Clarence Clark: Profile of 1930s PGA Tour Golfer
Full name: Clarence Emmett Clark
Date of birth: September 22, 1907
Place of birth: Paola, Kansas
Date and place of death: September 27, 1974, in Abilene, Texas
His Biggest Wins
Clark is credited today with seven official wins on the PGA Tour:- 1931 Orlando Open
- 1931 New Jersey PGA Championship
- 1932 Texas Open
- 1932 Houston Open
- 1933 New Jersey Open
- 1934 Hazard Kentucky Open
- 1936 Lake Placid Open
In the Majors
Clark first played in a major championship in the 1929 PGA Championship, and last in the 1940 U.S. Open. He played The Masters twice and finished in the Top 20 both times, tied 19th in 1935 and tied 13th in 1937.His best showing in a major was third in the 1936 U.S. Open. Clark was tied for the lead following the first round of that U.S. Open. He entered the final round tied for fourth place, four strokes off the lead. He finished solo third, five behind the winner, Tony Manero.
That was one of four Top 10 finishes in majors for Clark. He tied ninth in the 1933 U.S. Open, reached the round of 16 in the 1933 PGA Championship, and was solo seventh in the 1937 U.S. Open. He also placed 11th in the 1932 U.S. Open.
More About Clarence Clark
The authors of the 1976 Who's Who in Golf (affiliate link) referred to Clarence Clark as "a big, blonde, likeable chap." In many stories about him from his own period, Clark was referred to as a "blond bomber." He was a popular player for his personality and his booming drives.Clark, from Kansas, was working as a club pro in Oklahoma when he first started to gain notice as a tournament player. In 1927, he got into an 18-hole playoff at the Oklahoma Open before losing to Dick Grout. In 1929 and 1930, Clark won the South Central PGA Section Championship in Oklahoma, and in 1930 he added the Oklahoma Open.
And in 1930 Clark came close to his first PGA Tour title, finishing second in the 1930 Long Beach Open.
In 1931, Clark focused on the PGA Tour, and it was the first of back-to-back years in which he won two times each. His first tour victory was in the 1931 Orlando Open.
Later in 1931, Clark added the New Jersey PGA Championship. By that time, Clark was working at Forest Hill Field Club in Bloomfield, New Jersey, having replaced Craig Wood, another "big, blond, likeable chap," as pro. And it was Wood who finished in second, five strokes behind Clark.
Clark again posted two PGA Tour wins in 1932, and this time they were in back-to-back weeks. He won the Texas Open by one stroke over Gene Sarazen and Gus Moreland, then the next week won the Houston Open by one over Tony Manero. It was Clark's best year on tour, also including one second-place finish and two thirds.
In 1933, Clark won the New Jersey Open, once again by five strokes over Wood. And in 1934 he added the Hazard Open in Kentucky, winning by one over second-place Herman Keiser.
Clark held the clubhouse lead in the 1935 Gasparilla Open-Tampa when Walter Hagen — aged 42, coming off a long night of drinking, and who teed off the final round only a couple minutes after arriving at the course — "nonchalantly" (according to news reports) holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to tie. Hagen then got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the last hole to beat Clark. It was Hagen's last individual victory on the PGA Tour.
Clark didn't win on tour that year, but did finish second two other times in addition to the Gasparilla: to Gene Sarazen in the Long Island Open, and to Ed Dudley in the True Temper Open. The last of his seven PGA Tour wins was in 1936, at the Lake Placid Open in New York.
He focused increasingly on his club pro jobs from the late 1930s on. Clark's final appearance in an official PGA Tour tournament was in the 1947 Denver Open, in which he tied for 21st place.
According to PGA Tour statistics, Clark played in 89 tournaments that are counted today as official tour events. In addition to his seven victories, he was runner-up five times and third place eight times. He had 30 Top 5 finishes total, and in 49 of those 89 starts he finished in the Top 10.
Clark continued working as a club pro after his competition days ended. Those clubs included Lyons (Kan.) Country Club in the 1950s, back in his home state. He had worked at Dyess Air Force Base Golf Course in Abilene, Texas, and eventually settled there. He also worked at Lazee Tee Golf Center and Ballinger Country Club, both in Abilene.
Clark was 67 years old when he died in Abilene in 1974.
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Barkow, Al. The History of the PGA Tour, 1989, Doubleday.
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Elliott, Len, and Kelly, Barbara. Who's Who in Golf, 1976, Arlington House Publishers.
Gasparilla Invitational. Tournament History, https://gasparillainvitational.com/tournament/history-of-the-gasparilla-invitational/.
Gibson, Nevin H. The Encyclopedia of Golf, 1964, A.S. Barnes and Company.
Lemon, Del. The Story of Golf in Oklahoma, 2001, University of Oklahoma Press.
New York Times. "Clark's 220 Wins in Houston Golf," February 8, 1932, https://www.nytimes.com/1932/02/08/archives/clarks-220-wins-in-houston-golf-follows-texas-open-victory-by.html.
PGA Tour. Players, Clarence Clark, Career, https://www.pgatour.com/player/13936/clarence-clark.
Standefer, John. "Ballinger Country Club Shown Off," Abilene (Tex.) Reporter-News, June 24, 1968.
