George Von Elm

George "Gix" Von Elm (March 20, 1901 – May 1, 1961) was an American professional golfer most noted for his amateur career.

While a 16-year-old high school senior, he won the first of many tournaments, the 1917 Utah Amateur.

In the 1920s, he worked primarily in the financial and insurance industries, and later designed several golf courses.

Born in Salt Lake City to Jacob H. and Marie Demmer Von Elm, he began his golf career as a caddie on the old Salt Lake Country Club course, where he was coached by professionals Louis Berrien and Willie Lock.

He later refined his game at the Forest Dale Golf Course.

Von Elm attended West High School, where he was an outstanding athlete and played quarterback on the football team.

He won the Utah Amateur again in 1920 and 1921.

His golf skills developed quickly, and soon he was seeking competition outside the state.

Von Elm attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, studying business, and developed his career in insurance and investments.

He captured the 1920 Trans-Mississippi Amateur title, and lost in the finals of that event the next year.

Von Elm settled in the Los Angeles area in the early 1920s, but moved back to Utah shortly afterwards, taking a job in a bank.

In the 1920s amateur golf was in its heyday, with famous players such as Bobby Jones, Chick Evans, and Francis Ouimet.

Von Elm's duels with Jones became legendary.

In 1921, Von Elm won the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur in a final round that pitted the young Utahn against veteran Chandler Egan in what was described by the Salt Lake Tribune as "one of the most sensational matches in the history of northwest golf."

He repeated as winner of that tournament the following year.

He was suspended by the United States Golf Association from amateur competition for one year, in late 1921, for accepting golf tournament expense money from friends who were Utah golf club members; this was against the rules.

Another element of this suspension was his association with the golf manufacturer Spalding, which was against the rules at that time; Von Elm worked as an assistant mining engineer in Colorado for a time.

After serving his suspension, and returning to the Los Angeles area, he joined the Rancho Golf Club, at that time a private facility, and was coached there by pro Arthur Clarkson.

He successfully represented Rancho in interclub matches, leading to several team titles in southern California, and won many of the prestigious club invitational titles in the region.

Von Elm often played exhibitions and team matches with 1921 British Amateur champion Willie Hunter, also a Rancho member and the club secretary.

As his fame grew, he was invited to join such legends as Walter Hagen and Tommy Armour for exhibition and challenge matches, raising significant sums for charity; as an amateur, Von Elm could not accept prize money from these events.

He won the Southern California Amateur three times: 1922, 1925, and 1927.

This is a prestigious event which always attracts a strong field.

In 1923 Von Elm advanced to the quarter-finals of the U.S. Amateur, but lost to former champion Ouimet.

From 1924 to 1931, Von Elm was among the best players in the world.

In 1924 Von Elm surprised the top golfers by finishing the U.S. Amateur as runner-up to Jones, though Jones won the final match at the Merion Golf Club by a resounding 9 and 8 margin.

Von Elm became the first player from west of the Mississippi River to reach the final.

The following year Jones eliminated Von Elm in the semifinals, at the Oakmont Country Club.

Von Elm won the 1925 Northern California Amateur title, and the 1925 California State Amateur (played at Pebble Beach Golf Links).

In 1925 he became the first to win all three major California amateur titles in the same year; this feat has not been repeated since.

He finished runner-up in the first Los Angeles Open, held in 1926; this famous tournament is one of the PGA Tour's longest-running events.

But Von Elm persisted, and in 1926 succeeded in defeating Jones, who had already won the British Open and the U.S. Open that year, to collect the U.S. Amateur title in September at the Baltusrol Golf Club in northeastern New Jersey.

A record-breaking crowd of 10,000 erupted with cheers as, in the words of an Associated Press reporter, "The monarch of golf was toppled from his amateur throne...by flaxen-haired George Von Elm...in one of the most stunning upsets of links history."

Von Elm, who became the first champion from west of the Mississippi River, was presented with a new car by members of the Rancho Park Golf Course, his home club, upon his return to Los Angeles following the Amateur victory; Jones received a similar gift from Sarasota, Florida golfers that same year, following his wins in the two major Opens.

The win in the national championship capped a superb golf year for Von Elm.

Earlier he had played a key role in the American defeat of the British in Walker Cup competition, by halving the final and decisive match over the Old Course at St Andrews, and had tied for third place in the British Open with the famous professional Walter Hagen at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club.

Von Elm made two more appearances for his country in the Walker Cup, in 1928 (Chicago Golf Club) and 1930 (Royal St George's Golf Club); he was on the winning U.S. team all three times.

Von Elm lost the longest playoff in the history of the U.S. Amateur when in 1930, he went ten sudden-death, extra holes with Maurice McCarthy Jr. (son of the golf architect and professional of the same name (Metropolitan Amateur champion 1929–30 and 1928 NCAA champion)) at Merion Golf Club, before eventually losing.

Von Elm and McCarthy had tied at the end of their regulation 18-hole match.

He was selected by Golf Digest as Utah's greatest amateur golfer, and in the early 1960s was named Utah Golfer of the Century.