All in the Family

All in the

Family Pinehurst’s Fow nes Family l ef t an en dur ing l egac y in golf By Bil l Ca se

Bill Fownes (left) winner of Pinehurst’s 1929 Mid-Winter Tournament; George Dunlap, Jr. (right)) runner-up W hen Bill Fow nes faced George Dunlap Jr. on Dec. 31, 1929, in the final match of Pinehurst’s Mid-Winter Tour nament, he was a decade past his golfing pr ime. He had won the 1910 U.S. A mateur Championship and remained a top -ranked golfer for another dozen years — good enough to play on t wo Walker Cup teams, captaining the U.S. side in the 1922 matches. He won numerous championships in his home state of Pennsylvania, including four state amateur titles. By contrast, the 20 -year- old Dunlap, already a four-time Mid-Winter champion, was emerg ing as one of A mer ica’s best amateurs. T he Pr inceton junior would win the 1933 U.S. A mateur, and seven United Nor th and South A mateur titles.

Time had contr ibuted to Bill Fow nes’ golfing decline — he was by then 52 — and health issues were dogg ing him. In 1926, he suf fered a hear t attack at his Pinehurst winter home af ter a round. It is unlikely he would have sur vived but for the quick actions of his caddie, who had been waiting outside to be paid. W hen Fow nes failed to reappear, the caddie r ushed inside and found him unconscious next to the door way.

Not withstanding the dif ference in their ages, Fow nes and Dunlap shared much in common. Both lived in Pinehurst dur ing the winter season and competed at amateur golf ’s highest level. Fow nes’ metallurg ical eng ineer ing deg ree f rom Massachusetts Instit ute of Technolog y equated with Dunlap’s Iv y L eag ue education. Both were sons of ama zingly successf ul and wealthy fathers. George’s father founded the renow ned book publishing company Grosset and Dunlap, while Bill ’s dad, Pittsburgher Henr y C. (H.C.) Fow nes, made his millions acquir ing and operating an ar ray of enter pr ises associated with iron, steelmak ing, and oil. Fur ther more, Bill, George Jr. and their fathers were all active members of T he Tin W histles, Pinehurst’s pre- eminent male golf societ y.

But the Fow neses had accomplished something that no other family could match. It was H.C. who in 1903 founded Pittsburgh ’s Oak mont Countr y Club, desig ned its epic course, and fashioned it into the most demanding test in championship golf. Bill then took charge of pushing the penal nat ure of the course to the ma x. For decades, he would roam Oak mont’s g rounds, plotting the placement of additional har-

Father and son: Bill Fownes (left), Henr y C. Fownes (right) rowing bunkers. T he younger Fow nes believed that “the char m of the game lies in its dif ficulties.” He explained his course desig n philosophy with the pithy aphor ism, “A shot poorly played should be a shot ir revocably lost.”

Few of the several hundred spectators gathered at the first tee of Course No. 2 to watch the Mid-Winter’s championship match gave Fow nes much of a chance against young Dunlap. T he older man began the match unsteadily, losing the first t wo holes. He r ighted himself and stood only 1 dow n as the match reached the eighth g reen, where Dunlap’s ball rested 4 feet f rom the pin while Fow nes’ checked up nearer the hole. According to the Pinehurst Outlook, “the Pr inceton golfer slightly hooked his putt and k nocked Fow nes’ ball into the hole.” T his astounding break brought Fow nes even with the nonplussed Dunlap.

T hereaf ter, the battle was nip -and-t uck with neither player gaining better than a 1-up advantage. T he match stood all square on the 18th. Dunlap misplayed his approach, and suddenly Fow nes faced a 5 -foot putt to win the match. To conver t it, Fow nes’ ball needed to barely miss Dunlap’s, which was par tially block ing the line. He nursed the tr ick y slider past the st ymie and into the cup for the upset victor y. T he Outlook repor ted it as “one of the most stir r ing finishes ever seen in a Pinehurst tour nament.”

