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P G A 9 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

It was an era of sock hops and hula hoops. Poodleskirts, T-shirts and greased-back hair. Leatherjackets, roller skates, T-birds and Cadillacs.

Appropriately, two mainstays of 1950’s popculture – cars and TV – played significant roles inthe growth of The PGA of America. In fact, itwas the country’s deep fascination with the auto-mobile that spawned the PGA Merchandise Show.Meanwhile, America’s newfound fixation withtelevision would usher in the PGA Championship’sstroke-play era.

From Car Trunks to Convention Centers

With the Senior PGA Championship and thenewly-formed PGA Winter Tournament Pro-

gram both sending PGA Professionals in drovesto Dunedin, Fla., a handful of golf industrymerchandisers recognized a unique opportunityto sell their wares – literally from the trunks oftheir cars – to a captive audience.

At the 1954 Senior PGA Championship, salesmenset up modest card-table displays between PGANational Golf Club’s clubhouse and the first tee.The first formally recognized PGA MerchandiseShow gathering was such a success that by 1959,the Show was conducted underneath a 60-foot by180-foot tent rented from the Clyde Beatty Circus.The big top was a welcome addition, as it protectedboth the products and participants from Florida’sunpredictable thunderstorms.

Far from those humble beginnings, the 2006PGA Merchandise Show featured 513,000 netsquare feet of exhibit space and nearly 43,550attendees at the Orange County Convention Centerin Orlando, Fla.

While the success of the Dunedin events likelysealed the deal for a PGA Headquarters move fromthe Windy City of Chicago to the Sunshine Statein 1956, the idea was actually first suggested at the1946 PGA Annual Meeting. The relocation alsocoincided with The PGA’s 40th anniversary, whichwas celebrated with nearly 3,800 PGA membersand 31 PGA Sections in the fold.

That same year, Bill Gordon of Tam O’ShanterCountry Club in Chicago won the inauguralPGA Golf Professional of the Year Award. Theidea for the Award spawned from former U.S.Golf Association President Richard Tuffs, whosuggested that The PGA create an honor thatencompasses the wide range of services performedby PGA club professionals. The fourth recipient

The Dawn of the PGAMerchandise ShowThe PGA’s 90 years of excellence:1950-1959

By Michael R. Abramowitz

During the 1950s, the Baby Boom was in full swing, and Americafell in love with Lucy, thanks to a dynamic new piece of talkingfurniture called the television. Rock ‘n Roll was here to stay

when “Rock Around the Clock” – a B-side record by Bill Haley & TheComets – shot to No.1 on the charts, after gaining widespread exposureas the soundtrack to the teenage rebel film, “Blackboard Jungle.”

The 1959 PGAMerchandise Showwas held inDunedin, Fla.,inside a 60-foot by180-foot circus tent. TH

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of the Award was Harry Pezzullo in 1958, who decades later would be instrumental in The PGA of America’s next big relocation to PalmBeach County, Fla.

The Dawn of StrokePlay

Since 1916, the PGA Championshipwas held in a match-play format. Afterwinning the Wanamaker Trophy in1948 and suffering serious injuries ina car accident months later, two-timePGA Champion Ben Hogan openlydisdained the grueling nature of theevent. He did not enter the PGAChampionship from 1949 to 1960 –forsaking a shot at golf’s elusive GrandSlam in 1953.

Legendary PGA President HortonSmith first called for a format changeto the PGA Championship in 1952, by proposing a combination of medalplay and match play. The low seven qualifiers from a 72-hole stroke-playfield and the defending PGA Champion would qualify for matchplay. The idea never evolved, but thestroke-play seed was planted.

In 1958, the inaugural stroke-playPGA Championship was staged atLlanerch County Club in Havertown,Pa., with CBS Television and CBSRadio both broadcasting the event livefor the first-time ever. Three holesand the Wanamaker Trophy presenta-tion were televised to a nationwideaudience. Dow Finsterwald, who finished runner-up the previous year to LionelHebert in match play, captured the 40th PGAChampionship.

Seven years earlier, “Slammin” Sam Snead shot21-under-par over 202 holes – the equivalent ofmore than 11 rounds of golf – to capture his thirdand final PGA Championship at Oakmont (Pa.)Country Club. Snead’s 7 and 6 rout of WalterBurkemo in the finals would end the era of playerssecuring multiple PGA Championships, as thenext 19 years brought 19 different PGA Champions.The drought of multiple PGA Championshipwinners was finally broken by Jack Nicklaus in 1971.

