The PGA of America Turns 95

By PGA of America

THE PGA OF AMERICA MARKED its 95th year on Wednesday by returning to the site of its founding, the Radisson Martinique on Broadway in New York City. The world’s largest sports organization and historic hotel celebrated the occasion by opening a permanent PGA history exhibit.

A reception featured PGA of America officials, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Anderson and John Wanamaker-Leas, the great grandson of department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker. Wanamaker hosted The PGA’s first organizational meeting in 1916 and later donated a trophy that became the signature hardware of the PGA Championship.

The PGA of America’s founding on April 10, 1916 took place on the second floor of then-named Hotel Martinique, where a constitution was formed, a charter signed and 78 individuals were elected into PGA membership.

Today, The PGA of America represents 27,000 men and women professionals, upholding the solemn pledge of its founders to be leaders on all levels of golf and to grow interest and participation in the game.

“The PGA of America takes pride in the commitment of its men and women member professionals who after 95 years have elevated themselves by their dedication to a sport that elevates the human spirit on many levels,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski.

Opening in 1898 and completing a renovation last year, the Radisson Martinique unveiled a PGA of America photographic history exhibit on its second floor and dedicated the boardroom where The PGA of America founding fathers signed the association’s charter almost a century ago.

More coverage of The PGA of America’s history and 95th anniversary

Rodman Wanamaker: The Man Behind the Trophy

(Plucked and updated from the ARMCHAIR GOLF archives.)

HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE PLAYING FOR in the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. (Plus $1.35 million, plus exemptions and endorsements galore, plus getting the major monkey off their back, if they’re Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, or others.)

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Wanamaker Trophy. Shiny, isn’t it?

Of course, as with anything that’s 93, there’s a story behind it. It’s named after Rodman Wanamaker, a Philadelphia-born man of means who took up the cause of professional golfers when they were considered to be lowly working class and not allowed in the clubhouse or locker room. Think Walter Hagen era.

Wanamaker thought the treatment of pro golfers was wrong, so he spearheaded the formation of the PGA of America and its pros-only tournament, the PGA Championship. He launched the effort with $2,500 and ordered the silver cup. Every pro who teed off on Thursday playing for the $7.5 million purse should say a word of thanks for Rodman Wanamaker, a Princeton grad who owned the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph newspaper and financed designs for experimental seaplanes that made aviation history.

The original Wanamaker Trophy was huge—more than two feet tall and two feet wide (handle to handle) and weighing 27 pounds. That’s a lot of silver to hoist. Today the PGA of America awards a smaller replica to the winner.

Multiple Winners

Beginning in 1916, the PGA Championship was a match-play tournament until 1958 when TV helped dictate the move to stroke play. With Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus topping the list, following are multiple winners of the PGA Championship.

Walter Hagen 5
Jack Nicklaus 5
Tiger Woods 4
Gene Sarazen 3
Sam Snead 3
Jim Barnes 2
Leo Diegel 2
Denny Shute 2
Paul Runyan 2
Byron Nelson 2
Ben Hogan 2
Gary Player 2
Dave Stockton 2
Raymond Floyd 2
Lee Trevino 2
Larry Nelson 2
Nick Price 2
Vijay Singh 2

Notable majors winners who didn’t win the PGA Championship and wish they had: Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: kompuder, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

‘TEE IT FORWARD’: Joint PGA-USGA Initiative Begins July 5th

By PGA of America

“TEE IT FORWARD,” A NEW national initiative to help golfers have more fun on the golf course by playing from a set of tees best suited to their abilities, kicks off on Tuesday, July 5, at golf facilities nationwide.

Launched in May at the Senior PGA Championship, the new initiative encourages all golfers to play the course at a length that matches their average driving distance. Golfers can enjoy the game more and potentially speed up play by using tees that offer greater playability.

“We are excited that TEE IT FORWARD has been enthusiastically received by both PGA Professionals and consumers,” said PGA President Allen Wronowski. “The PGA would like to thank the USGA and Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, for their efforts in helping generate the tremendous interest in TEE IT FORWARD.”

Through TEE IT FORWARD, amateur golfers can play a golf course at the same relative 18-hole yardage as a tour professional. Golfers tee off from distances that are aligned with their abilities, resulting in fewer shots, shorter distances traveled on each hole, and, potentially, fewer lost balls.

The PGA and USGA are providing TEE IT FORWARD information, including a suggested distance chart, to more than 11,000 U.S. facilities. Jack Nicklaus, Paula Creamer and Dustin Johnson are featured on the poster.