T he v ictor y was Fow nes’ last hur ra h in competitive golf. Within months, he suf fered a second debilitating hear t at tack. More seizures followed and he would lie bedr idden for si x week s. T hough Fow nes would sur v ive the scare, he cur tailed his business activ ities and ceased play ing golf a ltogether.

W.C. Fow nes’ f rag ile health in 1930 contrasted markedly f rom that of his wir y and ag ile father, H.C., who at 74 still golfed daily and, according to the younger Fow nes, “seemed to have almost unlimited stamina and endurance.” H.C. brought this same g usto to dr iving an automobile. He loved fast cars and motored his flashy Duesenberg f rom Pittsburgh to Pinehurst with pedal to the metal over the r utted dir t roads of the era.

T his zest extended to his social life. A round of golf in Pinehurst was incomplete until he and his Tin W histles playing par tners sipped dr ink s at the home H.C. built on East Village Green Road in 1914. Dur ing the season, eight to 10 visitors usually lodged in its spacious quar ters. A widower following his wife, Mar y’s, death in 1906, the convivial entrepreneur was usually the last man to depar t a par t y or a card game. H.C. favored br idge and poker, pastimes likewise enjoyed by Bill.

Father and son shared much more. According to Bill, they “went through the bicycling cra ze together,” and reg ularly played tennis. “So that f rom early boyhood . . . and because of (our) close association, I was f requently classed as his brother instead of his son; much to my father’s amusement and g ratification.” T he son’s premat ure baldness no doubt contr ibuted to this misapprehension.

T he men were inseparable business associates. Two years af ter his 1898 g raduation f rom MIT, Bill joined his father, and extended family, in operation of their var ious enter pr ises. T hese included an iron casting foundr y in Pittsburgh, a moder n blast f ur nace in Midland, Pennsylvania, coal reser ves and coke oven near Brow nsville, Pennsylvania, and the Standard Seamless Tube Company. In 1929, the Fow neses diversified this por tfolio, founding the Shamrock Oil & Gas Company. Bill ser ved as his father’s alter ego in manag ing these under tak ings though “no major decisions were made without his (H.C.’s) g uidance and advice which in the last analysis was the deter mining factor.”

Five generations: left to right, Bill Fownes, his daughter Louise, her baby son Richard Fownes Blue, Sr., Mrs. Mar y Fownes and Henr y C. Fownes

Most of all, the Fow neses, père and fils, shared a passionate love of golf. T hough not in the same class as his son, H.C. became an exceptional player despite star ting the game in 1898 at the age of 42. By 1901, he was competing in the U.S. A mateur, even winning three matches in the 1905 championship before his elimination. He capt ured T he Tin W histles club championship of 1906.

H.C.’s g reatest playing achievement was winning Pinehurst’s 1918 Spr ing Tour nament at age 62. He defeated son C.B. “Chick ” Fow nes (Bill ’s brother) in the final match. Chick was a fine player despite suf fer ing f rom palsy. “He is the g reatest putter in the world,” marveled Walter J. Travis, A mer ica’s best player in the early 19th cent ur y, and noted for his ow n putting chops. T he Outlook obser ved that the Spr ing Tour nament’s all-Fow nes final meant that, “not one man (of the 217 in the field) could beat a Fow nes. Not one.”

W hile H.C., W.C., and C.B. may have cor nered the initials market, they weren’t the only disting uished Fow nes golfers of the per iod. H.C.’s daughter Mar y took home the championship trophy at the 1909 Women’s United Nor th and South Championship, while his niece Sarah finished r unner-up in 1919 and 1922.

