Harold Hilton's Playoff Victory was "Etched in Stone" in 1911 at the U.S. Amateur Championship at Apawamis Country Club, Rye, New York "Golf History with Peter Alliss" iPad App Premium Content not in the App The 1911 U. S. Amateur Championship was held at the Apawamis Club in Rye, NY. Started in 1895 when the status of wealthy amateur golfers far exceeded that of professionals, the U.S. Amateur Championship was considered the most important American golf tournament of its day. Viewed as a major championship during its early decades, the U.S. Amateur declined in importance between World Wars as professionals moved to the forefront. The 1911 U. S. Amateur attracted a stellar field of players that included the first U.S. Amateur Champion Charles B. MacDonald, who was one of the founders of the USGA and a key force behind the creation of the tournament, and then two-time U.S. Amateur Champion Jerry Travers, who would win the title again in 1912 and 1913. Australian-born golfer and sports writer Walter Travis was a three-time U.S. Amateur Champion who also had a British Amateur Championship under his belt. Former champion Robert Gardner had won the title in 1909 at the age of 19, becoming the youngest winner of the event until Tiger Woods in 1994. An unknown former caddie named Francis Ouimet failed to qualify but gained experience for his future U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur wins. English champion Harold Hilton of Royal Liverpool cut an imposing figure on the course. Despite his diminutive 5'5" stature and notoriously wild swing, he had two Open Championships and three British Amateur titles to his credit. With numerous notables on the course, less initial attention was played to Vermont golfer Fred Herreshoff, who'd lost the U.S. Amateur title to Chandler Egan in 1904. But Herreshoff surged into the limelight when he faced Hilton in the playoff. On the 37th hole of the final, after Herreshoff hit a beautiful tee shot, Hilton sliced a 3-wood that headed straight towards a rocky bed. Averting disaster, the ball ricocheted off a rock and bounced miraculously onto the green. Walter Travis later recounted in 'American Golfer:' "This seemed to disconcert Mr. Herreshoff who half-topped his second leaving himself a difficult approach. This he failed to bring off, his ball overrunning the hole some 20 feet. Mr. Hilton's approach putt was rather a flabby stroke, quite wide of the hole. Mr. Herreshoff playing the long odd failed to hole, and Mr. Hilton's putt just dropping in by the back door, gave him the match and the championship." Hilton two-putted for par and became the first foreign-based player to win the U.S. Amateur title. The rock that Harold Hilton's ball struck that day at Apawamis is known as "Hilton's Rock." Harold Hilton's dramatic victory sent shock waves through the golf world. Herbert Warren Wind described it as "the most discussed single shot ever played in an American tournament." Hilton followed up by defeating Robert Harris at St Andrews for his 4th British Amateur Championship title in 1913. .