On this date in 1918, Patty Berg was born in Minneapolis. The World Golf Hall of Famer and LPGA pioneer was not only a great champion but known as a golf ambassador. She had an infectious personality that was always on display. When she did a teaching clinic, she emphasized you must “swing to the finish” and then did so with a flourish.
For all their golf battles, the Big Three of Palmer, Player and Nicklaus didn’t finish 1-2-3 very often in tournaments. But that’s what happened on this date in 1963 in the Phoenix Open when they finished 1-2-3 for Palmer, Player and Nicklaus, in that order, at Arizona Country Club with four-round totals of 273, 274 and 275.
On this date in 1961, Arnold Palmer shot a 66 in the third round of the Phoenix Open, then shot a 70 in Round 4 to tie Doug Sanders for first at 270. In an 18-hole playoff, Palmer defeated Sanders, 67-70, and won first prize of $4,300.
On this day in 1951, Al Brosch, of Garden City, New York, was the first player to shoot a 60 on the PGA Tour at the Texas Open, third round, on the par-71, 6,400-yard Brackenridge Park Golf Course. He broke the record of 61 shot by amateur Dow Finsterwald in 1950 in the St. Louis Open.
This is a date usually noted when the St. Andrews Club became the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, in 1834, with William IV as club patron.
On this date in 1981, Sally Little won the LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic at Turnberry Isle in Miami at five under par in a playoff with hall-of-fame players Joanne Carner and Judy Rankin.
On this date in 1947, Jimmy Demaret shot one of the PGA Tour’s early great rounds with a nine-under-par 62 in the first round of the Texas Open in San Antonio at Willow Springs. Demaret was holing putts from all over, and got done with his round just before a blustery “Texas norther” came in and dropped the temp from 65 to nearly freezing in just a few hours. Among the golfers caught in the bad weather was Ben Hogan, who shot 75.
On this date in 1971, golf was played out of this world when astronaut Alan Shepard used a 6-iron he’d assembled from different pieces to hit a couple golf balls on the moon. Commander of Apollo 14, Shepard adjusted moon-rock collecting tools to make his golf club so he could keep his “mission” secret from as many people as possible. His best shot, he estimated, went 200 yards. The original moon club is housed at the USGA Museum in New Jersey.
Two-time Masters champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Jose Maria Olazabal was born on this date in 1966 in Spain.
On this date, a pair of LPGA events include, in 1979, Joanne Carner winning the LPGA Colgate Triple Crown and in 1990, Pat Bradley winning the Oldsmobile LPGA Golf Classic.
On this date in 1876, Albert Spalding began a sporting goods company, with $800, manufacturing, among balls for several sports, a golf ball.
On this date in 1949, a Wednesday, one of the most infamous dates in golf occurred when Ben Hogan and wife, Valerie, were involved in an accident in which their car collided with a bus in west Texas as they were returning to Fort Worth from the West Coast. The severe injuries threatened to keep Hogan from golf or even from walking, but he made a determined comeback to play at championship level again.
On this date in 1959, Willie Goggin won the 20th PGA Seniors Championship at PGA National GC in Dunedin, Florida. Goggin shot four-under 284 and won going against common practice. He wasn’t comfortable with the set of clubs he brought from California, mainly the woods, so he borrowed another set of woods and still won. Three players tied for second behind him by one shot: Leland Gibson, Paul Runyan and Denny Shute.
On this date in 1957, Arnold Palmer began play in the Phoenix Open at Arizona Country Club, just as the PGA Tour will visit Scottsdale for the Phoenix stop in two weekends. Palmer shot a 66 in the first round to share the lead with Billy Maxwell. Palmer didn’t break 70 the next three rounds, and tied Maxwell and two others for fifth at 277. Billy Casper won with 271.
On this date in 1965, at its 71st annual meeting, in New York, the USGA approved changing the U.S. Open format to four daily 18-hole rounds instead of two days of 18 holes and a final day of 36.
On this date in 1978, “Big Momma” Joanne Carner won the Colgate Triple Crown Match-Play Championship to start the LPGA schedule that year. Carner took first over Sandra Palmer at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California.
On this date in 1968, Chandler Harper—one of the greatest monikers in golf—won the 29th Senior PGA Championship by four shots over Sam Snead at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Harper, of Portsmouth, Virginia, had won the 1950 PGA Championship. His Senior PGA victory was worth $4,000, which was $500 more than he won for the PGA!
On this date in 1969, Tommy Bolt won the 30th Senior PGA Championship by one shot over Pete Fleming on the East Course of PGA National. Bolt shot a 67 and won on his first try.
On this date in 1986, Val Skinner won the LPGA Mazda Golf Classic at Stonebridge Golf Club in Boca Raton, Florida, at eight under par.
On this date in 1959, Arnold Palmer shot a 62 and won the Thunderbird Invitational, the precursor to the Bob Hope Desert Classic and now The American Express. He shot 266 for first prize of $1,500.