Dick Chapman

Dick Chapman
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Richard D. Chapman
Born	(1911-03-23)March 23, 1911 Greenwich, Connecticut
Died	Rancho Santa Fe, California
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	168 lb (76 kg; 12.0 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	11th: 1954
U.S. Open	T21: 1954
The Open Championship	CUT: 1961
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1940
British Amateur	Won: 1951

Richard D. Chapman (March 23, 1911 – November 15, 1978) was an American amateur golfer. Time magazine crowned Chapman "the Ben Hogan of amateur golf".

Chapman was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was the 1940 U.S. Amateur golf champion. He was a member of Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, which was the site of his first major triumph. He remains one of only three players to have won a USGA title on their home course. He holds a place in the Masters Tournament record book for the most appearances (19) as an amateur, a distinction he shares with Charles Coe.

Although Chapman was quite the international player, winning the 1951 British Amateur, he also won state amateur championships in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and the Carolinas. He also won the prestigious North and South Amateur. At the 1958 U.S. Amateur, Chapman and his son, Dixie, both qualified, giving a rare father-and-son appearance.

Chapman's career was put on hold for World War II, where he served as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war, Chapman picked up where he left off, with a string of victories in the British, French, Canadian, and Italian amateurs. Chapman is one of only two players (the other is Harvie Ward) who has won the U.S., British, and Canadian Amateur Championships.

"Blessed with a strong competitive spirit and an inquiring mind into the technicalities of the swing," reads the entry on Chapman in Who's Who in Golf. "Chapman not only played the game but wrote about it and worked at its many phases."

In the 1950s, Chapman collaborated with the USGA on a handicap format for foursomes play called the Chapman System. The system worked as follows: two golfers on the same team each tee off, then play the other's ball. From there, the team would play out the best shot.

Chapman played on the winning Walker Cup teams in 1947, 1951, and 1953.

Chapman's final success came in 1967 with a victory in the International Senior Amateur. A stroke in the early 1970s hampered his career, and he died in Rancho Santa Fe, California in 1978.

Chapman was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.

Amateur wins (16)

this list is probably incomplete

• 1934 Westchester Amateur
• 1936 Connecticut Amateur
• 1938 Connecticut Amateur
• 1939 French Open Amateur, New York State Amateur
• 1940 U.S. Amateur
• 1948 Golf Illustrated Gold Vase
• 1949 Canadian Amateur
• 1950 Massachusetts Amateur
• 1951 British Amateur, New England Amateur
• 1952 French Open Amateur
• 1953 Carolinas Amateur
• 1957 Carolinas Amateur
• 1958 North and South Amateur
• 1960 Italian Open Amateur

Major championships

Amateur wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Runner-up
1940	U.S. Amateur	11 & 9	W. B. McCullough Jr.
1951	British Amateur	5 & 4	Charles Coe

Results timeline

Tournament	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T37
U.S. Open	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	T50	DNP
British Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	DNP	DNP	R256	DNP	SF	R16
British Amateur	DNP	R16	R256	QF	DNP	QF

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	DNP	T19 LA	DNP	NT	NT	NT	T41	T14	T40 LA	50
U.S. Open	T36	T49	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP
British Open	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	1 M	R64	NT	NT	NT	NT	R16	R16	R128	DNP
British Amateur	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	2	R16	DNP

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	T35	T20	T55	37	11	T53	T65	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T21	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	54
British Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Amateur	R32	R32	DNP	DNP	DNP	R256	R64	QF	R16	R64
British Amateur	2	1	R32	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1960	1961	1962
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP
British Open	DNP	CUT	DNP
U.S. Amateur	R64	DNP	R32
British Amateur	DNP	-	-

Note: Chapman never played in PGA Championship.

M = Medalist
LA = Low Amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for The Masters: www.masters.com

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for 1935 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1935, pg. 22.

Source for 1936 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1936, pg. 20.

Source for 1937 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1937, pg. 21.

Source for 1939 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1939, pg. 3.

Source for 1948 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1948, pg. 6.

Source for 1952 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1952, pg. 2.

Source for 1961 British Open: www.opengolf.com

Source

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1947 (winners), 1951 (winners), 1953 (winners)