Taking on The
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TAKING ON THE GiantsPinehurst amateur Dick Chapman more than held his own against golf’s professional greats By Bill Case Left to right: Sam Snead, Dick Chapman, Mrs.Leland McKeithen, Mrs. John O. Hobson (both women are referred to as “Red Cross collectors”), Jimmy Demaret and Frank Stranahan n the first quarter of 1946, young Pinehurst attorney Leland amateurs around who on a given day could give the pros a battle. McKeithen confronted a dilemma. The Pinehurst chapter of the For a total of $500 contributed by a generous Pinehurst donor, two of golf’s Red Cross stood $2,500 short of raising the $7,000 necessary to greatest, Jimmy Demaret and the legendary Sam Snead, agreed to partner in satisfy the goal for its annual fundraising drive. As chapter presi- the Red Cross exhibition. Though better known for his colorful personality dent, McKeithen pondered ways of reducing the shortfall. Aware and a wardrobe that ranged in hue from canary yellow to powder blue, Texan that most community residents and visitors shared a love of all Demaret also possessed fabulous shotmaking skills, having captured the 1940 things golf, he considered the prospect of bringing top players Masters. Snead’s Hall of Fame career was skyrocketing. “Slammin’ Sam” would to Pinehurst to play an exhibition match at the area’s nonpareil course — win six times in ’46, including the Open Championship at St. Andrews. IPinehurst No. 2. The amateurs chosen to oppose the Snead-Demaret juggernaut were Frank But, given Pinehurst’s North and South Open and Amateur tournaments, Stranahan, 23, and Pinehurst resident Dick Chapman, 35. Both came from there were already ample opportunities for Sandhills golf aficionados to observe privileged backgrounds. Chapman’s father made a fortune as a partner in a the game’s best in action. McKeithen needed an angle that would encourage Wall Street brokerage firm. His mother also came from wealth, derived from the locals to reach into their pockets. He came up with a version of the David her father, Clarence Geist, whose profitable investments began in utilities but and Goliath theme: Match two top professionals, playing as a team, against included ownership of the Boca Raton Hotel & Club and the Seaview resort in two amateurs. Sure, the pros would be heavy favorites, but there were notable New Jersey. Stranahan’s father owned the Champion Spark Plug Company in 90 October 2017P�� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills Dick Chapman with son Dixie, wife Eloise and daughter Joy Toledo, Ohio. Both players could afford to compete internationally as amateurs, free of worry they would run out of cash. In an era when the leading golfers were reluctant to lift any- thing heavier than a cocktail glass, the muscular Stranahan was a conspicuous exception. A devoted powerlifter, the sometimes- arrogant Frank would chuckle when panting bellhops struggled to lift his luggage loaded down with concealed weights. Quirks aside, Stranahan could play. Fresh from victory in Pinehurst’s North and South Amateur, he certainly qualified as a candidate for the country’s best amateur. So did Chapman. Having won a slew of important pre-war titles including the New York, Connecticut, and French Amateurs, Chapman became a nationally prominent player after he routed his opponent in the finals of the 1940 U.S. Amateur at his home course, Winged Foot Golf Club. Recently discharged from wartime service as a major in the Army Air Corps, Chapman was poised to resume his pursuit of championship victories. A Greenwich, Connecticut, native, Chapman had recently acquired a residence in Pinehurst. A month before the exhibi- tion, he along with wife, Eloise, son, Dixie, and daughter Joy, moved into an opulent frame home in the area of McCaskill Road referred to as Millionaire’s Row. Chapman’s roots in the town dated back to his earliest days. His parents were respected members of the town’s Cottage Colony, and he had visited Pinehurst with the family for decades. John Chapman, himself a winner of a national seniors competition, introduced his son to the game, and had Dick competing in Pinehurst Country Club junior tournaments by age 9. Infatuated with golf, Chapman practiced diligently, developing a classic rhythmic swing. Soon he was taking on all comers in Pinehurst and Connecticut, and also as a player on the Williams College golf team. Encouraged by his game’s rapid maturation, Dick began entering Pinehurst’s prestigious North and South Amateur, held annually on the No. 2 course. Chapman nearly won the event in 1934 at age 22, losing the final match to the perennial champion, his former Pinehurst junior opponent, George Dunlap Jr. