Gene Hamm

Gene Hamm

Eugene Perry Hamm Jr. (1923 – December 10, 2016) was an American professional golfer and golf course designer. Hamm grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and started his golf career as a caddy at the Raleigh Golf Association. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1943. Following World War II, he was employed at several golf clubs in the 1940s and early 1950s. These included New Bern Country Club in New Bern, North Carolina, in Pinehurst, North Carolina and in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. In 1954, he became a member of the PGA of America. Hamm qualified for the 1958 PGA Championship and 1960 U.S. Open. He won the 1966 North Carolina Open.Hamm is best known as a golf course designer of courses in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and New York. Since designing his first 9-hole course in 1949, he has designed and oversaw the building of over 60 courses. In 1955, Hamm helped build the Duke University Golf Course in Durham, North Carolina, with Robert Trent Jones. He moved to Delaware to continue work with Jones, and then in 1959 moved back to Raleigh where he began his own design career. Many of his notable courses are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.Hamm died in 2016 at the age of 93.

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