The U.S. Begins Its Ryder CupDomination

The Ryder Cup was dominated by the Americansduring the 1950s, with their sole defeat a 7 1/2 to4 1/2 loss to Great Britain at Lindrick Golf Clubin Yorkshire, England, in 1957. The United StatesRyder Cup Team would regain their grip on SamuelRyder’s gold chalice two years later and not let go

until 1985 – a span of 28 years.The U.S. win at Eldorado Country Club in Palm

Desert, Calif., was the least of the British squad’sworries in 1959. En route to the event, the planecarrying Great Britain Team Captain Dai Rees andhis nine teammates suddenly plunged 4,000 feetbefore the pilot steadied the aircraft and returnedto Los Angeles.

Rees refused the airline’s offer of anotherflight later that evening. Instead, the British Teamcompleted the 140-mile trek by bus. This followedboth an Atlantic voyage and a transcontinental tripacross the United States. Whether the travel

Dow Finsterwald(left) prepares toaccept theWanamaker Trophyfrom PGA PresidentHarold Sargent in1958, the first year the PGAChampionship wastelevised andconducted as astroke-play event.

1958 – PGA Championship stroke-play era begins1958 – First live telecast of the PGA Championship1956 – PGA Headquarters moves from Chicago to Dunedin, Fla.1954 – PGA Merchandise Show debuts at Senior PGA Championship1951 – Jimmy Demaret retires from Ryder Cup competition with an

unparalleled 6-0-0 record

Top PGA of America events in the 1950s

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P G A 9 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

distractions played a role or the U.S. team thatfeatured Julius Boros, Dow Finsterwald and Sneadwas just too strong, the Americans cruised to an81/2 to 31/2 victory.

Previously, the decade’s first Ryder Cup was a9 1/2 to 2 1/2 rout by the U.S., which featured thelikes of Hogan and Snead, at Pinehurst (N.C.)Resort and Country Club’s famous No. 2 Course.The victory in 1951 marked the final Ryder Cupof Jimmy Demaret, who retired from competitionwith the best event unbeaten record ever (6-0-0).Demaret ended his Ryder Cup career in dramaticfashion, by holing out a birdie from a buried lie in a greenside bunker on No. 17 for a 2-up winover Rees.

“Jimmy performed wondrous things in bunkers,”said Rees. “I regard him as the greatest sand playerI have ever seen. He was in 11 greenside bunkersthat day and on 10 occasions he got down with asplash and a putt.”

Following the match, Rees received Demaret’ssand wedge as a gift. Rees was thrilled with theoffering and eventually modeled a replica for hisown golf bag.

Still, the Ryder Cup of the decade came in 1953.Hogan, who declared that he would only playmedal-play, 72-hole, 4-day events, not only

skipped the year’s PGA Championship, but theRyder Cup at Wentworth (England) Golf Club as well. At the time, the Ryder Cup format included 36-hole matches.

As a result, U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain LloydMangrum replaced Hogan with Walter Burkemo,who joined the likes of Snead, Jim Turnesa, JackBurke Jr. and Cary Middlecoff. The U.S. held a3-to-1 lead after the first-day foursomes. The onlyloss came when Burkemo and Middlecoff fell toGreat Britain’s Fred Daly and Harry Bradshaw 1-up.

The next day, the Brits staged a dramatic rallyin singles to square the match at five-apiece. U.S.Team member Jim Turnesa broke that deadlock,

defeating Peter Alliss 1-up, as Alliss finished with a double-bogey six onNo. 18.

With at least a tie clinched, TheU.S. was certain to maintain the RyderCup. An outright victory came short-ly after when Britain’s Bernard Huntmissed a putt on No. 18 to halve withAmerican Dave Douglas – the finalchapter of a heart-stopping 61/2 to 51/2

U.S. victory.Half-jokingly, U.S. Captain Lloyd

Mangrum said that due to the stressof the dramatic Ryder Cup he would“never captain an American teamagain, because of the 9,000 deaths Isuffered in the last hour.”

Mangrum held true to his word. Editor’s note: Throughout 2006, The PGAof America will commemorate its 90thanniversary each month with aretrospective of significant events thatdefined the Association’s history. Nextmonth: The 1960s.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first Commander-In-Chief to take golflessons while in office from a PGA Professional, as he often played rounds at

Burning Tree Club in Bethesda, Md., and Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club.Eisenhower also personally jump-started golf car industry sales, after he wasshown on television riding in a golf car playing a round. In September 1959,Eisenhower played golf at Eldorado Country Club, in Palm Desert, Calif., whichwas set to host the Ryder Cup a month later. Below is the letter Eisenhowercomposed for the 13th Ryder Cup Journal.

Ike Likes Golf

THE

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Led by the likes ofSam Snead (bottomrow, second fromright) and JackBurke Jr. (top row,second from right),the U.S. prevailed 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 overGreat Britain in thehotly-contested1953 Ryder Cup atWentworth(England) GolfClub.

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