The World Golf Hall of Fame Will Again Have One Notable Omission
On Wednesday, the selection committee of the World Golf Hall of Fame will vote on 12 finalists for inclusion into the 2024 class.
Unfortunately Ted Ray, the gregarious man from the Isle of Jersey, will not be one of the 12 to be considered, which borders on criminal.
Many golf fans know Ted Ray for his visit to The Country Club in the 1913 U.S. Open, where he finished third to become part of U.S. Open lore as Francis Ouimet defeated Ray and Harry Vardon in an 18-hole playoff to win America’s national championship.
Ray would go on to have a stellar career in majors, with victories in the 1912 British Open at Muirfield and 1920 U.S. Open at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, foremost among his 14 top 10s in majors.
If major-championship success is the measure, Ray, a Briton who died in 1943, surely should have a spot in the hall.
Starting major competition in the 1899 Open Championship, Ray finished out of the top 20 just once from 1899 to 1921 and missed the cut in the oldest major only twice, in 1931 and 1937, at age 54 and 60.
Because of travel restrictions and costs, Ray made only three trips to the U.S. for the U.S. Open: 1913, 1920 and 1927 (a T27 at Oakmont Country Club).
When Ray won the U.S. Open in 1920, the runners-up included Hall of Famers Leo Diegel, Jock Hutchison and Harry Vardon, with Bobby Jones four shots back.
The next day, Vardon, a fellow citizen of Jersey, wrote a story about Ray’s victory that appeared in The Milwaukee Journal on Aug. 14.
“A man who has the reputation of brilliance rather than steadiness won the victory on steadiness,” Vardon said.
Ray not only had major success but won 46 times as a professional, his first title coming in the 1899 Hampshire, Isle of Weight & Channel Championship and the last at the 1935 Hertfordshire Open Championship.
Ray was a bigger man than most and could drive the ball longer than his peers, but questionable putting often held him back—though he obviously rolled the ball well enough to win two major championships.
Vardon went on to quote Ray after his victory in the U.S. Open.
“I have never seen a finer field of golfers in any tournament, and it took more than ability to make the strokes to win it.”
Because of World War I, Ray lost five chances in his prime to play the Open Championship and countless other events. When the Open resumed in 1920 at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, he finished third.
Ray would go on to captain the first and unofficial Ryder Cup team for Great Britain at Wentworth in 1926 and the first official Ryder Cup in 1927 at Worchester, Mass.
The Hall of Fame is littered with players who have never won a major championship, including Peter Alliss, who was inducted in 2012 and Isao Aoki, inducted in 2004.
Why Ray is not part of the elite club is difficult to explain. Hopefully, the third player in that monumental playoff from 1913 at The Country Club will join Vardon and Ouimet in the hall some day.
Nothing else makes sense.