Columbia University Athletics

Son of Samuel and Mary Emily Sands, Charles Sands 1887CC is a name that stands out in the record book for a number of reasons. An athlete who participated in a number of sports such as football and crew. However, he made his name known in tennis and golf.
 
While at Columbia, Sands was an exceptional tennis player. After graduating from Columbia in 1887, Sands competed in a number of events on the U.S tennis tour. He reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 1894. The following year in 1895 he joined the Saint Andrew’s Golf Club located in New York. A very determined man and athlete, after just three months Sands competed in his first official U.S. Amateur Tournament at the Newport Gold Club. He did well in his first tournament, making it to the finals from an initial group of 32 contestants and four rounds of match play. Unfortunately, he was defeated by Charles Blair Macdonald of the Chicago Golf Club. He continued to excel in both sports, before deciding to depart to France to play tennis in 1899. That year he became the first American to win France’s highest award for court tennis and the equivalent to the national championship: the Racquette D’Or. Sands won the award again the following year.
 
A two-time Olympian, Sands entered into his first Olympics, the 1900 Paris Games. He tried his hands at both tennis and golf. In tennis he entered the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles. However, Sands did not fare well, having been defeated in the first round of each event. He also went to London for the 1908 Olympics and lost again in the first round of court tennis. Sands did much better with golf.
 
Golf made its Olympic debut in the 1900 Paris Games, but the event was played almost three months after the tennis event. On a format that was 36 holes of stroke play, Sands shot rounds of 82 to 85 to defeat Scotland’s Walter Rutherford and capture the first gold to be awarded in golf.
 
Sands died in Brookville, NY in 1945.