90 Years Later: The 1929 U.S. Amateur As One Of Golf's Seminal Events

1929 US Amateur Program, painting by Maurice Logan, digital restoration by Tommy Naccarato

If there was one event I could go back and experience, I now believe it’s the 1929 U.S. Amateur. Sure, ‘13 at The Country Club and the 1930 British Amateur at St. Andrews come to mind, as does 1960 at Cherry Hills. But after going back and revisiting everything that went on in advance of the 1929 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach and what that event meant for west coast golf, U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach and even the Masters, I try to make the case for ‘29 in this Golfweek story.

I mention this because this year marks the 90th anniversary and as the U.S. Open arrives at Pebble Beach, celebrating its centennial, this amateur was the event putting the course and region on the map. I also bring it up since the first amateur at Pebble Beach was always a footnote, lazily written off as the amateur Jones lost during an incredible 1-1-2-1-1-Rnd32-1 stretch.

Some of my favorite golf photos are in this USGA gallery of the 1929 event.