William C. Campbell (golfer)

William C. Campbell
Personal information
Full name	William Cammack Campbell
Born	(1923-05-05)May 5, 1923 Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 30, 2013(2013-08-30) (aged 90) Lewisburg, West Virginia, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Career
College	Princeton University
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	T36: 1955, 1966
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	T23: 1954
The Open Championship	DNP
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1964
British Amateur	2nd: 1954
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1990 (member page) Bob Jones Award 1956 Old Tom Morris Award 1991

William C. Campbell
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	Army

William Cammack Campbell (May 5, 1923 – August 30, 2013), often known as Bill Campbell or William C. Campbell, became one of the most distinguished amateur golfers in golf history. Campbell was two-time President of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and one time Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

Campbell was born in Huntington, West Virginia. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy where he won his first tournaments, served in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II and graduated from Princeton University in 1947 with a degree in history. Campbell was a star in collegiate golf and swimming competitions while at Princeton. With little desire to play professionally, Campbell ran his family's Huntington insurance firm for close to sixty years, served in the West Virginia State legislature and sat on numerous corporate boards.

Campbell was also the stepfather of Academy Award-nominated actor Brad Dourif.

Golf career

In his amateur golfing career, Campbell played in 37 U.S. Amateurs, including 33 consecutively from 1941–77. Campbell's victory in the 1964 U.S. Amateur at Canterbury Golf Club was his crowning achievement on the golf course. He played on eight Walker Cup teams from 1951 to 1975, captaining the 1955 team, and finished with an overall record of 11–4–3 (7–0–1 in singles matches). He was runner-up in the 1954 British Amateur. He was three times runner-up in the Canadian Amateur Championship, in 1952, 1954, and 1965. He won three West Virginia Opens, four North and South Amateurs, and fifteen West Virginia Amateur titles. He won the U.S. Senior Amateur in 1979 and 1980 (medalist in 1979, 1980, and 1984), and finished 2nd overall in the 1980 U.S. Senior Open.

Campbell qualified for 19 Masters Tournaments and played in 18 of them in a span of 26 years, more than any amateur in history. He also played in 15 U.S. Opens.

Campbell served on the Executive Committee of the USGA from 1962–1965, and again from 1977 to 1984. He was the treasurer in 1978–1979, vice-president in 1980–1981, then served as president in 1982 and 1983. In 1987, he was named Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, just the third American to hold that post, becoming the first person to head both of golf's main governing bodies.

Awards

In 1956, Campbell was awarded the Bob Jones Award, the USGA's highest honor. Campbell was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990. He also received the 1991 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, GCSAA's highest honor. He was inducted into the West Virginia Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with Sam Snead.

Tournament wins (32)

• 1941 Eastern Interscholastic Champion
• 1943 Eastern Intercollegiate Champion
• 1946 Eastern Intercollegiate Champion
• 1948 Tam O'Shanter World Amateur
• 1949 Tam O'Shanter World Amateur, West Virginia Amateur
• 1950 West Virginia Open, North and South Amateur, West Virginia Amateur
• 1951 West Virginia Amateur
• 1953 West Virginia Open, North and South Amateur
• 1955 West Virginia Open, West Virginia Amateur
• 1956 Mexican Amateur
• 1957 North and South Amateur, West Virginia Amateur
• 1959 West Virginia Amateur
• 1962 West Virginia Amateur
• 1964 U.S. Amateur
• 1965 West Virginia Amateur
• 1967 Ontario Amateur, North and South Amateur, West Virginia Amateur
• 1968 West Virginia Amateur
• 1970 West Virginia Amateur
• 1972 West Virginia Amateur
• 1973 West Virginia Amateur
• 1974 West Virginia Amateur
• 1975 West Virginia Amateur
• 1979 U.S. Senior Amateur
• 1980 U.S. Senior Amateur

Results in major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1964	U.S. Amateur	1 up	Ed Tutwiler

Results timeline

Tournament	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament			NT	NT	NT
U.S. Open		NT	NT	NT	NT				CUT
U.S. Amateur	DNQ	NT	NT	NT	NT	–	R128	R128	SF
British Amateur	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT				R64

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	T46	59		T45	T51	T36	T43	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT		CUT	CUT	T23			CUT
U.S. Amateur	R256	R256	R16	R16	R16	R64	R16	R64	R128	R128
British Amateur	R16	R16		R32	2	R256

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT				CUT	T36		T48
U.S. Open			CUT	CUT	T34	CUT			CUT
U.S. Amateur	R64	R256	R128	R16	1	T8	T16	T7	T33	T39
British Amateur						R256	R64	R128

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
Masters Tournament		CUT	WD		CUT		CUT
U.S. Open	CUT			CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Amateur	T8	T14	T23	SF	QF	R256	R32	R128		DNQ	–	DNQ
British Amateur		R256				R256

Note: Campbell never played in the British Open nor the PGA Championship (for which he was never eligible being an amateur).

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

LA = Low Amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source for The Masters: www.masters.com

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur:USGA Championship Database

Source for 1949 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1949, pg. 8.

Source for 1950 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1950, pg. 7.

Source for 1951 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1951, pg. 7.

Source for 1953 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1953, pg. 4.

Source for 1955 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, June 1, 1955, pg. 4.

Source for 1973 U.S. Amateur: [1]

Source for 1974 U.S. Amateur: [2] Archived February 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1951 (winners), 1953 (winners), 1955 (winners, playing captain), 1957 (winners), 1965 (tied, cup retained), 1967 (winners), 1971, 1975 (winners)
• Eisenhower Trophy: 1964
• Americas Cup: 1952 (winners), 1954 (winners), 1956 (winners), 1965, 1967 (winners)

External links

• William Campbell at the World Golf Hall of Fame
• William C. Campbell at the Southern Golf Association Hall of Fame at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 August 2020)