Here Comes Patty!
When Interlachen hosted the 1935 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the country was deep into the Great Depression. Although President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been pitching a message of hope, the economic reality was less bright. But championship golf continued to offer a much-needed respite. And the Women’s Amateur at Interlachen offered just that.
Like Bobby Jones was to men’s golf, Glenna Collett Vare was the most-decorated woman player at the time. She was at the height of her career and held off formidable challengers to win at Interlachen. However, the story line was further enhanced because the main challenger was Interlachen’s own Patty Berg, who forced Vare to play the best golf of her career to stave off the charging youngster’s hot putter and gutsy attitude in the final match. It was the seasoned veteran versus the fearless, freckle-faced teenager. “Mrs. Vare won the title but youth, in all its vigor and impulsive recklessness, stole the show,” reported the American Golfer (October 1935).
Vare, of Philadelphia, arrived at Interlachen during the last week of August as the favorite to win an unprecedented sixth U.S. Amateur title (1922-25-28-29-30). Three-time defending champion Virginia Van Wie of Chicago had retired from competition, making Vare the player to beat. Vare was as dominant in women’s golf as Jones was with the men. Her dominance and good sportsmanship even invoked the comparison as “the female Bobby Jones.”
But the headlines belonged to Berg, whose improbable march to the final in just her third year playing golf cast her into the national spotlight. She had gained experience during the previous year, but compared to Vare that experience was limited. Leading up to the Amateur, her confidence had been building after she had upset several favorites to make the final of the Trans-Mississippi and then won the Minneapolis, Twin Cities and state titles. But not even Berg could have predicted she would become the youngest finalist ever in the national championship a few weeks before starting her junior year at Washburn High School in Minneapolis.
Berg holed several unlikely putts to survive close matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the quarterfinals, she made a 45-foot putt on the 18th hole to defeat Mrs. Dan Chandler 1-up. The putt was from the same area of the green from where Jones made his birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the 1930 U.S. Open.
In the semifinals, Berg was 2-down to Charlotte Glutting before winning the 16th and 17th holes to even the match. On the 18th green, Berg drained another dramatic putt for a par to tie the hole. The Minneapolis Tribune (Aug. 31, 1935) reported: “With 4,000 tense fans craining their necks to glimpse what was to have been Patty’s finish on the 18th green, when Charlotte Glutting had her dormie, Miss Berg again proved to the multitude what a marvelous competitor she is as she canned a 30-foot uphill putt that evened the match and forced it into a playoff.” In the deepening twilight, Berg and Glutting halved the first two sudden-death holes with pars. Many spectators waited anxiously on the hillside beneath the clubhouse, relying on cheers to learn if Berg’s momentum would continue. When there were no cheers and the gallery could be seen returning to the clubhouse, most everyone assumed Berg had lost on the third extra hole. But a young caddie ran back to the press tent near the clubhouse, spreading the welcome news that Berg had won. The Minneapolis Tribune (Aug. 31, 1935) proclaimed: “Patty Berg, sensational 17-year-old golfing idol of the tournament’s stampeding record-breaking crowds, staged another hair-raising finish Friday night to fight her way into the final for the women’s national golf championship.”
Berg’s good friend, Bea Barrett of The Lafayette Club on Lake Minnetonka, put forth another great performance for the younger generation. At age 18, Barrett gave Vare a good run in the other semifinal, before losing on the 17th hole.
Precision vs. Tenacity
Six-thousand fans watched Berg and Vare play the 36-hole final match. The large partisan crowds had rallied around Berg all week, and their enthusiasm mounted with each dramatic win. A steely veteran at age 32, Vare was seemingly unaffected by the one-sided gallery.
Vare’s superior ball-striking skills were on display from the beginning. But Berg’s tenacity kept her within striking distance. Known as a long hitter who could overpower her competition, Vare did not take advantage of her length and instead played conservatively. Berg even outdrove Vare on many holes. Vare would then play first, often hitting good approach shots that forced Berg to take chances. Vare was seldom in trouble, whereas Berg’s game was more erratic.
Morning Round
Vare took the early lead, winning the third and fourth holes with pars. “She (Patty) was left behind, almost from the start, by the invincible, machine-like play of Mrs. Vare,” reported the Minneapolis Tribune (Sept.1, 1935). “Yet she trudged along, lips compressed into a thin, determined line, pressing her opponent every foot of the way.”
Berg fought back and won the fifth hole with a par. The rest of the front nine was closely contested. Vare won the seventh, Berg won the eighth and Vare won the ninth to take a 2-up lead.
Vare increased her lead on the back side when Berg hit some wild shots and was 4-up after 18 holes. Berg could have gone 5-down had she not made another difficult putt on the 18th green from 10 feet above the hole.
Afternoon Round
Berg steadied her play after lunch and remained 4-down after 27 holes. But when Vare appeared to be tiring with bogeys on the 28th and 29th holes, Berg missed an opportunity to capitalize on the rare mistakes and halved both holes.
Berg did rally, however, beginning with a par to win the 31st hole and a birdie to win the 32nd. The gallery’s enthusiasm surged as Vare’s advantage had been cut to 2-up with four holes to play. But as quickly as their emotions had risen, the crowd’s spirits were deflated on the 34th hole when it became apparent that Berg would not pull off another come-from-behind upset victory. After halving the 33rd hole, Berg hit her tee shot on the 34th hole through the dogleg, where it nestled deep in the rough. She used all of her force to advance the ball, but she pushed it right of the green. Also from the rough, Vare hit a high mid-iron to six feet. Berg’s defeat seemed inevitable when her pitch ran 15 feet past the hole, but she continued to fight and dropped the putt for par. Like a seasoned champion, though, Vare rolled in her birdie putt to close out the match to win 3-and-2.
“The story of the 16th hole of the afternoon round, the closing hole of the match, gives an accurate picture of the entire day’s play,” reported the Minneapolis Journal (Sept. 1, 1935). “It shows Patty’s fighting qualities and her spectacular skill. It shows also, the reserve resourcefulness with which Mrs. Vare earned her championship.”
Vare continued to compete through 1950 in the international Curtis Cup team matches, which she helped to organize, but her victory at Interlachen was the pinnacle of her career and her last individual title. Indicative of her influence, the LPGA named a trophy in her honor in 1952 for the player with the lowest annual stroke average. The Vare Trophy was a significant gesture for an association of professional golfers to name this award after a career amateur. Vare was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975.
While the championship marked the peak of Vare’s career, it was the impetus that sparked Berg’s developing game. Many enjoyed their first glimpse of Berg’s fortitude and innate ability to please an audience, characteristics that epitomized her career. In the span of a few days, she had established herself as America’s next rising female star. To many, Berg’s unexpected performance was the highlight of the championship. The American Golfer proclaimed of Berg: “It was she who made the tournament the success it was.”
Written by Christine Geer Dean
1935 US Women's Amateur
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1935 US Women's Amateur - Glenna Collett Vare and Patty Berg
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