Philip E. Young

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Philip Endicott "Skipper" Young (December 1, 1885 – June 17, 1955) was an American businessman who founded Titleist, a brand of golf equipment.[1]

Early life

Young was born on December 1, 1885, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to Rev. George H. Young, a Unitarian minister, and his second wife, Elizabeth,[2][3] the daughter of Augustus Bradford Endicott. He had two sisters, Eleanor Guild and Shelia Young.[2][a] The family moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, when Young was a child.[2][3][1] Young earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the class of 1909.[1][3][2]

Career

Early in his career, Young worked for Goodyear.[4][2] In 1910, he started the Acushnet Company with the financial backing of Allen Weeks, a fraternity brother from MIT.[4][5]

When playing a round of golf with his dentist, Young missed a putt.[6][7][8] Surprised, Young believed the miss was caused by the weight of the ball and asked his dentist friend to x-ray the ball.[6][7][8] The x-rays confirmed his suspicions that the rubber core was off-center.[6][9][7][8] Young took x-rays of more golf balls and found similar results.[6][9][7] The off-center cores made the balls prone to erratic shots.[6][7] He then developed a way to create golf balls with perfect cores.[6][7][8] Young founded Titleist in 1932 as a subsidiary of the Acushnet Company.[4][10][1]

Personal life and death

With his wife, Edith (née Ames), Young had a son, Richard, born in 1916, and a daughter, Edith, born in 1911.[3][4][b] Edith grew up about a half a mile away from Young.[2] They both attended the Dedham Public Schools and were childhood sweethearts.[2] The couple was married in 1910.[2]

Young lived at 8 Fort St. in Fairhaven and spent his winters in Coral Gables, Florida.[3][2] He was a member of the Wamsutta Club and New Bedford Country Club in Massachusetts, and the Riviera Club in Florida. He was also an avid sailor.[2]

On June 17, 1955, Young died due to a heart condition at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford. He was 69.[1][3]

Notes

  1. ^ According to family lore, Young's grandfather was a horse thief.[2]
  2. ^ Young's daughter later married David H. Harris.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Dedham native Philip Young named to Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame". The Dedham Times. Vol. 29, no. 21. May 28, 2021. p. 13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Young, Richard B. (1991). A History of the Acushnet Company: The First 70 Years (PDF). pp. 4–6. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Philip E. Young". The Boston Globe. June 18, 1955. p. 13. Retrieved May 29, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d Boyd, Brian (August 29, 2010). "The Acushnet Co., offspring celebrate century of helping soldiers and golfers survive and thrive". South Coast Today. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  5. ^ "Moving Innovation into the World". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. August 14, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Fry, Erika (October 28, 2016). "The Maker of Titleist Golf Balls Failed to Impress Wall Street". Fortune. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Titleist". Hans Lemmens Golf. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Sabino, John (February 7, 2017). Golf's Iron Horse: The Astonishing, Record-Breaking Life of Ralph Kennedy. Simon and Schuster.
  9. ^ a b Sohoni, Ajay (August 17, 2021). The Digital Frontier: How Consumer Companies Can Create Massive Value Through Digital Transformation. John Wiley & Sons. p. 161.
  10. ^ Echikson, William (2009). Shooting for Tiger: How Golf's Obsessed New Generation is Transforming a Country Club Sport. Public Affairs. p. 69. ISBN 9781586485788. Retrieved 22 May 2018. titleist + 1932.
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