Were it not for Claude Wright’s modesty prompting him to closet a remarkable 40-year collection of championship baubles, his home could have been a worthy showroom for Tiffany’s, Gorham, Steuben and countless trophy empires.
Wright’s brilliant career from Denver Country Club caddie at age 13 to Colorado Senior Match Play champion at 58 could fill volumes. His golfing prowess led to a record 13 Cherry Hills Country Club championships. Yet, Claude disdained the limelight and loved the nickname of “working man’s golfer” that was spawned when he worked as a plasterer for his father and later at Gates Rubber.
From 1943-56, Wright won six CGA championships. Twice he was CGA Match Play champion and four times runner-up. He won four CGA Stroke Play Championships, twice won the famed Broadmoor Men’s Invitation and four times was runner-up. And he was formidable on the national level, playing in three U.S. Opens and once advancing to the fourth round of the U.S. Amateur after beating British Amateur king Reid Jack in the third round.
Wright capped his career by winning three of the first five CGA Senior Stroke Play Championships, in the mid-1970s.