T he family’s many fine golfers might never have chanced to take up the game absent a f reak injur y H.C. sustained in 1896 that was followed by a botched medical diag nosis. T hen 39, H.C. sought to make a patch for a bicycle tire by heating it with a hot wire while neglecting to wear any eye protection. A f ter completing the repair, he became aware of a black spot inter fer ing with his vision. His physician g r imly advised it was the result of ar ter iosclerosis and that H.C. could expect to live at best another t wo to three years. “T his infor mation, of course, was ver y depressing,” said Bill, displaying something of a g if t for understatement. A s a result, H.C. ceased his immersion in business vent ures and “star ted traveling about the countr y seek ing rela xation.” One recreational outlet was golf, which he took up at the suggestion of f r iend and fellow steel titan A ndrew Car neg ie.

H.C. event ually lear ned f rom a specialist that his eye’s blind spot was not, in fact, a death sentence. It had come f rom the subjection of his eye to the blinding light and heat caused by the tire repair. Given a new lease on life, he ret ur ned to work, but now balanced it with time for leisure — mostly golf. He began playing at Pittsburgh Field Club, a small athletic facilit y located in what is now Fox Chapel. Dissatisfied with the club ’s r udimentar y course, H.C. helped star t Highland Countr y Club, which feat ured a nine-hole, 20 0 0 -yard layout. It was the venue where H.C. introduced many family members to the game. In fact, four Fow neses playing out of Highland (himself, his t wo sons, and brother William Clark Fow nes, for whom W.C., Jr. was named) won the 1902 Pittsburgh distr ict team championship.

With the game’s popular it y on the r ise, H.C. decided Pittsburgh deser ved a course of challenge and stat ure. W hen he lear ned that far mland above the A llegheny R iver in Oak mont might provide a suitable location, he rounded up shareholders to buy the proper t y and build a new course. To retain control, H.C. purchased the major it y of the shares himself.

W ho should desig n this new behemoth? T he self- confident H.C. just happened to have someone in mind — himself. Fow nes fashioned a vir t ually treeless, bunker-strew n course of architect ural br illiance containing unique feat ures like the notor ious Church Pews bunker bet ween the third and four th fair ways. T he humps, mog uls and ter ror izing speed of Oak mont’s g reens would prove humbling to the best putters. In an era when the longest courses topped out at 6,0 0 0 yards, Oak mont’s distance at its 1904 opening stretched to a hither to unimag inable 6,60 0 yards, with a par of 80.

H.C. also assumed the role of Oak mont Countr y Club ’s president. He adamantly rejected any favor itism toward wealthier, more prominent members. Bill wrote that his father “hated all pretense or show,” and was insistent “that ever y member in the club was entitled to equal r ights.” T he club welcomed female members, a rar it y dur ing that per iod. H.C. also took pains to recr uit excellent golfers — three members, including Bill, would win the U.S. A mateur.

Bill ’s victor y in the 1910 championship at the Countr y Club in Brook line, Massachusetts, feat ured a sensational semifinal match with legendar y Chick Evans. Dow n t wo holes with three to play, all seemed lost for 33 -year- old Fow nes af ter he bunkered his tee shot on the par-3 16th. But when Bill holed a sizable putt for par and Evans three-putted, the deficit was cut in half. Fow nes’ birdie on 17 squared the match, and af ter the f r ustrated Evans three-putted the final hole, the resilient Fow nes escaped with a win. His 4 and 3 defeat of War ren Wood in the final proved far easier.

Throughout the first quar ter of the 20th cent ur y, W.C. Fow nes remained a mainstay in the U.S. A mateur. A four-time semifinalist, he qualified for the event 19 times in 25 years. His last notable per for mance came in 1919, held fittingly at Oak mont. He reached the semis before bowing to Bobby Jones.

T he honing of his formidable sk ill had been enhanced in tournaments and exhibitions during Pinehurst winters. T he Fownes family’s annual migrations to Pinehurst began around the time that H.C. star ted the Oakmont project. At first, only H.C. and golfing sons Bill and Chick made the excursion, bunk ing at the Carolina or the Holly. T he Tin W histles provided an ideal golf and social outlet for the men.