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills �������������������������������������������������������������������������������October 2017 91 THE 1947 MATCH Thus, many of the 725 spectators who paid a dollar to attend the Red Cross exhibition had known Chapman for years and were pulling for their stylish, debonair friend and his chiseled partner to somehow stage an upset over the Snead-Demaret combo. With all four players well-versed in the nuances of the exhibition’s four-ball format (a match in which two players post their lowest scoring ball on each hole against the lowest scor- ing ball of two other players), the gallery anticipated a riveting contest. As usual, Demaret stretched the fashion envelope, sporting an outlandishly oversized tam atop his head. Chapman appeared in old-school attire, don- ning a beautifully tailored V-neck sweater and tie. It appeared the pros might make short work of the amateurs after Demaret holed a birdie putt on the par-3 sixth to put his team 2 up. But the Chapman-Stranahan team clawed back one of the holes on the seventh. The yelp of a dog on the eighth caused straw-hatted Snead to misfire on a key shot, and the match was all square. After quaffing a pint of milk at the refreshment stand, Chapman struck a brilliant iron shot which left his ball snugly hole-side on the par-3 ninth. His birdie nosed his team in front for Left to right: Dick Chapman, Frank Stranahan, Ben Hogan and the first time. Jimmy Demaret On the par-5 10th, Snead was presented with an opportunity to even the match, but an animal’s noise again disrupted the Slammer’s concentra- tion. A horse on the adjacent bridle path neighed during Sam’s stroke, and his short putt went awry. After Snead narrowly missed a par putt on the 12th, the amateurs suddenly found themselves 2 up. That was how the match stood until the par-3 15th, where Snead finally caught a break. His birdie putt to win the hole hovered on the lip for over 20 seconds before dropping in. But Chapman and Stranahan still clung to their 1 up lead as the four players arrived at the par-3 17th. After another fine iron, Chapman applied the dagger, calmly draining a curving 20-foot birdie. When Snead failed to convert his birdie, he and Demaret were closed out by the ama- teurs 2 and 1. After the match, Dick and Eloise, hosted a cocktail party at their home, which they now called Winter Haven. In addition to Messrs. Demaret, Dick Chapman driving off the first tee of Pinehurst No. 2 Snead and Stranahan, several other golf notables attended, including PGA Tour manager Fred Corcoran, Golf World founder and editor Bob Harlow, and tour player Toney Penna. Nobody relished a good party attended by entertaining guests more than bon vivant Chapman. It was later said of this personable patrician that he “was like a character out of The Great Gatsby, handsome, charming, wealthy . a man who knew his way around a golf course or a cruise ship, or a cocktail party on the lawn of a manor.” he Red Cross viewed the match a success and scheduled another amateurs vs. pros exhibition on No. 2 for March ’47. In order to maximize revenue, the admission ticket was bumped to $2. Pinehurst, Inc. fronted the pros’ stipends. Chapman and Stranahan again teamed up as the amateur duo but this time they would be facing a Jimmy Demaret playing a “Texas wedge” recovery Tteam that was arguably the best ever — the incomparable Ben Hogan and with Ben Hogan looking on his Texas cohort Demaret. They were certainly an odd couple. The poker faced, chain-smoking Hogan hardly uttered a word during play, while the colorful Demaret sunnily wisecracked with the gallery. No player in history spent more time on the range than Bantam Ben. By contrast, the naturally talented Demaret seldom hit balls and could reliably be found at a nightclub after posting his score. But when paired with Hogan in team competitions, Demaret shelved the hijinks. Hogan remarked that when Demaret “played with me, there was no fooling around.” Their disparate approaches somehow blended into a yin and yang that made Hogan and Demaret nearly unbeatable in the team competitions prevalent during the 1940s. They had already won six four-ball tournaments together and would later team to win two Ryder Cup matches. The likelihood of the Chapman-Stranahan team replicating their Dick Chapman success in the ’46 Red Cross match against such peerless opponents was 92 October 2017P�� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills THE 1948 MATCH Dick Chapman Johnny Palmer start, going 1 up after both Hogan and Demaret bogeyed the first hole. But the lead was gone when Demaret drained a tying birdie on the third. The re- mainder of the front nine featured a marvelous exhibition of shotmaking with neither team gaining an advantage. Chapman in particular was knocking the flags down with his irons.