Robert Gardner, a sophomore at Yale won the 1909 USGA Amateur tournament over Chandler Egan at the Chicago Golf Club. He was 19 years, 5 months, at the time of his victory the youngest champion ever. His record stood for an amazing 85 years until Tiger Woods won his first of three Amateurs at age 18 years, 8 months at the TPC at Sawgrass. Gardner made the finals of the U.S. Amateur three more times, winning in 1915 and losing in 1916 & 1921. Unfortunately, he made it to two other important final matches but did not emerge victorious; the 1911 @westernamateur and the 1920 British Amateur.
Golf was not the only sport Gardner excelled at. On June 1, 1912, at an intercollegiate track and field competition in Philadelphia, he set the world pole vault record at 13 feet 1 inch (3.99 m), Gardner also was a racquets national champion. He and Howard Linn won the national doubles racquets championship in 1926 and 1929.
