Chandler Egan

Prior to the emergence of Walter Travis and Jerry Travers, Chandler Egan was probably his country’s greatest amateur golfer. He played in the 1904 Olympic tournament as the heavy favorite to win the individual title, having in that year already won both the U.S. and Western Amateurs. But he lost in the finals to the Canadian, George Lyon. Egan was also low man for the Western GA team which won the team event.

In 1905, Egan repeated as US Amateur champion. He would play in that tournament until 1910 when he moved to the West Coast, but he returned to competition after World War I and continued playing in the Amateur until 1935 – 33 years after his first appearance. His last shot at winning came in 1929 when he went to the semi-finals before losing.

In 1934, Egan was named to the Walker Cup team and remains the oldest American to ever play in that event (through 2022). Among Egan’s other titles can be counted the 1902 NCAA Championship (team and individual) while at Harvard, four Western Amateurs, two California Amateurs, five Pacific Northwest Amateurs, and he was twice low amateur in the US Open – in 1904 and 1906 (when he finished eighth overall).

Egan moved to Oregon in 1910 where he ran an orchard business. However, his hobby became his main career – golf course architecture. He went into partnership with the famed architect Alistair Mackenzie, with whom he helped design and redesign several courses. Egan also assisted Jack Neville with some of the design of the Pebble Beach Golf Links.