Marvin Harvey "Bud" Ward (May 1, 1913 – January 2, 1968) was an American

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er best known for twice winning the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, in 1939 and 1941.

Early life

In 1913, Ward was born in

Elma, Washington Elma is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,438 at the 2020 census. History First settled in 1853 by D.F. Byles, Elma was later named for Union soldier Elmer Brown. The city of Elma was incorporated ...

Amateur career

Ward excelled as an amateur golfer, winning the

twice, the

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was firs ...

three times, and his home state Washington Amateur twice. He played on the

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

team in 1938 and 1947. His best performance in a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

came in 1939 U.S. Open when he finished one shot out of a playoff with

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

, Craig Wood, and

Denny Shute Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute (October 25, 1904 – May 13, 1974) was an American professional golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s. Life and career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shute was the son of a golf pro from England; Hermon ...

Professional career

In 1949, Ward turned professional. He worked as a club pro until his death in 1968 from cancer. He died in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

Awards and honors

* In 1979, Ward was elected to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Hall of Fame * In 1981, Ward was elected to the Pacific Northwest section of the

PGA of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...

Hall of Fame * In 1981, he was also elected to the State of Washington Sports Hall of FameState of Washington Sports Hall of Fame biography

Amateur wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1938 Washington Amateur *1939

*1940

*1941

Pacific Northwest Amateur The Pacific Northwest Amateur is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is one of the oldest amateur tournaments in the United States having first been played in 1899. It is organized by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) and the tournam ...

*1942 Tam O'Shanter All American Amateur *1946 Washington Amateur *1947

Professional wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1938 Washington Open (as an amateur) *1939

Northwest Open The Northwest Open is golf tournament played in the Pacific Northwest, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Pacific Northwest section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1905 at a variety of cou ...

(as an amateur) *1940

(as an amateur) *1946

(as an amateur) *1947

(as an amateur) *1948

(as an amateur) *1949 Montana Open (as an amateur), Washington Open (as an amateur) *1951 Northern California Open *1952

Utah Open The Utah Open is the Utah state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Utah section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1926 and has been played at a variety of courses around the stat ...

*1955 Washington Open, Northern California PGA Championship *1956 Northern California Open *1958 Northern California PGA Championship *1961

Major championships

Amateur wins (2)

Results timeline

Amateur Professional ''Note: Ward never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

.''
LA = low amateur
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for 1938 Amateur Championship
The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1938, pg. 21.
Source for 1947 Amateur Championship
The Glasgow Herald, May 31, 1947, pg. 5.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

(winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Bud American male golfers Golfers from Washington (state) People from Elma, Washington Deaths from cancer in California 1913 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen