The Evolution of Country Club Life (Conclusion)

This is the final installment of a two-part series. Read Part 1.

Copyright © John Coyne. Used with permission.

IN RICHARD MOSS'S The Kingdom of Golf in America, published in 2013 by the University of Nebraska Press, the author spends a long chapter on the rise of the modern touring pro, beginning, of course, with Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. One of the obstacles at the times was that the golf community accepted and honored amateurs more than they did professionals.

Moss cites an 1898 article in the magazine Outing suggesting that a golf contest was similar to prize fighting. He writes: "These sort of statements reflected the profound aversion to gambling among the middle and upper…