Fownes Cottage

Bill and his dad would both become presidents of the organization with H.C. ser ving in that capacit y three times.

In 1908, Mar y Fow nes, age 24, joined her father and brothers at Pinehurst for the winter season. She of ten brought along her golfing cohor t f rom Oak mont, L ouise Elk ins, who, like Mar y, would event ually become a Nor th and South champion. A popular social butter fly, Mar y enjoyed br idge and hosted card par ties for her Pinehurst f r iends. She also demonstrated for midable dancing acumen with an Ir ish jig that k new no equal.

From 1909 to 1913, H.C. leased L enox Cottage on Cherokee Road. For merly a rooming house, the cottage was large enough to house all the family’s golfers. Bill ’s wife, Sara, and the couple’s t wo children, L ouise and Henr y (Heinie) C. Fow nes II (named af ter his g randfather), came too. W.C. and Heinie were f requent winners in father-son tour naments. H.C.’s spr y mother stayed in Arbut us Cottage next door.

T hus, the Fowneses became integral members of Pinehurst’s wealthy “cottage colony.” T he cottagers were a closely knit bunch who hobnobbed with one another throughout the season, even holding their own golf tournament. T he Fowneses stood atop the cottage colony’s peck ing order following the 1914 completion of Fownes Cottage on Village Green, arg uably the most impressive home in the village.

In those days, Pinehurst was essentially a company tow n r un by the Tuf ts family. Ever yone in Pinehurst, including the upper cr ust denizens of the cottage colony, depended on the Tuf tses for staples of daily living. T he Tuf tses ow ned and operated the utilit y ser vices, the local lumber company, laundr y, ser vice station and depar tment store. To def ray operating costs, they instit uted a quasi-gover nmental ta xing system. To avoid outcr ies of ta xation without representation, Pinehurst k ing pin L eonard Tuf ts established an unof ficial village council in 1923. In recog nition of H.C.’s business acumen, L eonard appointed the steel baron to the new council. H.C. also led other Sandhills’ organizations, ser ving as president of the Pinehurst Countr y Club ’s Board of Gover nors and as a member of the Pinehurst Bank ’s board of directors. Donald Ross refer red to H.C. as “the best citizen in Pinehurst.”

H.C.’s most sig nificant business contr ibution to Pinehurst, however, occur red dur ing the Great Depression. T he unprecedented economic dow nt ur n plunged the Tuf ts family’s holdings into receivership. It appeared doubtf ul that the family would retain their sizable Pinehurst assets af ter a creditor bank demanded payment of a $10 0,0 0 0 note. A g roup of cottagers anted up the f unds to purchase the note, thereby keeping the Tuf tses afloat. H.C. contr ibuted the largest share — $30,0 0 0. T his was no small gest ure g iven that H.C.’s ow n investment in Shamrock Oil was tank ing at the time.

While H.C. immersed himself in Pinehurst’s af fairs, W.C. was gaining wide respect in golf for reasons unrelated to his playing abilit y. Collaborating with several noted golf architects, Bill assisted in finalizing the layout of incomparable Pine Valley af ter the course’s or ig inal desig ner died in 1918. Gravitating toward a role as golf ’s senior statesman, Bill captained A mer ican teams in matches against teams f rom Canada

in 1919 and ’20. T hen, in 1921, he organized a team of top A mer ican amateurs that challenged and beat a Br itish agg regate in an infor mal competition pr ior to the Br itish A mateur at Royal Liver pool.

T his match ser ved as precursor and catalyst to the first Walker Cup held in 1921 at the National Golf Link s on L ong Island. T he USGA, having taken note of Bill Fow nes’ abilit y to r un a team and inspire its players, appointed him playing captain. T he U.S. won the cup 8 to 4 with Bill splitting his t wo matches. He would make the Walker Cup team again in 1924.

