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1937 U.S. Open (golf)

Field	Value
name	1937 U.S. Open
dates	June 10–12, 1937
location	Birmingham, Michigan
course	Oakland Hills Country Club,
South Course
tour	PGA Tour
org	USGA
format	Stroke play − 72 holes
par	72
yardage	7037 yd
field	166 players, 65 after cut
cut	152 (+8)
purse	$5,000
winners_share	$1,000
champion	USA Ralph Guldahl
score	281 (−7)
previous	[1936](1936-u-s-open-golf)
next	[1938](1938-u-s-open-golf)

South Course |USA |USA Michigan Hills CC The 1937 U.S. Open was the 41st U.S. Open, held June 10–12 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Ralph Guldahl won the first of his two consecutive U.S. Opens, two strokes ahead of runner-up Sam Snead, making his U.S. Open debut.

Snead opened with a 69 to share the lead with Denny Shute. Through 54 holes, Snead and Guldahl trailed Ed Dudley by a stroke. During the final round on Saturday afternoon, Dudley shot a 76 and fell out of contention, while Snead birdied the last to finish with a 71 and a 283 total. Guldahl, playing well behind Snead, holed a 65 ft putt for eagle at 8, then a birdie from 25 ft at 9. After bogeys at 10 and 11, he rallied with birdies on the next two holes. He then went even on his last five holes to finish with a 69 and a 281 total, two better than Snead and a stroke better than the previous tournament record, set the previous year by Tony Manero.

Two years earlier, Guldahl had become so frustrated with the game that he quit to become a carpenter. After deciding to return to the game, he went through a period of dominance throughout the late-1930s. He won the Western Open, then considered on-par with the major championships, three years in a row; was runner-up in the Masters Tournament in 1937 and 1938 before winning in 1939; and successfully defended this U.S. Open title in 1938. For Snead, age 25, this tournament was just the beginning of a hard-luck career in the U.S. Open; he finished runner-up four times at the only major he never won.

Guldahl won the title with 19 clubs in his bag. The USGA rule (4-4) regarding a maximum of 14 clubs went into effect the following January.

Set at 7037 yd, Oakland Hills was the first U.S. Open venue to surpass 7000 yd; its average elevation is approximately 800 ft above sea level.

The South Course previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, also at par 72, and it returned at par 70 in 1951, 1961, 1985, and 1996. It also later hosted the PGA Championship in 1972, 1979, and 2008. The second par-5 holes on each nine (#8, #18) were played at par-4.

Course layout

South Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	443	512	200	447	449	351	416	491	215	3,514	448	413	555	142	450	405	380	198	537	3,523	7,037
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	5	3	36	4	4	5	3	4	4	4	3	5	36	72

Source:

Length of the course for previous major:

6880 yd, par 72 - 1924 U.S. Open

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 10, 1937

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	USA Denny Shute	69	−3
USA Sam Snead
T3	USA Ed Dudley	70	−2
USA Johnny Goodman (a)
USA Bill Holt (a)
USA Frank Strafaci (a)
USA Frank Walsh
T8	USA Ralph Guldahl	71	−1
USA Fred Morrison
USA Henry Picard
USA Mike Turnesa

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 11, 1937

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	USA Ed Dudley	70-70=140	−4
USA Ralph Guldahl	71-69=140
USA Frank Walsh	70-70=140
SCO Jimmy Thomson	74-66=140
T5	USA Harry Cooper	72-70=142	−2
USA Pat Sawyer	72-70=142
USA Frank Strafaci (a)	70-72=142
USA Sam Snead	69-73=142
T9	USA Vic Ghezzi	72-71=143	−1
USA Johnny Goodman (a)	70-73=143

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 12, 1937 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Ed Dudley	70-70-71=211	−5
T2	USA Ralph Guldahl	71-69-72=212	−4
USA Sam Snead	69-73-70=212
4	SCO Bobby Cruickshank	73-73-67=213	−3
T5	USA Harry Cooper	72-70-73=215	−1
USA Al Brosch	74-73-68=215
USA Johnny Goodman (a)	70-73-72=215
8	USA Pat Sawyer	72-70-75=217	+1
T9	USA Henry Picard	71-75-72=218	+2
USA Gene Sarazen	78-69-71=218
USA Frank Walsh	70-70-78=218

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 12, 1937 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA Ralph Guldahl	71-69-72-69=281	−7	1,000
2	USA Sam Snead	69-73-70-71=283	−5	800
3	SCO Bobby Cruickshank	73-73-67-72=285	−3	700
4	USA Harry Cooper	72-70-73-71=286	−2	600
5	USA Ed Dudley	70-70-71-76=287	−1	450
6	USA Al Brosch	74-73-68-73=288	E	375
7	USA Clarence Clark	72-75-73-69=289	+1	275
8	USA Johnny Goodman (a)	70-73-72-75=290	+2	0
9	USA Frank Strafaci (a)	70-72-77-72=291	+3
T10	USA Charles Kocsis (a)	72-73-76-71=292	+4
USA Henry Picard	71-75-72-74=292	175
USA Gene Sarazen	78-69-71-74=292
USA Denny Shute	69-76-75-72=292

Source:

(a) = amateur

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	5	3	4	4	5	3	4	4	4	5	4
USA Guldahl	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−4	−4	−6	−7	−6	−5	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7
USA Snead	−3	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−5	−5	−4	−5
SCO Cruickshank	−3	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3
ENGUSA Cooper	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	−1	E	−1	−1	−1	E	E	−1	−2
USA Dudley	−4	−4	−5	−4	−4	−5	−6	−5	−5	−3	−2	−2	−3	−2	−1	E	−1	−1
USA Brosch	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	E
USA Clark	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1
USA Goodman	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	E	−1	−1	−1	E	E	+2	+2	+2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

	Eagle		Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey		Triple bogey+

Source:

References

(June 7, 1937). "Long course awaits National Open field". Milwaukee Journal.
Bartlett, Charles. (June 10, 1937). "167 golfers start shooting for National Open title today". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(June 13, 1937). "Shot by shot story of how Guldahl played last 18". Chicago Sunday Tribune.
Gould, Alan. (June 13, 1937). "Guldahl's 281 wins National Open". Youngstown Vindicator.
(June 13, 1937). "Every strokes a problem with championship at stake". Chicago Sunday Tribune.
McLemore, Henry. (June 13, 1937). "Guldahl's record 281 eins U.S. Open title". Pittsburgh Press.
(June 11, 1937). "Snead and Shute shoot subpar 69's to take lead in Open". Palm Beach Post.
Bartlett, Charles. (June 11, 1937). "Snead and Shute lead open golf with record 69". Chicago Daily Tribune.
Sixty, Billy. (June 13, 1937). "Ralph Guldahl wins Open title with record 281". Milwaukee Journal.
(June 13, 1937). "Uses 19 clubs". Milwaukee Journal.
(January 1, 1937). "Golfers limited to 14 clubs in competition". Reading Eagle.
(January 1, 1937). "Tournament golfers limited to 14 clubs". Tuscaloosa News.
(June 12, 1937). "National Open golf scores". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(June 12, 1937). "Second day's U.S. Open scores". Spokesman-Review.
(June 13, 1937). "National Open cards". Pittsburgh Press.

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