Frederick Herreshoff (March 7, 1888 – March 23, 1920) was an American amateur

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 of the early 20th century. He was a golfing prodigy: at the age of just 16 he reached the final match of the 1904

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 ...

, finishing runner-up to

Chandler Egan Henry Chandler Egan (August 21, 1884 – April 5, 1936) was an American amateur golfer and golf course architect of the early 20th century. Early life and college Egan was born in Chicago, Illinois, which at the end of the 19th century was the e ...

by the score of 8 and 6.

Early life

Herreshoff was born on March 7, 1888, to John B. F. Herreshoff and Emaline Duval Lee in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. In 1904 he played on the high school golf team at

The Hill School The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization. The school is accredited by the Mi ...

, Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, graduating in 1909. His father was a metallurgical chemist affiliated with

Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (March 18, 1848 – June 2, 1938) was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920. Biography Her ...

of Bristol, Rhode Island, which specialized in the construction of high speed

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s and

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

s. The elder Herreshoff was also the president of The General Chemical Company.

Marriage and career

He married Mary Faulkner, an actress, in 1909 when she was playing in a musical comedy at the Casino Theatre in New York City. At that time the

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

musical ''Havana'' was playing. Mary's name does not appear in the official credits so she must have had an uncredited

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

. Soon after his marriage Herreshoff was engaged as a partner in the banking and brokerage firm of Frenaye & Herreshoff with an office in New York City.

Golf career

1904 U.S. Amateur

Herreshoff, who in 1904 was playing out of Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester, Vermont, finished runner-up in the 1904 U.S. Amateur, held at

Baltusrol Golf Club The Baltusrol Golf Club is a private 36-hole golf club in the eastern United States, located in Springfield, New Jersey, about west of New York City. It was founded in 1895 by Louis Keller. In 1985, Baltusrol became the first club to have ...

, Far Hills, New Jersey, losing to

by the score of 8 and 6. He got himself into trouble by falling nine holes down after the first 18 holes of play. Herreshoff played better in the second round but it wasn't enough to overcome the large deficit.

1905 four-ball tournament at Fox Hills

Herreshoff, who partnered with

George Low George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw; June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made decisions as manager ...

in a four-ball tournament held on 16 September 1905 at Fox Hills Golf Club on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, tied for first place with

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American ho ...

and C. A. Dunning with a score of 71. A playoff wasn't held due to the fact that Smith was also competing in the individual medal competition which he won from Willie Anderson.

1911 U.S. Amateur

In the 1911 U.S. Amateur—contested at the

Apawamis Club The Apawamis Club is a private country club located in Rye, New York, Westchester County, long known for its 18-hole golf course and prominence in the sport of squash. The 1911 U.S. Amateur was contested here, resulting in a playoff between the r ...

in Rye, New York—Herreshoff had won several matches, including the semi-final against

Chick Evans Charles E. "Chick" Evans Jr. (July 18, 1890 – November 6, 1979) was a prominent American amateur golfer of the 1910s and 1920s. Evans, who won the 1910 Western Open, became the first amateur to win both the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open and U. ...

. In the final match against

Harold Hilton Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once. Bi ...

he was at one point trailing by six holes but managed to mount a stunning comeback to tie the match and send it to a playoff. On the 37th hole of the match, Hilton sliced his approach shot badly but instead of finding the deep rough right of the green his ball ricocheted off a flat rock and luckily landed on the green. Herreshoff, meanwhile, mishit his approach shot to a position short of the green. His pitch shot to the par 4 hole went 20 feet past the pin. Hilton two-putted for par while Herreshoff was unable to make his 20-foot putt to save par. Hilton was declared the winner by the score of 1 up.

Military service

Herreshoff served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in France. He received an honorable discharge on June 2, 1919.

Death

Herreshoff died suddenly of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on March 23, 1920, in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Interment was in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Results in major championships

M = Medalist
LA = Low amateur
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Yellow background for top-10 Sources: U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, British Amateur (1912 and 1914)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herreshoff, Fred American male golfers Amateur golfers United States Army personnel of World War I The Hill School alumni Herreshoff family Deaths from pneumonia in New York City 1888 births 1920 deaths