Shute, "Denny" (Herman Densmore)
Golf
b. Oct. 25, 1904, Cleveland, OH
d. May 13, 1974
Shute was overshadowed during his career by such great players as Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, and Gene Sarazen, and he is not well-known now. But he was one of the best golfers in the world during the 1930s, winning the British Open in 1933 and the PGA Championship in both 1936 and 1937, when it was a match-play tournament. He was the last player to win the title in two consecutive years before Tiger Woods did it in 1999 and 2000.
Shute won the West Virginia Amateur in 1923 and 1925, and the Ohio Amateur in 1927. He became a professional in 1928. He lost in the finals of the PGA Championship in 1931 and finished 2nd in the 1941 U. S. Open. Shute didn't play in many tournaments after World War II, but he did win the Ohio Open in 1950 and the Akron Open in 1952 and 1956.
The long-time pro at at Portage Country Club in Akron, Shute shot his age there in 1971, when he was 66. He retired the following year.