Sports
Horton Smith
1908–1963 · professional golfer
Winner of the first Masters Tournament in 1934 and again in 1936, who was head professional at the Detroit Golf Club from 1946 until his death.
- Born
Springfield, Missouri- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 55- Also known as
- The Joplin Ghost
- Detroit years
- 1946–1963
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Horton Smith burst onto the professional tour as a young man from Missouri in the late 1920s and won the inaugural Masters at Augusta in 1934, adding a second green-jacket title in 1936. After serving in World War II, he settled in Detroit in 1946 as head professional of the Detroit Golf Club, the historic club on the city's northwest side with a clubhouse designed by Albert Kahn. He remained there for the rest of his life, teaching members, playing exhibitions and serving the game as president of the PGA of America from 1952 to 1954. He kept playing in the Masters for decades despite illness; he lost a lung to cancer in 1957 and died of Hodgkin's disease in Detroit in 1963, at 55. The Detroit Golf Club later named a tournament after him, and the PGA's Horton Smith Award honors contributions to golf education.
Highlights
- Won the first Masters Tournament (1934) and the third (1936)
- Head professional at the Detroit Golf Club 1946–1963
- President of the PGA of America 1952–1954
- Michigan Golf Hall of Fame 1984; World Golf Hall of Fame 1990
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1946–1963
Detroit Golf Club
The historic private club on Detroit's northwest side where he was head professional for seventeen years; a tournament there bears his name.