Page 10 - Golf Guide 2021

The Philadelphia PGA’s first section championship was held in 1922.
CENTENNIAL CLUB
THE PHILADELPHIA PGA CELEBRATES A CENTURY OF SERVICE TO THE GAME. By Michael Bradley
Tredyffrin Country Club is long gone now, having perished in 1943 after a relatively brief 26-year existence on the southern section of what was the Dingee Farm in Paoli. But in terms of golf history in the Philadelphia region, it holds a unique and important designation. On June 2, 1922, seven months to the day after the Philadelphia Section of the PGA was formed, Tredyffrin hosted the first- ever section championship. The one-day, 36-hole tournament ended in a tie. The two men deadlocked at the top—Charley Hoffner and Jack Campbell—played an 18-hole tiebreaker two days later, with Hoffner’s becoming the first ever champ.
Those days of bowties and plus-fours seem quaint in 2021, but they were vital to a region that’s now teeming with golf enthusiasts and filled with places to play the game. Now, 100 years after its Dec. 2, 1921, formation, golfers and club pros throughout the Philadelphia section’s sphere of influence are celebrating its centennial. And it’s quite a sphere—from State College to the east in Pennsylvania, Trenton to the south in New Jersey, the
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entire state of Delaware, and a piece
of Maryland. “The game is as popular
as it’s ever been,” says Geoff Surrette,
the section’s executive director. “It’s a cradle-to-grave pursuit that’s built around camaraderie and fair play.”
The PGA was formed nationally in 1916. That same year, worried that one organization wouldn’t be able to serve golfers from coast to coast, pros from around the country convened in New York to discuss creating chapters. Of
the seven sections that were created, the Philadelphia group was initially combined with West Virginia and the rest of the Eastern Seaboard. That lasted nearly
five years before members decided there needed to be greater segmentation. Seven became 24, and the Philadelphia section was born.
There had been talk about starting a Philadelphia-area section for a while, and when the area’s best golfers gathered at Tredyffrin in November for the Main Line Open, much of the chatter was about the possibility. Less than a month later, the Philadelphia PGA was born,
and the first meeting was at the A.G. Spalding and Bros. building in downtown Philadelphia, with president Bob
Barnett presiding. There are two ways to become a member. One is to complete
the Professional Golf Management program at one of 18 different universities throughout the country, including Penn State University. The other is through 800 hours of training and testing in
the Green Grass Associates program. “The PGA’s role is to introduce people
to the game and keep them in the
game,” says Pete Trenham, a former
club pro at Philadelphia Country Club and St. Davids Golf Club who’s now
the Philadelphia PGA’s historian. “It’s a difficult game, and people take it up and find out that it’s too hard for them.”
While the area’s PGA affiliate has helped golfers for a century, it’s also been able to provide service to the community over the years. In 1943, at the height
of World War II, member professionals from the Philadelphia PGA, along with the men’s and women’s chapters of the Golf Association of Philadelphia staged
COURTESY OF PHILADELPHIA PGA