Along time ago, before there was Teddy Rhodes, Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder and Tiger Woods, there
was John Shippen Jr., the legend of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
Shippen not only helped build the course at Shinnecock, he became America’s first black golf professional when he played in the second U.S. Open in 1896 – and nearly won it.
Beforehand, Shippen’s participation caused such a stir, a group of golfers threatened not to play until they were told that he was “half-Indian.”
But make no mistake, Shippen was black, and he loved golf. In 1879, he was born in Washington, D.C., the son of a Presbyterian minister who moved his family in 1890 to the eastern end of Long Island to open a church on the Shinnecock reservation.
When John Jr. was 12, a wealthy group of Southampton residents forked over $2,500 for some land just north of Highway 27. Shippen helped out when a 12-hole golf course was built and expanded to 18 holes four years later under the direction of Willie Dunn.
Dunn, a Scotsman who finished second to Horace Rawlins in the first U.S. Open at Newport in 1895, took a liking to Shippen, eventually making him assistant pro.
Shippen gave lessons, repaired clubs and ran tournaments. As a player, club members urged him to compete when it was announced that Shinnecock would host the second-annual Open. So he entered the tournament, along with his buddy, a Shinnecock native named Curtis Bunn.
Theodore F. Havenmayer, the first USGA president, was confronted before the tournament by a group of players – mostly pros from England and Scotland – who threatened to withdraw if Shippen were allowed to play.
Remarkably, Havenmayer pacified the protestors, allegedly convincing them that Shippen was half-black and half-Shinnecock.
The 36-hole event was held at Shinnecock Hills on July 18 with a field of 32. In the morning round, Shippen was paired with Charles Blair Macdonald, the blue-blooded, egomaniacal amateur champion and architect who is considered the father of American golf.
Shippen shot a 78 in the first round and was tied for second place. Macdonald had an 83 and was so disgusted he withdrew from the tournament.
A report in the Chicago Tribune praised the “16-year-old colored caddie” from Shinnecock.
“Anyone who plays Shippen has to forget his boyishness, and pay careful attention to his golf, for Shippen is, in view of the circumstances, the most remarkable player in the United States,” the report said.
In the afternoon round, Shippen met doom at the par-4 13th hole after hitting a drive right into a sand pit by the edge of the road.
Without a sand wedge, which had yet to be invented, Shippen struggled to advance the ball and carded an 11 on the hole. He finished with an 81 and won $10 for taking fifth place, seven shots behind the winner, Scotland’s James Foulis.
Years later, Shippen lamented his bad luck in a magazine article. “It was a little, easy par-4,” he said in 1968. “I’ve wished a hundred times I could have played [it] again. It sure would have been something to win that day.”
Shippen played in four more U.S. Opens – in 1899, 1900, 1902 and 1913 – but never came close to winning.
Later, he was hired as the first head professional at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, married twice and
fathered six children.
Eventually, Shippen moved to New Jersey, where he lived out his life working at the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains. On May 20 1968, he died in obscurity at the age of 88, a true pioneer of the
game he loved.
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SHINNECOCK HILLS GOLF CLUB, Southampton, N.Y.
Opened: 1891
Designer: Willie Davis
Re-design: William Flynn in 1931
USGA Championships: 1896, 1986, 1995 and 2004 U.S. Open; 1896 U.S. Amateur, 1900 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 1967 USGA Senior Amateur, 1977 Walker Cup