1937 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1937 U.S. Open was the 41st time the tournament was played. Sam Snead made his tournament debut and it took a record-low score by the winner to beat him.
Winner: Ralph Guldahl, 281
Where it was played: Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomington Hills, Michigan
Tournament dates: June 10-12, 1937
Leader after first round: Denny Shute and Sam Snead, 69
Leader after second round: Frank Walsh, Ralph Guldahl and Ed Dudley, 140
Leader after third round: Ed Dudley, 211
What Happened in the 1937 U.S. Open
Sam Snead played in his very first U.S. Open in 1937, and it was a memorable one for him: He finished second. That's a great debut, no question. And there were probably lots of golf fans in 1937, probably plenty of Snead's peers, perhaps even Snead himself, who figured Snead would win multiple U.S. Opens over the course of his career.As it turned out, Snead did have an extraordinary career as a professional golfer, and won seven other majors, but second place was his high-water mark in the U.S. Open. Snead was runner-up in this tournament four times, but never won it — the only one of the majors he failed to win in his long and illustrious career.
Who was the winner of this U.S. Open? Ralph Guldahl, who was in the midst of his own (brief) period of exceptionalism. Guldahl won the Western Open (considered by many at the time second only to the U.S. Open in stature) in 1936, 1937 and 1938; was runner-up at The Masters in 1937 and 1938 and won the 1939 Masters; and won the U.S. Open in 1937 and 1938.
Snead and Guldahl were tied for second place entering the final round, one stroke behind Ed Dudley. Dudley wasn't on top of his game in Round 4, however, shooting 76. Guldahl carded a 69 to Snead's 71 to win by two.
Snead birdied his last hole to post 283. Guldahl made a 65-foot eagle putt on the eighth hole and had birdies on Nos. 9, 12 and 13. He parred out the final five holes to come in at 281. That was a new U.S. Open scoring record, lowering the 282 recorded the previous year by Tony Manero. Guldahl's 281 stood as the record until 1948.
Three amateurs — Johnny Goodman, Frank Strafaci and Chuck Kocsis — finished in the Top 10, something that had never happened before and hasn't happened since in a U.S. Open. Goodman won the 1933 U.S. Open, the last amateur to do so. But this was the last time Goodman made the cut in a U.S. Open.
Snead wasn't the only future star making his U.S. Open debut in 1937. Jimmy Demaret, who later won The Masters three times, played his first U.S. Open and here and tied for 16th.
This was the final U.S. Open played before the USGA implemented the 14-club limit in the golf rules. Guldahl carried 19 clubs during the tournament.
The golf course — the South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club — played 7,037 yards for the 1937 U.S. Open. It was the first U.S. Open course to top 7,000 yards in length.
1937 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Ralph Guldahl | 71-69-72-69—281 |
| Sam Snead | 69-73-70-71—283 |
| Bobby Cruickshank | 73-73-67-72—285 |
| Harry Cooper | 72-70-73-71—286 |
| Ed Dudley | 70-70-71-76—287 |
| Al Brosch | 74-73-68-73—288 |
| Clarence Clark | 72-75-73-69—289 |
| a-Johnny Goodman | 70-73-72-75—290 |
| a-Frank Strafaci | 70-72-77-72—291 |
| a-Charles Kocsis | 72-73-76-71—292 |
| Henry Picard | 71-75-72-74—292 |
| Gene Sarazen | 78-69-71-74—292 |
| Denny Shute | 69-76-75-72—292 |
| Ray Mangrum | 75-75-71-72—293 |
| Paul Runyan | 76-72-73-72—293 |
| Billy Burke | 75-73-71-75—294 |
| Jimmy Demaret | 72-74-76-72—294 |
| Sam Parks Jr. | 74-74-72-74—294 |
| Pat Sawyer | 72-70-75-77—294 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 72-71-78-74—295 |
| Jimmy Hines | 75-72-76-72—295 |
| Ky Laffoon | 74-74-74-73—295 |
| Jug McSpaden | 74-75-73-73—295 |
| Fred Morrison | 71-76-74-74—295 |
| Byron Nelson | 73-78-71-73—295 |
| Bob Stupple | 73-73-73-76—295 |
| Frank Walsh | 70-70-78-77—295 |
| Leo Mallory | 73-74-76-73—296 |
| Toney Penna | 76-74-75-71—296 |
| Johnny Revolta | 75-73-75-73—296 |
| Jimmy Thomson | 74-66-78-78—296 |
| Dutch Harrison | 74-71-74-78—297 |
| a-Edwin Kingsley | 72-76-75-74—297 |
| Mike Turnesa | 71-74-76-76—297 |
| Al Watrous | 77-75-75-70—297 |
| Horton Smith | 74-74-75-75—298 |
| Craig Wood | 78-71-73-76—298 |
| a-Bill Holt | 70-79-78-72—299 |
| Ralph Stonehouse | 75-74-74-76—299 |
| Johnny Farrell | 74-75-75-76—300 |
| Charles Lacey | 73-75-72-80—300 |
| Tony Manero | 76-73-77-74—300 |
| Felix Serafin | 75-74-73-78—300 |
| Macdonald Smith | 79-73-73-75—300 |
| Johnny Bulla | 74-75-75-77—301 |
| Wiffy Cox | 74-74-75-78—301 |
| Willie Macfarlane | 73-78-75-76—302 |
| Johnny Rogers | 77-72-78-75—302 |
| Marvin Stahl | 72-77-78-75—302 |
| a-Ted Bishop | 74-78-74-77—303 |
| Bob Crowley | 79-73-76-75—303 |
| Arthur Ham | 77-75-76-75—303 |
| Bill Mehlhorn | 76-76-75-76—303 |
| Jim Turnesa | 73-78-77-75—303 |
| Olin Dutra | 76-76-77-75—304 |
| James Johnston | 75-76-81-72—304 |
| Ted Longworth | 72-76-77-79—304 |
| John Beadle | 74-77-77-78—306 |
| Orville White | 77-75-80-74—306 |
| Waldo Crowder | 77-74-76-80—307 |
| Ted Luther | 75-77-80-75—307 |
| Frank Moore | 77-73-79-78—307 |
| John Malutic | 74-78-80-77—309 |
| Ole Clark | 74-77-82-80—313 |
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