The History Of Olympic Golf And Listerine’s Part In It

The history of Olympic golf has been eventful, even if the events have been few and far between. What part does Listerine play though?

Golf, if you haven’t heard this by now, was in the 1900 Olympics in Paris and the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, which was the third time the modern Olympics were held. In a strange quirk of fate, it was one of the owners of Listerine that made golf in the 1904 games possible.

Albert Lambert was one of the four sons of Jordan Lambert, the founder of Lambert Pharmaceuticals, creators of Listerine. Lambert and his brothers took over operation of the company after their father’s death in 1896. Al, as he was known, happened to be in Paris on business during the 1900 Olympics, which were being held in conjunction with the World’s Fair.

However, Lambert must have spent considerable time in France because he was a member of Golf Club de Paris as well as Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis. One could reasonably assume he was at least an avid golfer.

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Apparently, Lambert was so taken with the idea of the Olympic golf contest and decided to enter it. Lambert finished 8^th with rounds of 94-95 at Compiegne Golf Club.

He then entered the handicap portion, which was in conjunction with the Olympic golf event, and he won it. However, no one considers the handicap event as an Olympic victory.  For Lambert, though, the experience made an impression. Four years later, he proved instrumental in bringing golf to the Olympics again.

St. Louis was the host for the 1904 World’s Fair. As such, it was also the host for Olympic competition because the two events had been paired to bring more attention to the athletic contests. Lambert was from St. Louis, and he wanted to have Olympic golf at his club, Glen Echo.

Lambert’s father-in-law was Col. George McGrew, founder and, at the time, president of Glen Echo Country Club. Lambert convinced McGrew that they should approach the Olympic committee and offer the club for a golf event. McGrew in turn persuaded the Olympic committee, and Glen Echo Country Club became the host for the second Olympic golf event.

In 1904, there was to be a team competition and an individual competition for both men and women. Several golf associations sent representatives. Unfortunately, there were no women who wanted to compete, so it was men only.

Lambert entered in both the team and individual events.

Match play was the order of the day for the individual competition. Lambert made it through the quarterfinals, making him the only golfer to have competed in both the 1900 and 1904 Olympics.

The individual contest was won by George Lyon, a Canadian. Chandler Egan, who won the U.S. Amateur in 1904 and 1905, got the silver. Francis Newton and Burt McKinnie tied for the bronze.

Lambert was on the Trans Mississippi team, and they won the silver team medal. The Western Golf Association won the gold, and the USGA team won the bronze.

Provided by Olympics at Sports-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/11/2016.

Then four years later, in 1908, golf was again on the Olympic slate. Royal St. George’s and Prince’s GC in Sandwich and Royal Cinqueports GC in Deal were to host play.  However, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club got into a dispute with the Olympic organizers, and all the British contestants withdrew. Eventually, the golf was cancelled due to lack of entrants. However, George Lyon, the 1904 gold medal winner, did not know that and turned up ready to play. He was offered a golf medal, but declined since he had not won it.

Surprisingly, in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, golf was brought back as an exhibition event, held before the formal games started. Adolph Hitler donated the trophy, and when the German team was in the lead going into the last day, he made plans to present the trophy himself.  However, a funny thing happened on the way to the presentation. The British team of Tony Thirsk and Arnold Bentley broke the course record and beat the Germans. Hitler arrived at the course, and was so annoyed at the loss that he immediately turned around and went back to Berlin.

Listerine, which made the Lambert family wealthy, was created using a toned down formula of a surgical antiseptic developed by an English surgeon named Lister. Jordan Lambert created a less powerful recipe for the concoction, added “ine” to Lister to change the name to Listerine and sold the product to dentists. In 1914, it was sold over the counter in pharmacies.

Gerard Lambert, one of Albert’s brothers, worked with advertising people and came up with the idea of using “halitosis,” which is the medical term for bad breath, to promote the need for everyone to use Listerine.

Later Lambert Pharmaceuticals became Warner-Lambert.

Al Lambert had many interests other than business at Lambert Pharmaceuticals and golf. One of them was aviation. He learned to fly from the Wright Brothers. In 1911, he got his pilot’s license, and he was in the Army in WWI, ending his military career as a major.

A decade later, as a member of the Missouri Aeronautical Society, Lambert leased 170 acres of land in northwest St. Louis County to be an airfield for St. Louis. Lambert made the lease payments.  He also built a hangar and offered it to anyone who wanted to use it.  It became known as St. Louis Flying Field.

Charles Lindberg became an instructor at the filed and when he decided to try to win the Orteig Prize for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris,  Lambert and other St. Louis businessmen backed him.

Next: Olympic Golf: What to Watch For in the First Two Rounds

In 1971 the airport was renamed Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, a posthumous recognition of his contribution to aviation in the community. Lambert died in 1946.