Six days of competition saw 77 men swing clubs. Two countries participated and one handstand was won. Four years after the Olympic debut of golf at The Games of the II Olympiad in London, the sport returned to the Olympics for a fun, unique encore at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games. Then, the sport was gone for 112 years.
George Lyon
The opening rounds of the men’s event at Tokyo2020 are underway. This marks the first Olympiad in which golf has been on the agenda since the St. Louis games. The sport has made great strides since the 1904 day when golfers first began to play at Normandy’s Glen Echo Country Club.
The September schedule featured team play, handicap events as well as driving and putting contests. There was also an individual competition. Although the individual competition was the main event at Glen Echo it can’t be considered an international tournament. Seventy-four participants were from the United States, with the majority hailing from the Midwest. The eventual gold medalist George Lyon from Ontario was among three others who made the trek to Canada.
Lyon, 46 years old, was an outstanding all-around athlete who played in both track and field and cricket during his prime. He was able to use a variety of clubs, even though he only started golf in his late thirties. He was also a showman and sang while he walked from Glen Echo to the next hole.
Lyon was paired with American Chandler Egan to win the gold in the 36-hole matchplay final. Egan was given an early-round lift by an archaic rule known as a stymie during the closely contested match.
Players did not mark their balls on green back then. Egan placed the ball in front of Lyon’s and the Canadian lost the hole. Lyon was able to shake it off and take a decisive lead at No. Egan broke a ball into water hazards in round 15 to lose his chance at gold.
Lyon, so happy about his win at the match’s celebration dinner, walked through a banquet hall carrying his award.
A replica of the gold-medalled medal is on display at the main entrance to Glen Echo. There are also other mementos from the 1904 Games that can be found throughout the grounds. As an ode to the Olympic flag, the flame outside the club is still flying. Several plaques throughout the grounds tell of memorable moments during the club’s time in the spotlight. The body of water where the American silver-medalist lost his ball is now named Lake Egan.
Glen Echo’s marketing and membership director Katie Dooley says that approximately 70% of the course layout is unchanged from 1904. Dooley states, “I think the thing we hold on to the most and what our member appreciates the most is how important the club’s history and how hard we tried to honor that history.” It defines who we are as well as how we got there.
It was a long road to the Olympics in Rio 2016. Even though the history of the sport’s Summer Games is short, a large portion is recorded in St. Louis.
