Rodman Wanamaker established the PGA Championship in 1916 over lunch with renowned guests such as Walter Hagan, Francis Ouimet, and course architect A.W. Tillinghast. Rodman expressed his vison for the future of golf and within a month the group formed what we know today as the PGA of America. They believed to separate themselves. To gain the attention of golfers worldwide they needed to start an inaugural tournament.
Furthermore in 1930 the tournament moved from the fall to summer.
- Date first Played & the first champion.
Within the same year of establishing the PGA of America the first PGA Championship took place in 1916. Siwanoy C.C in New York were the first course to ever host this prestigious event. The event took place over 36 holes.
James Barnes was the first player to claim victory, with his win he received $500 and the Wanamaker trophy as well as a diamond medallion. This was all presented by Rodman Wanamaker.
From 1916 to 1957 the PGA Championship was contended as match play although the qualifying was played though stroke play.
In 1958 the format changed from 36 holes to the better known 72-hole stoke play.
- Type of golf course played on.
The PGA Championships is predominately played on the courses on the east coast of the US.
- How the field is being constructed.
20 of the 156 available spots are reserved for PGA club pros, in doing so thanking them for their dedication towards the game and to grant them the opportunity to tee it up alongside the best players in the world.
Further the remaining field of 136 players are made up though the following categories.
- All the previous PGA Champions.
- The five previous champions of the other 3 majors.
- The three previous Players Championships Champions.
- Current Senior PGA Champion.
- Top 15 players from the previous PGA Championship.
- Top 20 players from the previous PGA Professional Championship.
- Current top 70 players on the PGA Tour money-list.
- All current Ryder Cup team members, as long as they are in the top 100 OWGR a week prior to the event.
- Special exemptions from the PGA of America.
- Should there be players short an alternate list will be used. 71 and lower on the OWGR.
- Amateurs competing (has an amateur won?)
Amateur golfers can’t compete in the championship. The only way an amateur can compete is though winning another major. This has yet to happen.
The venue to host the 2024 PGA Championship is none other than Valhalla. This Jack Nicklaus design will have the privilege to host its 5th PGA Championship.
- Past winners and different nationalities, who won the tournament the most.
Jack Nicklaus, otherwise known as the Golden Bear, has won the most Wanamaker titles alongside Walter Hagen, both players claimed the titles five times. Jack Nicklaus holds the record for the most runner-up finishes with four.
The youngest to ever win the championship was Gene Sarzen the American boy took the victory in 1922 at the age of 20 years and 174 days.
As the PGA Championship of 1962 rolled by, Gary Player became the first South African to have ever won the Wanamaker trophy.
HNA News
“Dear Golfer
This month we would like to take the opportunity to update you on the recent downtime with the HNA system and the cause of the problems.
The system was taken down, for around 5 days, from the evening of Friday the 12th, until Wednesday the 17th of April, and it was due to an unauthorised attempt to gain access to the HNA server.
As soon as the activity was detected, our technical partners immediately took action to contain the ‘incursion’, and secure the system by taking the HNA handicap service offline.
With the help of industry-leading cybersecurity, and legal teams, a forensic investigation was affected. Following detailed feedback from the technical team, we are pleased to report that while there was a disruption in service, the unauthorised party’s ingress was unsuccessful, and that all the data held by HNA was not impacted by the incident.
When a system like HNA’s goes ‘down’ or offline, for whatever the reason, it certainly highlights how dependent we are on tech in all its forms, how ubiquitous tech is in most areas of our lives, and how inconvenient any interruption can be.
That said, we thank everyone for their patience, and it is important to repeat that no data, or personal information was either lost, or compromised by the breach.
There is also some good news, in that the recent issues have resulted in an overhaul of the entire system, especially as this relates to security.
As communicated previously, players are required to login and change their passwords due to this incident.
If anyone continues to struggle to access the system, please reach out to our support team via email on info@handicaps.co.za. THE COURIER GUY BECOMES HNA’S PRIMARY COURIER PARTNER
The Courier Guy has quickly become associated with golf in the region at all levels, and its latest partnership is with the region’s handicap network – Handicaps Network Africa.
I asked Simon Hill – Marketing Manager for the Courier Guy – what prompted this initiative and he commented as follows:
“The Courier Guy has developed a strategic position, and an extensive footprint with golf in the region, across a number of levels.
These include the Sunshine Tour in the form of our sponsoring the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, and the Tour Championship, which is the finale of each season.
In addition, we are the official courier partner to the PGA of South Africa, and support various events, such as the National Betterball Golf Championship.
Therefore, a partnership with the region’s handicap network was a logical strategic step in our brand investment with this market.”
It takes two to tango, as the saying goes, and the other side of this partnership is of course HNA, so I asked Paul Bezuidenhout – HNA General Manager – to share his thoughts on the new partnership.
“It's great to see The Courier Guy's involvement in the game, and we felt it was a natural fit to bring them on board.
HNA is proud to partner with TCG, which is a trusted name in logistics, and will ensure the safe and reliable delivery of cards and handicap terminals to clubs across the continent.” Swing easy!
The Handicaps Team” Handicap Network Africa
Quote for the month.