Jerome Travers

Travers playing in the 1915 U.S. Open

Jerome Dunstan "Jerry" Travers (May 19, 1887 – March 29, 1951) was one of the leading amateur golfers of the early 20th century. He won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1907, 1908, 1912 and 1913, the New Jersey Amateur three times, and the Metropolitan Amateur (New York) five times. He was regarded as one of the finest match play golfers of his time and had a famous rivalry with Walter Travis. Despite his great success as an amateur, Travers found it notoriously difficult to compete strongly in stroke play events. In several of the amateur championships in which he played, he only made it through the stroke play qualifying rounds on the cut line, before going on to succeed in the match play format.

In 1915 Travers won the U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Club, making him the second of the five amateurs to win the event. It was his only top ten finish in four appearances at the U.S. Open - he never entered the tournament again once he had won it.

Although all of Travers' notable victories came as an amateur, he later became a teaching professional and gave exhibitions. His motives for turning professional are questionable: after living in great comfort all his life his family suffered heavily after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, forcing him to seek a living in the professional game. He had actually retired from competitive golf previously to this, and he never had any great success as a professional. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1976.

Tournament wins

• 1904 Nassau Invitational
• 1906 Metropolitan Amateur, Eastern Scholastic
• 1907 U.S. Amateur, Metropolitan Amateur, New Jersey Amateur
• 1908 U.S. Amateur, New Jersey Amateur
• 1911 Metropolitan Amateur, New Jersey Amateur
• 1912 U.S. Amateur, Metropolitan Amateur
• 1913 U.S. Amateur, Metropolitan Amateur, New Jersey Amateur
• 1915 U.S. Open

Results in professional major championships

Travers played in only the U.S. Open.

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jerome Travers

• World Golf Hall of Fame profile