W.C. also became active in golf administration, ser ving on the “Implements and Ball ” committee of the USGA dur ing a per iod in which the advent of steel shaf ted clubs was about to render hickor y shaf ts as obsolete as bugg y whips. Many feared the new fangled clubs would r uin the game. In 1923, Bill ’s committee, af ter exhaustive testing, recommended that steel shaf ts be approved. T his finding was met with resistance by the Royal & A ncient Golf Club, the reg ulator of golf outside the United States. Si x years would pass before the R& A finally per mitted steel.

W.C.’s committee wor r ied that the golf ball was traveling too far — a view still common today. To address this concer n, the committee recommended that the ball ’s minimum diameter be increased f rom 1.62 inches to 1.68 inches. T he USGA adopted the proposal, but the R& A again balked. W hile the larger “A mer ican” ball was made mandator y for the Open Championship beg inning in 1974, the gover ning bodies didn’t of ficially reach ag reement on ball size until 1990.

In 1926, the USGA elected Bill president of the association — the first U.S. A mateur champion so chosen. W.C. was ser v ing in that role when he sailed w ith the U.S. team to Great Br itain for the 1926 U.S. Wa lker Cup matches at St. A ndrews. Wife Sara and the couple’s comely daughter L ouise, then 22, accompanied him aboard the ship Aquit ania.

Dur ing the ocean crossing, L ouise got reacquainted w ith ta ll, handsome Washing tonian Roland MacKenzie, whom she had met at Oak mont dur ing the ’25 U.S. A mateur. T he 19-year- old Brow n Universit y phenom had sur pr ised ever yone at that championship by w inning meda list honors in the qua lifier. Roland ’s per for mance at St. A ndrews in the ’26 Wa lker Cup was likew ise impressive. T he young bomber split his t wo matches and his thunderous tee shots ama zed a ll.

During their time together aboard ship and in Scotland, L ouise and Roland shared a mutual attraction. But the prospect of romance drif ted away af ter the ship reached the New York dock. Instead, L ouise married Halber t Blue, whose family owned the Aberdeen & Rockfish R ailroad in the Sandhills. T he couple would have t wo children, Bill and Dick. Meanwhile, MacKenzie continued playing amateur golf, mak ing the semifinals of the 1927 U.S. Amateur. Selected to the Walker Cup teams of 1928 and ’30, MacKenzie excelled, winning all four of his matches. He also married but the union did not last.

Dur ing the 1930 Walker Cup in England, MacKenzie encountered dashing Holly wood movie star Douglas Fairbank s. At the actor’s invitation, Roland moved to Califor nia and caught on as an assistant director of several films. He and Fairbank s “usually played golf ever y mor ning before going to the st udio, and never wanted for company,” remembered MacKenzie. “A mong those who played a lot with us were Bing Crosby and Howard Hughes.”

Tir ing of Tinseltow n, MacKenzie moved back to Washing ton in 1932. A f ter a stint in his family’s Dupont L aundr y business, he t ur ned pro, and in 1934 became head professional at Washing ton’s prestig ious Cong ressional Countr y Club. He entered the 1935 U.S. Open at Oak mont and found himself the early leader with a 72 in the first round, though he would ultimately finish tied for 41st. T he course’s notor ious f ur rowed bunkers caused scores to sk yrocket in that championship. Pittsburgh local pro Sam Park s wound up winning with a total of 299, the second highest winning score in the Open going back 10 0 years f rom today — the highest in that per iod is Tommy Ar mour’s 301 in 1927, recorded, nat urally, at Oak mont.

L ouise, whose mar r iage to Halber t Blue had gone hopelessly awr y, reconnected with Roland at the ’35 Open championship and they star ted seeing each other. T hey would mar r y four years later. H.C. ser ved as the tour nament chair man for the ’35 Open, his final contr ibution to the game as he died three months later. A whirling der vish to the end, H.C. made a 1,60 0 -mile automobile tr ip to A mar illo, Texas, to check on the stat us of Shamrock Oil not long before his demise. W.C. Fow nes succeeded his father as Oak mont’s president, successf ully g uiding the club through the tail end of the Depression and the chaotic years of World War II. He ultimately resig ned in 1946.

