For decades, H. Chandler Egan was a curiosity to the world of golf. Even family members scrounged for records and photographs.
They knew he was raised on a five-acre estate in Highland Park and developed his game at nearby Exmoor Country Club. They were aware he had captained the golf team at Harvard, later moving west and partnering with Alister MacKenzie to renovate Pebble Beach Golf Links. He died young, at 51.
And of course they knew he had won a silver medal at the 1904 Olympics and gold in the team event.
The full picture came into focus in 2012 after Egan’s only child, Eleanor Everett, died at 101. Family members sorted belongings in her suburban Cleveland home and came upon a treasure trove.
“My stepson opened this cabinet and saw the glint of a metal box behind a bunch of art books,” recalled Morris Everett Jr., a grandson of Egan’s. “He opened it to see a whole bunch of medals. We knew that my mom had a photo (of Egan) purchased at an auction for $200. She never told us she had another 300 photographs. I think she just forgot she had them.”
Seven huge boxes were discovered in the attic containing 59 medals, hundreds of photos and 12 large scrapbooks replete with scorecards and news clippings that referred to Egan as “The Boy Wonder” and “The Wizard of Exmoor.”
Among the many letters was one from Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer who ever lived and co-founder of the Masters. He requested an autograph.
A man who died in 1936 had come alive, 76 years later.
Perhaps best of all, the Everett family had a champion, a man dedicated to organizing the collection, digitizing the images and publicizing Egan’s achievements.
“Don Holton,” Everett said, “knows more about Chandler Egan than we do.”
Holton is the historian and a member at Exmoor, which opened in 1896. The more he studied Egan, the more he was impressed.
Egan helped Harvard win three NCAA championships. After his clubs were destroyed in a fire, he won the 1904 Western Amateur at Exmoor with a borrowed set. He won that year’s U.S. Amateur at Baltusrol in dominant fashion — an 8-and-6 victory in the final match. At 20, he was the nation’s top-ranked player.
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He wore a designer watch and “was perceived as a stylish golfer,” Holton said. “John D. Rockefeller once followed him. He was somewhat erratic off the tee but had the ability to hit spectacular recovery shots.”
As he walked a visitor through Exmoor’s Heritage Hall, with its museum-quality displays of medals, cups and photographs, Holton described Egan as a man with “class, style and modesty.” Chick Evans, the 1916 U.S. Open champion, wrote that Egan had “the bearing and manners of a prince.”
He was the heavy favorite to win gold at Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis, which hosted golf for the 1904 Games. But a wayward drive into a body of water known today as Egan’s Pond cost him on the final match’s 33rd hole.
Canadian George Lyon won gold, and his tale was equally remarkable. According to Golf Canada magazine, Lyon didn’t take up golf until his late 30s and started only while waiting for cricket practice. He was 46 when he defeated Egan, walking many of the holes in a downpour in the 3-and-2 victory.
Egan’s comment after the match?
“Mr. Lyon was more clever than I and deserved to win.”
Egan took silver, and his Western Golf Association team won gold. Both medals are on display at a special Olympics exhibit at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.
Morris Everett did not inherit his grandfather’s golf skill. A club tennis champion, he said: “I could be down 5-0, 40-love and still feel I can come back and win. In golf, I have no confidence.”
But Everett is thrilled that golf will be returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 and that on Aug. 14, his grandfather might have something in common with Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed or Matt Kuchar.
“I think it’s overdue,” Everett said. “It’s a fabulous sport.”