Walter Hagan's 1919 U.S. Open win at Brae Burn

News and Notes:

• Professionals Fran Quinn and Wollaston Head Pro Jeff Martin qualified for the U.S. Senior Open on Tuesday at Franklin CC. The U.S. Senior Open is at Newport CC this summer. Quinn qualified for the U.S. Open in 2022 at The Country Club. Here’s the MassGolf write-up.

• Rebecca Skoler and her Virginia golf team missed the Match Play portion of the NCAA National Championship.

• Michael Thorbjornsen will tee it up for Stanford in his final college event on Friday. The Match Play portion of the NCAA National Championship will air on Golf Channel on May 27-29. That is good primetime golf on the East Coast.

• Joey Lenane, who plays his college golf at NC State and recently made it through local U.S. Open qualifying, won the Norfolk County Invitational this weekend. He shot -6 to top the talented field. He’s one to watch this summer, as he was in contention quite a bit last year and won the New England Amateur.

Walter Hagan’s Brae Burn title changes pro golf forever

Walter Hagan was known as a flashy fellow. He liked the finer things in life and enjoyed a good night out. He was also a professional in the days when amateurs were considered the gentlemen of the game. Access to clubhouses and locker rooms was often blocked or limited to professionals during tournaments. During the British Open in 1920 at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, Hagan rented a Pierce-Arrow car and parked it in the lot to use as his private dressing room.

A year before that, Hagan won the 1919 U.S. Open at Brae Burn CC over a talented local named Mike Brady from Oakley CC.

That win put Hagan in a position to do something that no other professional had done.

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