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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]
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][lower-alpha 1] 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]
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]
With his wife, Edith (née Ames), Young had a son, Richard, born in 1916, and a daughter, Edith, born in 1911.[3][4][lower-alpha 2] 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]
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