To see a chart that provides guidelines for aligning driving distance with total course length, visit PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

TEE IT FORWARD Feedback and Sweepstakes

Golfers who TEE IT FORWARD are encouraged to provide feedback about their experience at PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

A sweepstakes will be conducted of all eligible persons who submit their comments prior to July 17, 2011. One Grand Prize winner will receive a stay-and-play package for four at Kiawah Island (South Carolina) Golf Resort. One runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 U.S. Open Championship. A second runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 PGA Championship.

Golf Digest’s Tarde to Receive PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism

JERRY TARDE, THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF of Golf Digest, is the winner of the 2011 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. Tarde, who will pick up the award at the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner in Augusta during Masters week, is the first editor to receive the honor.

“We are long overdue to raise a toast to editors, those individuals who have toiled for generations to make writers look that much better,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski.

Tarde has been a fixture at Golf Digest since an internship that began in 1977, or 33 years and seven months, according to his Linkedin profile. He told the PGA of America that he decided he wanted to be the editor of Golf Digest at the age of 16. In 1984, at the youthful age of 28, Tarde achieved his goal and has been a working editor ever since.

“I’m just an editor,” he said, “one of the guys back in the office who screws up good copy and sticks headlines on stories that writers have to apologize for. Occasionally we get it right.”

Tarde is the 22nd recipient of the award and the fifth connected to Golf Digest, which has a circulation of 1.65 million readers.

−The Armchair Golfer

My Ryder Cup Lament

THE RYDER CUP HAD a thrilling finish. For the first time since 1991 at Kiawah, the Cup was decided by the final singles match. The Americans roared back from a three-point deficit, winning seven of 12 singles matches, but Europe hung on to reclaim golf’s most cherished trophy by a half point. Both teams played with imagination, skill and passion. Congratulations to Europe. Well played, USA. You nearly won with a team that many said had no chance.

(Photo: Blue skies were rare at Celtic Manor / lhourahane, Flickr)

The Ryder Cup is the Super Bowl of golf. Hence, everything is scrutinized and many aspects of the biennial event are ridiculed, which I find tiresome. But in the end, it’s not about the uniforms or the wives and girlfriends or which captain is the best quote or rain gear or what Johnny Miller said about Phil. Those are all just carnival sideshows.

Yesterday it was as clear as that bright blue sky over Celtic Manor what the Ryder Cup is about. It’s about Europe’s 12 best going against America’s 12 best. It’s about playing for country or continent in a team competition that ends in euphoria or tears.

It’s about crushing pressure under which a 21-year-old rookie can birdie four straight holes for a half point, an Irishman can sink the biggest putt of his life in front of adoring fans, and a hero from the 2008 Ryder Cup can stab a chip shot that broke his spirit and rendered him speechless. It’s about the competition, pure and simple. There’s nothing like the Ryder Cup, especially at its best, like yesterday.

But my problem is this: Yesterday was Monday. Yesterday was a work day.

It was the first Monday finish in the 83-year history of the Ryder Cup. More than two inches of rain fell on Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning. Play was delayed and the format was changed to get in all the matches. No one can control the weather, but the powers that be do control the schedule.

As we now know, October is not a good month to stage any outdoor event in Wales. (This was the first Ryder Cup contested in October since Royal Birkdale in 1965.) It was a prolonged rain delay waiting to happen.

The BBC’s Iain Carter got to the crux of the problem:

On this side of the pond the European Tour runs the Ryder Cup and the professional schedule. In America it is different. The PGA Tour runs the schedule and a completely separate body, the PGA of America, administers the Ryder Cup.

The match is not the primary concern of the PGA Tour, which has now taken over September with its Fed Ex Cup play-off series. The PGA of America has been forced to let go the traditional weeks where Ryder Cups have been staged.

Hey, powerful golf people: Don’t mess up the Ryder Cup for all of us.

If you want to build goodwill for the game and cater to fans—fans who work on Mondays—preserve the Ryder Cup in as close to its original form as possible. Do everything you can to make sure that it ends on Sunday for the next 83 years. Samuel Ryder would appreciate that. You are using his name, after all, and talking up the wonderful traditions of the game and these matches. That, or find a corporate sponsor and call it the XYZ Cup.

Find a way to play the Ryder Cup in late September and/or where it’s highly unlikely to rain buckets. You’re smart people. You can figure it out and still make millions.

Imagine if many more golf fans—and perhaps a few casual fans who might have tuned in on Sunday—could have seen the greatest Ryder Cup in years.

−The Armchair Golfer