This week’s blog come courtesy of Davidson alumnus and blog fan Ben Vernon, class of 1950. He shared some clippings related to the story of an important golf match between Davidson and Wake Forest in 1949.
“Linkmen Take Role of Giant Killers Finishing Off Champion Deacons” – that’s a headline from the May 13, 1949 Davidsonian. The giant Davidson took on was the Wake Forest golf team, the expected conference winners, whose team included Sonny Harris, Buddy Worsham, and Arnold Palmer.
Yes, the Davidson team beat Arnold Palmer’s team. Davidson players in that tournament Monty Hill, Allan Mead, Bill Medford, Cecil Brandon, Ben Vernon and Ike Coffey. The Wake Forest student newspaper described the game this way:
Wake Forest’s powerful golf team suffered its second setback in two years of Southern Conference play last Friday when Davidson upset the Deacon linksmen, 15 1/2 to 11 1/2 on the Carolina Country Club course in Charlotte.
According to the Davidsonian the score was:
one of the most terrific upsets of the season. The highly-rated Baptist squad, comprised mostly by scholarship men, tied mighty Carolina the following day, but on this particular day they absorbed their first Southern Conference loss of the season to the hot Davidsonians.(for the full article, click on the headline above.)
The season didn’t end well for Davidson, we ended up 9th in a field of 10 for the Southern Conference – but Arnold’s team didn’t win the conference – Duke took the honors that year. Wake Forest made it to Conference champs in 1950 and Davidson’s chance came in 1954 when the golf team took first honors in the Southern Conference.
The 1949 golf team regathered over 30 year later to golf together and to raise funds for the college’s golf program. The Charlotte Observer wrote about the reunion and Ben Vernon’s memories:
“Wake thought they had won the match when we walked up to the 18th,” Vernon said. “…Arnold was pretty cocky and brash in those days. I don’t think he liked to lose to little ol’ Davidson.”
No doubt mr. Palmer has recovered from the loss of 50 years ago, but it’s still a rproud moment for Davidson fans and athletes.
So many stories. Going back decades and reading about the dramatic finishes makes me proud to be part of the game. In collegiate play, there is even more action/drama – I’ve seen some wild swings in leader boards – one of the reasons I am drawn more to the amateur tournaments than PGA…
My father used to know Davidson, they even played golf together! He told me that game with Arnold Palmer’s team was one of the best that he ever seen in his life!
For someone like me who collects historic clubs, I can tell you that the best collections or individual clubs are those that are associated with a personal story like yours.
Thanks for a great post