He arrived in New York City in 1886 as a 23-year-old representative of the Australian-based McLean Brothers and Rigg exporters of hardware and construction products.

Travis married Anne Bent of Middleton, Connecticut, on January 9, 1890, and later that year, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

He was scornful of the idea but, wishing to keep up with his friends, he purchased a set of golf clubs to take with him on his return to the United States.

Driven by his intense and compulsive dedication to the game, Travis was soon the country's top amateur golfer, winning the U.S.

[5] The news of Travis's British victory sparked a surge of interest in the game of golf throughout the United States.

The swing of the club is not long—in fact, it might be termed a three-quarter swing—but it is sufficient to get a free action with the wrist, and although Mr. Travis does not obtain an abnormal carry, he nevertheless gets a long roll on the ball, and against the wind in particular he is beyond the average as a driver, especially as he appears to have mastered the art of the scientific hooking.

When Travis won his fourth MGA Championship, in 1915, at the age of 53, he beat 28-year-old Jerome Travers in the final match.

Amateurs from 1898 to 1914, compiling a 45-14 record, earning medalist honors three consecutive years (1900-02), and losing to the eventual champion on five occasions.

[6][8] In the January 28, 1922 issue of The American Golfer, the following response was given to a query about "How many tournaments Mr. Travis has won, counting in every variety?

He was practically unbeatable for a stretch of six years from 1898 to 1904 during which time he played in double or triple the number of events entered by either John Ball or Chick Evans.

"[9] In a 1927 Golf Illustrated article, titled "The Figures Prove It", author John Kofoed offered the following match-play records of noted amateur players in major events: (Source):[10] "This list does not include Travis's countless victories in noted club invitationals or championships, such as his 9 wins in the Garden City Golf Club's Spring Invitational that is now known as the Travis Memorial, nor his countless victories at Lakewood CC's Spring and Fall tourneys that attracted a large field of golfers from the metropolitan area.

M = Medalist LA = Low amateur WD = Withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play Sources: U.S. Open and U.S.

Travis stayed at the helm of "The American Golfer" as editor until he turned it over to Grantland Rice in the spring of 1920, and severed his connection with the magazine by the end of 1920.

It sounded the death knell for the gutta-percha ball, created the need for inserts in the face of wooden clubs to prevent splitting, and soon led to calls for the lengthening of golf courses due to the longer shots made possible by the Haskell.

In a Practical Golf chapter on hazards, Travis was critical of the ubiquitous and, to him, unappealing cross-bunkers that stretched all the way across the fairway at predictable intervals.

Rather, he argued for more strategically and visually appealing bunkers placed along the edges of fairways, stating, "Hazards arranged somewhat upon the lines indicated, rather than slavishly following the system adopted on the great majority of our courses, would, I think, make the game vastly more interesting, and more provocative of better golf all around.

At his home course, Garden City Golf Club, Travis installed smaller sized cups on the practice green to help hone the accuracy of his putting.

[3] Though he was innovative with his equipment, and practiced incessantly, Travis disdained the notion of physical training after his first trial of abstaining from smoking and drinking during an 1897 tournament.

At the same time, less favored players may, by the adoption of methods which stood the test of actual experience, materially improve their game.

The lesson did not occur until years later, when Travis suggested a change in Jones's grip, altered his stance and recommended a longer and more sweeping stroke.

It is reported that "A day or two later Mr. Knight received a telegram from Mr. W. J. Travis ordering a putter like Mr. Emmet's, and one was hurriedly made and forwarded".

There is no evidence that Travis's use of the Schenectady to win the 1904 British Amateur contributed to this controversial ruling, though the myth persists.

[3] Long after he had retired from active competition, Travis agreed to a match with an old opponent, Findlay S. Douglas, to support the war effort of the Red Cross.

In late 1901, Travis wrote an article, published in the Bulletin of the USGA, titled, "Impressions of British Golf".

He was impressed with the lack of trees, the number and placement of bunkers, the natural undulations of the greens, and the quality of turf.

However, a careful study of his writings leads to the conclusion that he was a firm believer in "thinking" and "strategic" golf; with the golfer given opportunities to avoid difficulty with well-considered and executed shots.

[17] Travis's first project as a golf course architect was his collaboration with John Duncan Dunn in the 1899 design of Ekwanok Country Club in Vermont.

Travis remained active as a designer to the end, making a last visit to inspect the construction of his course at the Country Club of Troy a month before his death on July 31, 1927.