In his later years, W.C. tended to his gentleman far m adjacent to a home he acquired in 1928 on Crest Road in K nollwood, g rowing da zzling sunflowers. He played in his card club, the “Wolves Den,” collected antiques, ser ved on cor porate boards, and traveled. On one European vacation, he and wife Sara encountered a L ondon cab dr iver who shared Bill ’s interest

Roland MacKenzie and Louise Fownes MacKenzie at their 1940 wedding

W.C. Fownes, Jr. and canine friends at Pinehurst Countr y Club

in antiques. T he impressed Fow neses spontaneously invited the delighted hack to visit in the Sandhills, all expenses paid.

Charles Goren, perhaps the mid- cent ur y’s foremost br idge author it y, found himself subjected to a less welcome instance of Sara’s spontaneit y. In 1949, the Fow neses invited Goren to stay with them. One af ter noon, Charles sat in with Sara’s duplicate br idge g roup and won handily. W hen Sara tendered Goren his winnings based on the g roup’s standard 1/20th cent a point, he complained, stating he never played for less than a penny a point. Sara responded by tendering payment as demanded, but also summoning a cab and telling a flummoxed Goren to pack his bags.

W.C.’s son Heinie, who had played a key role in restor ing Shamrock Oil to financial health, passed away f rom hear t trouble in 1948. Two years later, Bill himself succumbed to a hear t attack at age 72. T he USGA paid W.C. this tr ibute: “A s a f r iend and spor tsman, he bequeathed to his fellows a spir it which will always live.” Wife Sara passed away in 1951. Chick died in Pinehurst in 1954.

T he passing of Bill ’s generation did not ter minate his family’s association with Pinehurst or amateur golf. Bill ’s son-in-law Roland MacKenzie found that the pro life was not his cup of tea. He regained his amateur stat us af ter he and L ouise relocated to the Baltimore area. In 1948, MacKenzie capt ured the Middle Atlantic A mateur Championship, a tour nament he had won 23 years earlier. Roland and L ouise maintained the family’s connections with the Sandhills, purchasing a second home in the Old Tow n section of Pinehurst.

W hile in Baltimore, Roland had seg ued into land investment and far ming, and he followed the same path in Moore Count y. In 1955, he acquired a large parcel several miles west of Pinehurst. He transfor med the land into a peach far m and vineyard. In the late 1960s, MacKenzie and other associates decided to build golf courses on the proper t y. Foxfire Resor t and Countr y Club ’s t wo courses, opened in 1968, were the happy result. Roland passed away in 1988, followed by L ouise’s death in 1996.

T he MacKenzie’s t wo children, Clark and Margot, became superlative golfers. Clark MacKenzie won the 1966 Mar yland A mateur Championship and later capt ured several inter national seniors’ titles. Margot MacKenzie R awlings still resides at her parents’ Pinehurst home. She continues to play excellent golf as a member of Pinehurst Countr y Club ’s Silver Foils. Margot’s stellar playing career includes victor ies in the stroke play championship of the Women’s Golf Championship of Baltimore, and championships of numerous clubs including Countr y Club of Nor th Carolina.

W hile these playing exploits through the generations are impressive, the Fow nes family’s golfing legacy will always be mag nificent Oak mont. T he club has hosted a record nine U.S. Opens, t wo Women’s U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, and five U.S A mateur Championships. T he A mateur will ret ur n to Oak mont for the si xth time this year. W hile the course the Fow neses built in the hills outside Pittsburgh may be their ultimate mark in golf, the family’s footpr ints are a ver itable stampede in Pinehurst. PS P in ehurst re si d ent Bill Ca se is PineSt r aw’s hist or y m an. He c an be re a ch e d at Bill.Ca se @th ompsonhin e.com.