Olin Dutra
Dutra in 1934
Personal information
Full name	Olin Dutra
Nickname	King Kong[1] Slammin' Spaniard[2] Golden Basque[3]
Born	(1901-01-17)January 17, 1901 Monterey, California, U.S.
Died	May 5, 1983(1983-05-05) (aged 82) Newman, California, U.S.[3]
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	230 lb (104 kg; 16 st)[4]
Sporting nationality	United States
Spouse	Gladys M. Dutra
Children	1 son, 1 daughter[5]
Career
Turned professional	1924
Former tour	PGA Tour
Professional wins	20
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	10
Other	10
Best results in major championships (wins:2)
Masters Tournament	3rd:1935
PGA Championship	Won:1932
U.S. Open	Won:1934
The Open Championship	6th:1933

Olin A. Dutra (January 17, 1901 – May 5, 1983) was an Americanprofessional golfer who played on thePGA Tour in the 1920s and 1930s. He won twomajor titles, thePGA Championship in1932 and theU.S. Open in1934, and was the first major champion born in thewestern United States.^[6]

Born inMonterey, California,^[5] Dutra was a descendant of earlySpanish settlers in California.^[4][7] At age nine, he and his older brotherMortimer were introduced togolf as a caddies at the country club inDel Monte,^[8] where the club professional wasMacdonald Smith.^[7] For years, they woke up very early to practice golf before going to work. Early in his career, Dutra worked at a hardware store for five years.^[9]

In 1923, Dutra resigned from a job at his father's hardware store to become a golf professional.^[10] His best years as a golf professional were in the early 1930s, when he won his two majors^[5] and played on the1933 and1935 Ryder Cup teams. In the 1932 PGA Championship inSt. Paul, Dutra played 196 holes and finished an astounding 19-under-par. He was the medalist in the 36-hole qualifier^[11] and won his five matches by comfortable margins (9 & 8, 5 & 3, 5 & 4, 3 & 2, and 4 & 3).^[12][13]

Dutra is best remembered for his performance at the1934 U.S. Open atMerion nearPhiladelphia. More than a year earlier, Dutra became afflicted withamoebic dysentery, an often uncomfortable and painful intestinal infection. While traveling east fromLos Angeles, Dutra stopped in theDetroit area to meet up with his brother Mortie, as both were entered in the Open, and began to feel very ill. He spent a short time in the hospital, casting doubt whether he could even play in the tournament. He resorted to unusual measures to cope with the infection, and lost close to 20 pounds (9 kg) off his 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 230-pound (104 kg) frame.^[4] After the first two rounds, Dutra was eight strokes behind the leaders and in 18th place. On the eve of the 36-hole final day, he had an attack of dysentery, forcing him to snack onsugar cubes throughout the day. He was still able to shoot a 71-72, and held off 54-hole leaderGene Sarazen to win by a single stroke.^[5][14] (Mortie Dutra finished tied for 28th.)

Dutra began his career as a club pro inFresno, California at Fort Washington Country Club for several years and then was atSunnyside Country Club for a year. He won his two majors as the pro atBrentwood Country Club inLos Angeles, and moved over toWilshire Country Club in 1935.^[2][15] While at Brentwood in 1932, he gaveBabe Didrickson a two-minute lesson before she played her "first" round of golf, shortly after the1932 Olympics; her first tee shot was 240 yards (220 m), outdriving her male playing partners.^[16] (It was later revealed she had previous golf experience.)^[17] Dutra later worked inMexico City, then back in California inAvila Beach andWatsonville.

Dutra died after an extended illness at age 82 inNewman inStanislaus County.^[5][3] He and his wife Gladys are buried in the Hills Ferry Cemetery in Newman.

In 1966, Dutra was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame^[18]

• 1929 (1) National Orange Open
• 1930 (2)Long Beach Open (tie withJoe Kirkwood, Sr.), Southern California Pro
• 1932 (3)Metropolitan Open, North Shore Chicago Open,PGA Championship
• 1934 (2)U.S. Open,Miami Biltmore Open
• 1936 (2) Sunset Fields Open, True Temper Open

Source:^[19]

• 1922 Del Monte Match Play
• 1930Southern California PGA Championship
• 1931 Southern California PGA Championship, California State Match Play, Pacific Southwest PGA
• 1932 Southern California PGA Championship
• 1933 Southern California PGA Championship
• 1938 Southern California PGA Championship
• 1940 Southern California PGA Championship,California State Open

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1932	PGA Championship	n/a	4 & 3		Frank Walsh
1934	U.S. Open	3 shot deficit	+13 (76-74-72-71=293)	1 stroke	Gene Sarazen

The PGA Championship wasmatch play until1958.

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

• USGA.org at theLibrary of Congress Web Archives (archived 2013-04-08) – Looking back: 1934 U.S. Open
• PGA Museum of Golf: Hall of Fame – member profiles
• USOpen.com - 1934 at theLibrary of Congress Web Archives (archived 2013-05-02)
• Trenham Golf History – 1934 U.S. Open
• Olin Dutra atFind a Grave

• American male golfers
• PGA Tour golfers
• Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
• Winners of men's major golf championships
• Golfers from Monterey County, California
• Sportspeople from Monterey, California
• Sportspeople from Stanislaus County, California
• 1901 births
• 1983 deaths
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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