Page 11 - Golf Guide 2021

a golf exhibition at Bala Golf Club to raise funds for a Red Cross ambulance. What ended up coming out of the event was a golf course, built just south of Phoenixville at the Valley Forge General Hospital, for wounded veterans. It opened in 1944. Eventually, the PGA pros helped sponsor the construction of four other facilities for injured vets.
Starting in 1976 and extending to 2005, the Philadelphia PGA worked to raise funds and awareness for the Variety Club.
Two legendary stints at section clubs are highlights of the Philadelphia
PGA’s rich 100-year history. It’s hard to imagine a more august applicant pool
for a head professional’s job than the
one Reading Country Club boasted in 1937. Two Texans, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan—who’d each be considered among the greatest ever to play the game—vied for a spot that eventually went to Nelson. It was a pretty big few years for Nelson at his post. He won his only Masters tournament in 1937 and his only U.S. Open two years later. Hogan eventually landed at Hershey Country Club, another Philadelphia PGA section club, from 1941-51. During that time,
he enjoyed his most prosperous period,
winning two U.S. Opens, two PGA championships and a Masters. In 1946, he won 13 PGA Tour events, and in ’48, he captured 10.
Section clubs have hosted the PGA Championship five times, including Llanerch in 1958, when unheralded Don Finsterwald shocked the golf world by winning, and four years later at Aronimink, when South African Gary Player took the trophy. “Those are all great moments,” Surrette says.
In 2003, the senior PGA tournament took place at Aronimink Golf Club, and the PGA Championship returns there in 2026.
The 100-year celebration will take many forms, including a centennial
print created by noted golf artist Lee Wybranski that commemorates the first- ever section meeting against the backdrop of Aronimink, with all different section logos over the past 100 years displayed. Throughout the first part of this year
and continuing for the rest of 2021,
the Philadelphia PGA website has been featuring icons throughout its history. Included are Charlie Sifford, the first person of color to compete in a PGA Tour event and a regular at the Cobbs Creek course in Philadelphia. Also featured is
Norristown’s George Fazio, who was a pro at six different area clubs. “We’ll be tweeting and posting about our members and some of the bigger events in our history,” says Matt Frey, the section’s communications director.
Local TV’s Inside Golf will feature regular installments on the area’s golf history, and the celebration culminates Oct. 18 with the Centennial Pro-Am
at Saucon Valley Country Club. Golf pros from clubs around the section will team with three of their members in the team event. PGA of America president Jim Richardson will be on hand to help commemorate the landmark anniversary that has been 100 years in the making.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia PGA remains committed to its work in the community. Among its initiatives:
free clinics for veterans, a diversity scholarship for junior golfers, and participation in the national PGA’s First Tee and Reach efforts. “We’ve always used the catch phrase, ‘Our sport needs to look more like the community,’” Surrette says. “For golf as a sport to continue to exist, we need to invite as many people in as possible.”
Visit philadelphia.pga.com.
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