Wilfrid accomplished a great deal to advance the game of golf in his lifetime.  Look at the reach of golf today as a result of the energy and dedication of his generation, the generation that sparked the Golden Age of Golf in America and  the vast international growth of the sport and resulting good will that golf engenders.  This was his often stated dream.                                          

                                                                                                               By:  Bill Zmistowski, Grandson

                                                                  Rough Draft 11/19/11

At the age of 17, Wilfrid Reid was placed in his first head golf professional position by Harry Vardon.

Golf professional, Wilfrid E. Reid, completed 72 holes in 10 U. S. Opens and 9 British Opens beginning at age 18 and led these two national championships a total of 5 times.  His best finish was 4th in the 1916 U. S. Open won by Chick Evans at Minikahda in Minneapolis.  Reid won the French Open, Italian Open, Swiss Open, Windsor Open (Canada), 1924 Augusta Open (Georgia) and other professional matches and championship tournaments including many in England prior to immigrating to the U. S.

In 1913 Wilfrid Reid traveled to Boston with Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to enter the U. S. Open.  The Boston Globe newspaper called this the 'British Invasion'.  Of course, American, Francis Oimet, won this defining championship.  Wilfie led at Brookline after 36 holes but hit a spectator with his drive on the 10th hole during the 3rd round and fell back.  After Brookline Vardon, Ray and Reid traveled up and down the East Coast playing in exhibition matches against the likes of  Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Freddie McCloud and other American golf professionals before sailing home.

In 1915 Clarence Geist recruited him to move to the United States from London to become the golf professional at Seaview CC in Pleasantville, New Jersey.  His career in America as a club professional included positions at Seminole GC in Florida, Detroit Golf Club, Willmington CC in Delaware, Broadmoor Hotel Golf Club in Colorado, Beverly Golf Club in Chicago, La Gorce on Miami Beach and, of course, Indianwood Club (now Indianwood Golf and Country Club) in Michigan.  He was co-founder and creator, part owner and golf course designer of Indianwood (Old Course-1925), a classic links-like course located in a rare, sandy area in the woods north of Detroit.  He was a partner with family friend, turf farm owner and golf course construction contractor, William Connellan, at Indianwood.  Together they went on to design and build many courses in Michigan in the 1920's and 30's.  Connellan had once worked building golf courses for Donald Ross.  Eventually Reid's design work numbered approximately 90 new or remodeled courses across the United States and in France, Belgium, England and Canada.

In 1906 Reid designed the Royal Belgique Club de Golf course at Ravenstein.  In approximately the same time frame, while he was head golf professional at La Boulie (The Racing Club of France) in Versailles, he designed La Boulie's Forest Course.  These opportunities were, no doubt , the result of his work on his first golf course design commission at Skegness on the southeast coast of England.  At La Boulie he was assisted by his sister's boy friend, Louis Tellier, who also went on to become the French Open Champion.

Wilfrid Reid was one of the original founders of the PGA of America in 1916.  At the initial meetings in New York City he was elected Vice President but had to turn down a more active role because he depended on his job as a club pro for his livelyhood.  Wilfrid served the PGA of America throughout his entire career.  Less is known about his role in the British PGA.

In 1917 Wilfrid Reid designed the Olympic Club Lake Course in San Francisco, California.  When he designed the course, originally named Lakeside Country Club, it was approximatley his 14th golf course design commission out of the total of over 90 courses he designed or remodeled.   

In 1918 he won the Red Cross substitute tournamnet for the cancelled U. S. Open ( due to WWI ) played at Inwood CC in New York.  This is probably when he "peaked" as a competitive golf professional.

On 6 June 1921 Wilfrid E. Reid of Wilmington, Deleware played for America with Walter Hagen et al in the First  Professional International Match between America and Britian at Gleneagles. This was the predessessor to the Ryder Cup which was so named at the third such match in 1927.  Records show that Reid won all of his matches.

The 1930 Western Open was hosted at Indianwood under Reid's direction as head golf professional.  With the disasterous economy  the Indianwood development later failed and Wilfie then took a job as the teaching pro at Beverly Country Club in Chicago and taught golf at a downtown department store to make ends meet.

Will Nicholson from Colorado went to Chicago to offer the head golf professional job at The Broadmoor to Wilfrid in 1934.  He then became the winter pro at Seminole Golf Club in Florida and the summer pro at The Broadmoor Hotel Golf Club in Colorado Springs. 

As a golf instructor he once estimated that he had given lessons for approximately 300,000 hours.  President Warren G. Harding, Winston Churchhill, Joyce Wheathered, the Duke of Windsor, Belgium's King Leapold, Dick Chapman, Michigan LPGA standout, Pat Devany, Ohio Governor Cox, Harvey Ward, Rhonda Glenn and yours truely were among his thousands of pupils. 

In his later years Bobby Jones was one of Wilfie's dear friends along with golf pros like Chich Harbert, Gardner Dickenson, Jack Burke and others who eventually found themselves retired in South Florida.  Wilfie's good friends included Walter Hagen, "Long Jim" Barnes, Tommy Armour, Bobby Crukshank, Gil Nicholls and Al Watrous.  His brother, Arthur Reid was long-time golf professional in Hartford, Connecticut, brother-in-laws Louis Tellier was at Braeburn CC and Canoe Brook;  George Blagg was the golf professional at Jupiter Island Club, son-in-law Joe Devany at Grosse Ile Country Club on Grosse Ile. 

The Reids were Scottish descendents from Bulwell in Nottinghamshire.  Wilfie had played golf with his father and grandfather on the Bulwell Links as a young boy.   At age 15 he was sent to the Edinburgh Burgess  Golf Society in Edinburgh, Scotland to study club and feathery ball making under Tommy Armour's father Willie Armour.  Wilfie won the Bulwell artisans club tournament that year.  He turned professional at age 17.   His arch rival at home in Nottingham was always Tom Williamson.  Ultimately, Wilfie went on to dominate tournament golf in the Midlands while he was there with the possible exception of occasional losses to Williamson, his brorther Arthur and ocassionally members of the Great Triumvirat. 

Wilfie often talked of his respect for the golf course at Cruden Bay.  He predicted that Arnold Palmer would never last with a 'swing like that'.  Wilfie was in the newspaper often with his flamboyant personal style characteristic of the golf professionals of that era.  He frequently played in the PGA Seniors at Dunedin, often bettering his age.  Recorded at least 27 holes in one.  Brother-in-law, George Blagg, originally of Nottingham also, became the oldest living member of the PGA of America living in Florida to the ripe old age of almost 101 years of age.  As a boy George worked in the coal mines of England, but nonetheless obviously still survived the environmental attacks on his body.   

And, like Arnold Palmer and many others, Wilfrid Reid, who had competed in over 50 national open championships, simply loved to play golf.  So much so that he still played almost every day at the Palm Beach Par 3 golf course in Florida for many years as an elderly man, often with his grandsons.  What a great game this is.

Golf  Courses designed by Wilfrid Reid:

France 

-  Racing Club de France (Valley Course), La Boulie, Versailles, Ile de France, France (ca1905)

Belgium

-  Royal Belgique Club de Golf, Ravenstein, Belgium (1906)

United States

-  Olympic Club Lake Course (original course), San Francisco, CA (1917) with Walter G. Fovargue

-  Indianwood Club (original course), Lake Orion, MI (1925) with William Connellan

-  Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, DE ( ca 1918 )

-  Newark Country Club, Newark, DE (1922)

Links:

1.  National Open Article, June 10, 1919