Over the course of its close to 100 year history, the members of the PGA Tour have seen their circuit go from a haphazard wing-it operation, where the top players of the day travelled by station wagon, to a gigantic sports enterprise with millionaire linksters travelling via private jet. Way back then, there was no Fed Ex Cup, no World Golf Championship events in foreign lands, the majors weren’t very major, and finishing in fifth place meant you barely made expenses for that week. The times have changed, but the journey is remarkably similar.
The winner’s check for a tournament like the Sacramento Open during the 1930s was $1,000. This weekend the winner of the Phoenix Open will add $1,206,000 to his already enormous bank account. There will be tens of thousands in the stands around the boisterous 16th hole and millions more will watch it on television. Getting 2,500 spectators to walk the fairways at Haggin Oaks for final round play in Sacramento was considered a great promotional accomplishment during the height of the Depression. At 50 cents per person, it also paid the bills. Of course, you could make the cut, finish beyond 21st place, and not receive a check.
Yet while there is little similarity between the PGA Tour of the 1930s and today, one thing has been constant since its inception. During the first few months of the new calendar year, the top professional golfers in the world follow the sun to California to play the Western Swing. It’s been like that since the Roaring Twenties and remains so today.
At one time or another, there were as many as 11 different tournaments that were a part of the Western Swing. Obviously some of those events have fell by the wayside, such as the aforementioned Sacramento Open. Yet the five main tournaments contested in January and February are still being played in Palm Desert, San Diego, Phoenix, Pebble Beach, and Los Angeles after all these years.
Along with the Sacramento Open, at one time or another there was an Oakland Open, a Richmond Open, a San Francisco Open, and more recently the Tucson Open and the Tournament of Champions at LaCosta in Carlsbad. The Oakland Open was played at Claremont Country Club and Sequoyah Country Club, and is the tourney during the late 1930 that Ben Hogan had the tires from his car stolen, finished in third place, and had enough money in his pocket to leave town and head to the next event. The Richmond Open was contested at Richmond Country Club after World War II and Toney Penna, the club designer for MacGregor Golf, was one of its past champions. The San Francisco Open was played during World War II and had Byron Nelson as one of its titlists. The Tucson tournament was run by a local group called the Conquistadors and the champion received a Conquistador helmet. It ran from 1945 through 2006. Between its earliest days in Las Vegas and its recent run at Kapalua, the Tournament of Champions was held outside of San Diego at the LaCosta Spa and Resort from 1969 through 1998. The earliest days of the World Match Play was also played at LaCosta.
The grand-daddy of the Western Swing is the Los Angeles Open. Its inaugural edition was in 1926 and was won by Harry Cooper at Los Angeles Country Club North. Over the years it has been contested at municipal courses such as Griffith Park and Rancho Muni as well as high end country clubs like Wilshire, Hillcrest, and Inglewood. Its’ 2017 edition will be held two weeks from now at its most recent home, Riviera Country Club. Previously sponsored by Northern Trust, Nissan, and Glenn Campbell, nowadays the L.A. Open is officially called the Genesis Open.
Six years after the first L.A. Open was initially held, Phoenix Country Club hosted the Arizona Open, won by three time major champion Ralph Guldahl. Two years later it was renamed the Phoenix Open and it has remained a tournament of stability. Contested from 1932 through 1972 at Phoenix CC, it has since then been held at TPC Scottsdale. The Phoenix Open is arguably the biggest party scene tournament on the PGA Tour with crowds swelling well over 100,000 daily. It is a far cry from the spectator scenes at the Masters or the United States Open, and yet even distant and aloof pros seem to appreciate the colorful event it has become. It is being played this weekend and is sponsored by Waste Management.
Begun in 1937 in San Diego as an opportunity for the greats of golf to intermingle with the greats of the big screen and the recording industry, the Bing Crosby Pro-Am moved to Monterey after World War II. Adding to its luster, the Crosby was played at the great courses of Pebble Beach. A four day tournament with a pro-am format embedded in the tournament, the celebrities have morphed from Stan Laurel to Phil Harris to Bill Murray while the champions have included the inaugural winner, Sam Snead, on to Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper, and the modern era duo of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
The San Diego Open was first held in 1952 at San Diego Country Club. After all, they had to come up with a tournament of their own after Bing moved north after holding his earliest pro-ams at Rancho Santa Fe. The earliest days of the tourney had a who’s who of champions including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, and Tom Watson. Similar to Glenn Campbell hosting the L.A. Open, San Diego was hosted by singer Andy Williams for a number of years. It has been contested at the two courses at Torrey Pines alongside the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. This long running event played out last week with John Rahm’s improbably brilliant victory and has been recently sponsored by Farmers Insurance.
The fifth Western Swing tournament with longevity began 57 years ago by its founder, Bob Hope. A 90 hole professional tournament with an amateur team component, the Hope got off the ground running in 1960 with Arnold Palmer taking home the winner’s check. Played in the Palm Desert-Palm Springs-LaQuinta region, the Hope combined golf, entertainment, and even politics with questionable shot making by the likes of Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Gerald Ford. Nowadays the Hope is down to 72 holes, and since the passing of the comedic great in 2003, the tourney has been sponsored by Chrysler, Humana, and now Career Builder
In a few more weeks, the PGA Tour will pack up and head to Florida. Like they have done every year since the conclusion of World War I, they’re in the midst of their Western Swing, playing golf in the desert, through the majestic Cypress trees, and alongside the Pacific Ocean
