Watts Gunn

George C. Griffin

Archival Material

Watts Gunn

dc.contributor.archivesspaceAgent	https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/people/300
dc.contributor.author	George C. Griffin
dc.date	ca. 1928	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2012-10-30T20:54:24Z
dc.date.available	2012-10-30T20:54:24Z
dc.date.issued	1928	en_US
dc.description	Digital image created at the Georgia Tech Library, 2010. Scanned at 600ppi.\|\|Physical Condition: Good.	en_US
dc.description.abstract	WATTS GUNN Atlanta, Georgia B.S. COMMERCE, 1928 Chi Phi; Golf, 2, 3, 4; Captain, 4; Bulldogs 1925 Walker Cup Team Intercollegiate Champion At age 20, on his first attempt he reached the National Amateur finals. Bobby Jones, impressed by his playing, convinced GunnÂ s parents to let him play in the Georgia Amateur, which Gunn won. In 1925 the two Tech friends discovered they were both finalists in the USGA championship -- the only time two finalists have come from the same club and alma mater. Jones won by 8 and 7. In 1927 Gunn won the National Collegiate title, a game in which he had seven consecutive birdies. He was TechÂ s first NCAA individual golf champion. Gunn played with Jones on the 1926 and 1928 U.S. teams that compete biannually against the British for the famed Walker Cup. After graduating from Tech, Gunn began work with New YorkÂ s The Guaranty Company. He retired as district sales manager for the Chilean Nitrate Sales Corporation at age 62 and resided in Atlanta until his death in 1994. One of three Atlanta golfers who helped the United States gain possession of the Walker Cup, all of whom were former stars on the Georgia Tech golf team: Bob Jones, Watts Gunn, and Charlie Yates. At the time of his death on November 5, 1994 at the age of 89, Watts was the oldest living American Walker Cup team player, having played in two Walker Cups, St. Andrews Scotland in 1926 and Chicago Golf Club in 1928. As a Georgia Tech golfer and member of East Lake Country Club, he was runner-up to Bob Jones in the 1925 U.S. Amateur played at Oakmont Country Club, where in his first round he won 15 holes in a row over two rounds setting a championship record in golf that has not been broken since. A Macon native, Mr. Gunn was a two-time winner of the Georgia State Amateur and was the NCAA golf champion in 1927. Gunn was a long-time member of the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth where he was president of the club in 1953 and 1954. Gunn was an inductee of the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, and the Southern Golf Association Hall of Fame. In 1985 Gunn was named Honorary Golf Coach of Georgia Tech. On April 17th, 1926, Gunn and Bill Spalding established new amateur records of 70 each on the winter greens of Cherokee, one under par. On May 7th, 1927, GunnÂ s score of 77 was the highlight of a Georgia Tech golf team victory in Athens, winning 6 to 2. All the matches were copped by the Tech team except one. Second to Bobby Jones as TechÂ s most illustrious athletes (in 1927) Watts ranked as one of the leading players of the country, whilst still an undergraduate at Tech. A choice for the Walker cup team, and he also played in the British open. He had the National Intercollegiate championship as well as the Southern Conference title. He has won the Georgia state crown for the third or fourth time. Elected president of the Bulldog Club in November of 1927. Lead the team as captain to victory in an April 1928 game where Tech was at time consistently good, and at times consistently bad. They won the match vs. UGA by a point advantage of 10.5 to 7.5 under the Nassau system of scoring. The winning of this match made Tech a strong favorite to cop the Southern Conference crown in golf which they held the year before, for UGA was the strongest rivals they had to face in the south. Captain Watts Gunn shot the best golf with a 73, which was remarkable as conditions were rather windy. In the first foursome Gunn and Charlie Brumby defeated Billy Oliver and Charlie Nunnally by a point score of 8.5 to .5. GunnÂ s score for the game stood at: Out 434 553 444 -- 36 In 535 464 443 -- 37--73 Resources: Actual photo; Blue Print 1928; The Technique-April 23rd, 1926, pg. 4, vol. 15; The Technique-May 13th, 1927, pg. 4, vol. 16; The Technique-September 23rd, 1927, pg. 3, vol. 17; The Technique-November 25th, 1927, pg. 1, vol. 17; The Technique-April 13th, 1928, pg. 5, vol. 17.	en_US
dc.format.extent	1 gelatin silver print : b/w ; 9 1/4 x 7 3/4 in.	en_US
dc.identifier.GTaccession	1987.0303	en_US
dc.identifier.GTid	vac002_255	en_US
dc.identifier.archivesspaceResourceId	VAC002
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1853/021123
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	Georgia Tech Archives	en_US
dc.relation	GP255	en_US
dc.relation.isPartOfArchivalResource	https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/repositories/2/resources/133
dc.rights.statement	Property of the Georgia Institute of Technology. No access restrictions. Permission to publish must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.	en_US
dc.source.box	See finding aid for George C. Griffin Photograph Collection	en_US
dc.source.collection	George C. Griffin Photograph Collection, VAC002	en_US
dc.source.folder	See finding aid for George C. Griffin Photograph Collection	en_US
dc.subject	Portraits	en_US
dc.title	Watts Gunn	en_US
dc.type	Still Image
dc.type.genre	Photograph
dspace.entity.type	ArchivalMaterial
local.contributor.author	Griffin, George C.
relation.isPersonOfArchivalMaterial	c4bbb0d2-66a2-45fe-9b26-be91e384d145