Harvie Ward Dies At 78



September 6 , 2004

By David Normoyle, USGA

Far Hills, N.J. - Two-time U.S. Amateur Champion E. Harvie Ward, Jr. died Sept. 4 at his home in Pinehurst, N.C., following a long struggle with cancer. He was 78.

Ward was one of the best amateur golfers in the world from the late 1940s through the 1950s. He played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams, going undefeated in all six of his matches, and won the 1952 British Amateur in his first attempt.

Ward became one of only nine golfers to win consecutive U.S. Amateur championships when he did so in 1955 and 1956. The list of other consecutive Amateur championship winners includes Bob Jones and Tiger Woods.

Ward's first significant victory came in 1948 when he won the North and South Amateur. Ward either won a national amateur championship or was a member of a victorious Walker Cup team every year from 1952 to 1956.

He became a teaching professional in 1973, a second career in which he worked at clubs including Pine Needles in N.C., and Grand Cypress Resort and Interlachen in Florida.

Born on Dec. 8, 1925 in the tobacco country of Tarboro, N.C., Edward Harvie Ward first learned the game on a course with sand greens set in a cow pasture. Affected by chronic ear problems that lasted into adulthood, Ward took up golf as the only sport his illness allowed him to play consistently.

Though he achieved some initial success as a teenager, he was hampered early on by an unusual grip, which he called the "Harley." The grip was so-named by Ward because he claimed it looked like he was revving up a Harley Davidson motorcycle every time he tried to swing a club. It wasn't until he received some advice from well-known instructor, Palmer Maples, that he began to excel.

Known as a consistently strong putter throughout his career, Ward credited his humble beginnings as a major influence.

"When you putted on sand, you could see exactly where the ball rolled," Ward told the USGA in a 1991 interview. "You could tell whether you were cutting it or hooking it because the surface was flat. You didn't have any undulations on sand greens, so you generally knew exactly what you were doing."

Though he won several important tournaments before the 1952 British Amateur, it was that victory that earned him international prominence. But it wasn't so much how he won, as the number of attempts it took him to become the 10th American to win the British Amateur.

"It was kind of expected that you might do well, but you just didn't go over the first time and win the British Amateur," said Ward. "So that's what brought the most focus, not so much the way that I played."

Ward's experiences in Britain, like so many other golfers of the day, were shaped by the post-war rations that many Britons had to subsist on, including powdered eggs and the like.

Reminiscing about his diet while in England, Ward once said, "Hell, I ate enough Dover sole to swim back to the United States."

Ward played in 16 U.S. Amateur Championships from 1947 through 1965. His first victory came in 1955 at the Country Club of Virginia, in Richmond, Va., followed by the 1956 victory at the Knollwood Club in Lake Forest, Ill.

Throughout the final match in 1955, which he won 9 and 8 over Bill Hyndman, Ward felt it was his time to win.

"I had the bit in my mouth," said Ward. "After the morning round I had him something like eight-down. He [Hyndman] did not play that badly, but it was just all my show."

Ward's opportunity to become the first three-in-a-row winner of the U.S. Amateur never materialized after it was determined in 1957 he had violated the Rules of Amateur Status. He was required to sit out a probationary year before being reinstated in 1958.

Ward competed in eight U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for seventh in 1955. Ward had been tied for the lead in that championship with Tommy Bolt after 36 holes.

As a teaching professional later in life, Ward always focused on the fundamentals of the game.

"When I have young boys that I'm working with," Ward said in 1991, "I stress driving and wedging and putting. I don't care how good your iron play is, if you can't drive it in the fairway you might as well break 'em up or use 'em for gardening or whatever."

As a competitor, Ward once drove Jack Nicklaus to distraction with his uncanny feel for the game and ability to get up and down from just about anywhere. He beat Nicklaus in the 1958 U.S. Amateur in a match where he had to hit a recovery shot from inside a refreshment stand. Ward said about the match, "I just.stole his lunch."

"I don't care how great a player somebody is; everybody has to have a little touch," he said. "You can't just wind up a toy and send it out there to play."

David Normoyle is the coordinator of education and outreach for the USGA Museum and Archives. E-mail him with questions or comments at dnormoyle@usga.org.