As part of the MSGA’s centennial celebration over the course of 2021, we are recognizing some of the major historical events that took place over the last 100 years of our organization.
At a meeting on March 8, 1921, quite a contest was waged over the location of the first Maryland State Golf Association Amateur Championship. The Maryland Country Club, represented by First Vice President of the MSGA, A. E. Marshall, was declared the club in the running for the Championship. The Baltimore Country Club immediately followed entry into the competition. The argument of Second Vice President R. Marsden Smith in support Rolling Road Golf Club was too convincing, however, and Rolling Road was awarded the first Amateur Championship, considered to be the “plum” of the original Championships. Smith came prepared for the meeting bringing beautiful pictures of his course plus much oratory.
The first Amateur drew entries from more than 100 players, a majority from the Maryland Country Club, Baltimore Country Club, Public Parks Golf Club, and the host club, Rolling Road Golf Club. Play began with an 18-hole qualifying round for four flights of 16 to qualify. The original pairings for the qualifying listed 108 contestants playing in twosomes with the first tee time at 9:00 am on June 9, 1921. The two player pairings were scheduled to tee off at 5-minute intervals with the last group to drive off at 1:25 pm. The honor of first to play went to Alexander P. Brooks and W. W. Symington, Jr. The ultimate Champion B. Warren Corkran, from the Baltimore Country Club, began his qualifying round at 1:10 pm, and when finished, his score tied the course record of 74, on the par 71 course, earning him the medalist title. The Rolling Road course was experiencing some trouble with its fairways, necessitating winter rules during the championship. On his way to the final, B. Warren Corkran defeated C.P. Andrews, Commander Underwood, H. Lennox Bond III, who was third in medalist, and in the final round defeated Tom Sasser 6 and 5. In the final match, Warren went out in 29 to become three up at the turn. He won the tenth, and then all but sealed the victory with winning birdies on the 11th and 12th. He finished the match on the 13th with a halving par to become the first Maryland Amateur Champion.
