half his life, Shippen died in 1968 and is buried in Linden.
December 22, 1894 – The USGA was born at the Calumet Club in downtown Manhattan. Formed to create an event that would identify a true national amateur champion, the organization was initially named the Amateur Golf Association of the United States.
Its leaders quickly realized that its scope should extend beyond the amateur game to include professional golfers, and they renamed it the more encompassing United States Golf Association.
A few months later, in 1895, the USGA held its first U.S. Amateur Championship, followed immediately by the first U.S. Open. Since then, 23 New Jersey host sites have held 63 USGA Championships (fourth among all states). One NJ club, Baltusrol Golf Club, in Springfield, has hosted 16 USGA championships, including 7 U.S. Opens and two U.S. Women’s Opens. In May, Edison’s Plainfield Country Club will hold its third USGA championship (and NJ’s 64th), the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
In 1972, the USGA moved its Manhattan headquarters to Liberty Corner, in Somerset County. The USGA campus includes the impressive USGA Golf Museum and Library, home to the world’s most significant collection of golf artifacts and memorabilia and hosts more than 10,000 visitors a year.
