This Day in Golf--July 10

If you've ever seen old newsreel footage of a major golf tournament, you've seen how lax crowd control was. Fans were allowed to roam around at will without being restricted by gallery ropes. They also weren't too taxed financially as can seem to be the case nowadays. U.S. Open week began on July 10 in 1922 and it was the first time an admission fee was charged. The venue was Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., and the fee was 1 dollar for a single-day admission and $5 for an all-week pass. If spectators were unhappy having to pay a fee, they could go away feeling they got their money's worth, though. Gene Sarazen, a bright star at age 20, was four behind going into the final round, shot 68 and beat John Black and Bobby Jones, another 20-year-old phenom, by a stroke.