Richard Sise Tufts (March 16, 1896 – December 17, 1980) was a notable figure in
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 ...
in the mid-20th century.
Born in
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...
, he was a grandson of
James Walker Tufts, the founder of
Pinehurst Resort
Pinehurst Resort is a golf resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States. It has hosted a number of prestigious golf tournaments including four U.S. Open Championships, one U.S. Women's Open, three U.S. Amateurs, one PGA Championship, an ...
in
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, which was long America's preeminent golf resort. Richard Tufts grew up in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and attended
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
. He served in
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 ...
before starting work at Pinehurst with his father Leonard, and later taking over himself. He added 40 holes to the resort and hosted the
1936 PGA Championship and the
1951 Ryder Cup
The 9th Ryder Cup Matches were held November 2–4, 1951 at Course No. 2 of the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The United States team won their fifth consecutive competition by a score of 9 to 2 points.
The two-day competition w ...
. He ran Pinehurst until relatives sold their stock to Diamondhead Corp., ending family control.
Tufts was a heavyweight of the golfing establishment, eventually rising to be President of the
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rule ...
in 1956-57. Like
Bobby Jones, Tufts was a great believer in amateur golf, and had a rather patrician disapproval of any commercialization of the sport. He was non-playing captain of the U.S. team in 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 ...
amateur team competition in
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
. He wrote several books about golf and, in 1992, he was inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...
.
Image:Creed of the Amateur.JPG, Creed of the Amateur by Richard S. Tufts
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufts, Richard
Golf administrators
Golf writers
World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
20th-century American businesspeople
Harvard University alumni
Tufts family
1896 births
1980 deaths