Watts Gunn was born in Macon, Ga., on January 11, 1905. At Lanier Excessive College, he captained golf groups that by no means misplaced a match. In 1926 and 1928, he performed on the Walker Cup groups with Bobby Jones, defeating the British crew each years. He performed many profit tournaments, together with a number of exhibitions with Bobby Jones in 1927 and 1928. He took the Georgia State Beginner title in 1927 and 1928.
He made golf historical past in 1925 within the U.S. Beginner, setting the world report for worldwide championship golf by successful 15 straight holes within the first spherical of the 36-hole match. In that match, he went to the finals towards pal and rival Bobby Jones, marking the one time two gamers from the identical metropolis ever met for the U.S. Beginner crown.
The Rambling Wreck and the identify of Watts Gunn rose to supreme heights in 1927. Turning into the primary Georgia Tech golfer to win the Nationwide Collegiate Championship, Gunn shot a complete of 302 over the 72-hole occasion on the Backyard Metropolis Nation Membership to win the medal competitors. He went on to dispatch Walker Cup teammate Roland McKenzie, 10-9, to win the person title, and his 69 within the ultimate spherical broke the course report. He additionally helped Tech win the Southern Intercollegiate title the identical 12 months.
Gunn grew to become a member of the Atlanta Athletic Membership within the mid 1920’s whereas a scholar at Georgia Tech. Gunn’s first main match win was within the 1923 Georgia Beginner. In 1925, Gunn was runner-up to Bobby Jones at the US Beginner competitors performed at Oakmont CC. In 1927, he received the Southern and Nationwide Intercollegiate tournaments, and the next 12 months he received the Southern Beginner and Southern Open Championships. Gunn was a member of the US Walker Cup groups in 1926 and 1928, posting two victories in every occasion, and later served as president of the AAC in 1953-54.
Inducted into the Georgia Tech Corridor of Fame in 1961, the annual Yellow Jacket males’s golf crew award for the season’s most improved participant is known as in Gunn’s honor. Gunn was inducted into the Georgia Golf Corridor of Fame on January 14, 1989.
— to ramblinwreck.com