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Walter Hagen may be the GOAT from Rochester. And he easily was the most colorful

bill wolcott, rochester democrat and chronicle
·5 min read

The focus of the golf world this week is on Louisville, Kentucky, where top golfers are set to tee off today at Valhalla Golf Club at the 2024 PGA Championship. On Sunday, the winner will hoist the Wanamaker Trophy as photographers capture the moment for posterity.

It's the same trophy that was here at Oak Hill Country Club last year for the 2023 PGA Championship. And it's the same trophy that Rochester native Walter Hagen famously lost during a night spent partying in Chicago nearly a century ago.

That's a later part of Hagen's story. First, let's talk about why we're here. Every so often, we profile the greatest athletes to come out of the Rochester area. This week, "The Haig" gets his turn.

Spectators watch as Walter Hagen follows his drive off the tee during an exhibition between between Great Britain and the United States on June 4, 1926, at The Wentworth Golf Club in Virginia Water, England. It was a forerunner of the Ryder Cup, which began in 1927.
Spectators watch as Walter Hagen follows his drive off the tee during an exhibition between between Great Britain and the United States on June 4, 1926, at The Wentworth Golf Club in Virginia Water, England. It was a forerunner of the Ryder Cup, which began in 1927.

Only Abby Wambach can challenge Walter Hagen as Rochester's GOAT

Hagen, who was born in Rochester in 1892, wasn't just good, he's arguably the GOAT — greatest of all time — among Rochester-area athletes.

In a 2019 story, veteran Democrat and Chronicle sportswriter Sal Maiorana registered his vote for the greatest-ever local athlete.

"We can debate this for hours, but my top two natives are pro golfer Walter Hagen and soccer player Abby Wambach," he wrote.

Maiorana cited Hagen's 11 major championships, "which — more than 90 years after his last victory — still ranks third-most behind only Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (14)."

Walter Hagen is arguably Rochester greatest ever athlete, and the hard-partying golfer is one of history's most colorful characters.
Walter Hagen is arguably Rochester greatest ever athlete, and the hard-partying golfer is one of history's most colorful characters.

Hagen was golf's Babe Ruth

Hagen, who grew up in the Corbett's Glen area of Brighton, took to golf early. He was a caddy as a child, some say as early as 7 years old.

Retired D&C Senior Editor Jim Memmott wrote in 2019 that by the time Hagen was 20, he was the head teaching professional at the Country Club of Rochester. A year later, Hagen won his first U.S. Open Championship.

The Rochester native was cut from the same cloth as baseball great Babe Ruth, with a larger-than-life persona befitting of this larger-than-life player.

Hagen made people want to play golf.

"Hagen exuded style and swagger, bringing new glamor to professional golf," Memmott wrote.

He was not quite 6 feet tall but appeared taller, said golf writer Charles Price, “because he always walked around a course as if he owned it.”

Others painted a more colorful portrait of the golf great, according to former D&C overnight editor Chad Roberts.

"He broke 11 of the 10 Commandments," Roberts wrote, using a quote from an associate of Hagen's.

Rochester's Walter Hagen was a dapper golfer and showman with a larger-than-life personality. He popularized golf and people would show up just to see what he would do next.
Rochester's Walter Hagen was a dapper golfer and showman with a larger-than-life personality. He popularized golf and people would show up just to see what he would do next.

Walter Hagen lived life with gusto

His lifestyle was legendary. The dapper Hagen was as well known for his high living, hard drinking and carousing as he was for his play, according to Chicago Tribune writer Ed Sherman.

Many times, there wasn’t much time between last call and the opening drive for Hagen. And there are numerous stories of Hagen showing up at the course in a limo, wearing the tux from the previous night’s party.

Hagen was a star in every sense of the word, and like some big-time athletes today, he burned through money. It was said he was the first golfer to make $1 million in the game and the first golfer to spend $2 million in the game.

"I never wanted to be a millionaire, I just wanted to live like one," Hagen once said.

But let's get back to the Wanamaker, the trophy that will be handed to the 2024 PGA Championship winner on Sunday. After all the photos are taken, PGA officials will whisk away the Wanamaker and the winner will get a replica.

You can blame Hagen for that.

Hagen even lost a prestigious golf trophy while partying

After winning his third PGA Championship in Chicago in 1925, Hagen was booked for a two-week run of exhibition matches beginning 24 hours later in Waterloo, Iowa.

Squeezing in a victory celebration may have been a problem for lesser men, but not for Walter Hagen, golf historian David Mackesey wrote in a 2023 story on the PGA of America's website.

"Wasting no time, the popular and uncontested king of professional golf chose to hold court with fellow golfers and patronize the best drinking establishments the Windy City had to offer," Mackesey said.

As the night wore on, the 27-pound trophy proved too taxing for the merry Hagen to lug around, so he hailed a cab, put the trophy in the back seat and told the driver to bring it back to his hotel. It never made it there.

But Hagen kept that bit of news to himself.

Golfer Walter Hagen instructs a very young friend. Hagen began his golfing career as a caddie and later as head teaching professional at the Country Club of Rochester.
Golfer Walter Hagen instructs a very young friend. Hagen began his golfing career as a caddie and later as head teaching professional at the Country Club of Rochester.

Hagen hid the truth for years

When Hagen showed up at the 1926 PGA Championship without the Wanamaker, Mackesey wrote, he masked his screwup with bravado. "I will win it anyway, so I didn't bring it."

And he did win in 1926, and again in 1927.

By the time of the 1928 PGA Championship in Baltimore, Hagen had been living with the secret of the lost trophy for three years, Mackesey wrote. That year, it came down to Hagen and Leo Diegel. On the final hole, Diegel's ball found the cup. Hagen's rolled just wide.

At that point, Hagen had to fess up and admit he lost the Wanamaker. Embarrassed club officials found a stand-in trophy for the obligatory photos with a frustrated Diegel. The PGA quickly ordered a new trophy for the 1929 PGA Championship, according to Mackesey.

Hagen never won another PGA Championship, but he wasn't done winning. He racked up wins at The Open Championship in 1928 and 1929, and led the Ryder Cup team to victories in 1931 and 1935.

Golf legend finished life as a Wolverine

Michigan would be where the golf legend spent the majority of his life, eventually buying a 20-acre estate on Long Lake in Traverse City, according to a 2019 Northern Express article by Patrick Sullivan. That's where he died of throat cancer on Oct. 6, 1969.

As for the Wanamaker?

In 1931, a delivery man placed a box inside the lobby of the Wannamoisett Country Club, Mackesey wrote. Inside was the Wanamaker Trophy. There was no return address.

Bill Wolcott is a producer with the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. A Southern Tier native and avid hiker, Wolcott has spent his entire 30-year career writing and editing for newspapers in central and western New York.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Golfer Walter Hagen was the colorful GOAT from Rochester NY