U.S. Open countdown: Anderson shoots record 72 in 1904, is first to win two straight
10th U.S. Open | July 8-9, 1904
Glen View Club, Golf, Illinois
Leaderboard
| Willie Anderson, Scotland | 75 | - | 78 | - | 78 | - | 72 | — | 303 |
| Gilbert Nicholls, England | 80 | - | 76 | - | 79 | - | 73 | — | 308 |
| Fred Mackenzie, Scotland | 76 | - | 79 | - | 74 | - | 80 | — | 309 |
| Laurie Auchterlonie, Scotland | 80 | - | 81 | - | 75 | - | 78 | — | 314 |
| Bernard Nicholls, England | 80 | - | 77 | - | 79 | - | 78 | — | 314 |
The U.S. Open probably has never been contested in a more appropriately named location. In 1904, the tournament came to Golf, Illinois.
The course in Golf, Glen View Club, was the brainchild of William Campbell, a Northwestern University professor from Scotland. In 1897 he suggested to a group of Chicago businessmen that they create a club “of suitable privacy and superb conviviality.” Because Evanston, the home of Northwestern, was a “dry” town, the club was located outside the city limits to the west and opened in 1898.
One of the members, Albert J. Earling, was president of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad (commonly known as the Milwaukee Road). To get to the course from his downtown Chicago office, Earling would take a private train car on his train line and have the engineer drop him off near the course. The dropoff point became informally known as “golf station” and eventually a permanent station was built, a post office was established and the small village was incorporated as Golf. Today about 500 people live there.
The Open played there in 1904 extended the dominance of Willie Anderson. He matched the best round in tournament history with a final round of 72 and became the first to win back-to-back titles.
The tournament also holds the distinction of being the first time the field was cut after 36 holes. Players not within 15 shots of 10th place after the second round were eliminated.
dale.phelps@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "U.S. Open countdown: Anderson shoots record 72 in 1904, is first to win two straight."