History - The American PGA
Dedicated to the promotion of the game of
golf everywhere, the American Professional Golfers Association can trace
it's origins to January 17, 1916, when a group of New York area golf
professionals, accompanied by several prominent amateur golfers,
attended a luncheon hosted by department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker
at the Taplow Club in New York City. The purpose of the gathering was to
discuss forming a national organization which would promote interest in
the game of golf and help elevate the vocation of golf professional.
Wanamaker, who viewed the public's growing
enthusiasm for golf as the beginning of a national trend, promoted the
association idea to help accelerate the growth of the game. Little did
Wanamaker or his guests realize that they were laying the ground work
for what would become the world's largest working sports organization.
When that first meeting ended, James Hepburn, a former British PGA
secretary, had been named to chair a seven-member organizing committee.
Meetings were held over the next two
months, and on April 10, 1916, with constitution and by-laws firmly in
hand, 82 charter members created The Professional Golfers'Association of
America in New York City.
The Association's first order of
business was to establish the organization's objectives. The members
agreed to the following:
* Promote interest in the game of golf.
* Elevate the standards of the golf professional's vocation.
* Protect the mutual interest of its members.
* Hold meetings and tournaments for the benefit of members.
* Assist deserving unemployed members to obtain positions.
* Establish a benevolent relief fund for deserving members.
* Accomplish any other objective which may be determined by the
Association from time to time.
The first PGA Championship was held Oct.
9-14, 1916, at the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y. Jim Barnes
defeated Jock Hutchison, 1-up, in the finals. Wanamaker honored his
pledge and donated a purse of $2,580 and the trophy which today still
bears his name.
In May 1920, the first issue of The
Professional Golfer of America was published.
Percy C. Pulver, a golf writer for the
New York Evening Sun who had attended the first meeting at the Taplow
Club, was named editor. The magazine was renamed PGA Magazine in 1977,
and today is America's oldest golf publication.
The Ryder Cup Matches, pitting PGA of
America professionals against their British counterparts, were
inaugurated in 1927 with a U.S. victory at Worcester (Mass.) Country
Club, 9 1/2 to 2 1/2. The Matches have since become one of the great
spectacles in all of sport, and in 1979, the British team incorporated
players from Europe.
In 1933, George Jacobus became the first
American-born president of the PGA of America. A dynamic and innovative
leader, Jacobus was the first PGA officer to rise from the caddie ranks
and was the first president to use the pages of The Professional Golfer
to communicate directly with PGA members through a column in every
issue.
The onset of World War II in Europe
cancelled the Ryder Cup Matches in 1939. By 1941, when the PGA of
America celebrated its 25th anniversary, membership had grown to 2,041.
The PGA Seniors' Championship, which
began in 1937 at Augusta National at the invitation of course founder
Bobby Jones, was moved to Dunedin, Fla., in 1945 and remained there
through 1962. In 1954, Dunedin also became the home of the PGA Winter
Tournament Program and the site of the PGA Merchandise Show.
Relocating the national office to
Dunedin was discussed at the 1946 Annual Meeting, but the move didn't
take place for another 10 years when the second floor of the Dunedin
First National Bank Building became the PGAof America Headquarters.
The Association celebrated its 40th
anniversary with 3,798 members and 31 sections. PGA members flocked to
Dunedin in the winter, and the Association continued to grow. By 1961,
the PGA had moved the national office to larger quarters in Baywood,
Fla., six miles north of the PGA National Golf Club.
The Winter Tournament Program had grown
to four events, and the PGA Merchandise Show - started in the parking
lot of PGA National Golf Club by salesmen working out of their cars -
now was being staged in large tents. The need for more office space and
additional playing facilities for even more PGA events created the need
for another move. The PGA Merchandise Show has since found a home in the
spacious Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Show is
the world's largest golf exposition.
PGA officials focused on the dynamic
Florida east coast and began talking with Palm Beach County developer
John D. MacArthur. At the time, MacArthur wanted the impact of the PGA
name to help sell his Palm Beach Gardens development. It took several
sessions for both parties to finally reach the agreement that was
finalized on October 30,1964.
In March 1965, the Association moved
into 10,000 square feet of office space in the east wing of the
clubhouse in MacArthur's new country club, which for the next eight
years would be known as PGA National Golf Club.
When the PGA of America was formed,
there was no distinction between club and touring professionals. As the
PGA began to develop and promote tournaments, it became easier for the
touring professionals to devote their efforts to just playing toumaments
and exhibitions. In 1968, PGA tournament players, who comprised a small
percentage of the membership, broke away from the Association to form a
Tournament Players Division and acquire more control of the tournament
schedule.
In 1975, the Tournament Players Division
was renamed the PGA Tour. Today, the PGA Tour is headquartered in Ponte
Vedra, Fla. The PGA Tour and the PGA of America maintain a close working
relationship, and most professional golfers maintain dual membership in
the organizations.
In 1971, the 53rd PGA Championship, the
first major golf championship ever held in Florida, was played at PGA
National Golf Club. Two years later, the PGA's relationship with
MacArthur ended and the national office was moved to a two-story office
building in nearby Lake Park, Fla.
For the next eight years the PGA of
America searched for a permanent home, one which offered enough space
for an expanding staff and the golf facilities to accommodate a growing
tournament program.
An agreement eventually was reached with
developer E. Llwyd Ecclestone Jr. Ecclestone built a multi-course
development on which the national office of the PGA of America is
located, on a 2,300-acre complex known today as PGA National.
The PGA of America staff moved into its
present national office in February 1981, with a staff of 63 that has
since expanded to 125. The building was expanded in 1990.
In 1992, the PGA purchased the rights to
the 13-year-old International Golf Show, the world's second largest golf
exposition, from the Southern California PGA Section. The PGA
International Golf Show has expanded by more than 59 percent after being
acquired by the PGA.
The PGA of America conducts more than 30
tournaments for its members and apprentices. Through a network of 41
section offices, the Association maintains a total commitment to the
club professional, helping the membership meet the demands of today's
marketplace and addressing vital issues such as pace of play,
environmental concerns and accessibility.
Since 1916, the PGA of America has
established new standards of excellence by expanding educational
opportunities, programs and services for its members. However, the
Association stands firm and continues to flourish on the principles that
were set down by its founders.
From:
http://www.worldgolf.com/wglibrary/history/ampgahis.html
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