On the eve of this year’s PGA Championship, we’re taking a look back to when Olympia Fields hosted the 1961 PGA Championship!
Notables in the field that week included Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead, and Billy Casper, but it was Jerry Barber who won his sole major that week.
Barber birdied two of his last three holes and made a 60-foot putt on the final hole to force an 18-hole playoff against Don January. At the time, Barber was the oldest major winner at 45 years old. The 43rd PGA Championship was also the first time it ended in a playoff after switching to a stroke-play format four years ago.
With the PGA Championship beginning this week, we are looking back to the 1925 and 1961 PGA Championships hosted at Olympia Fields Country Club!
The 1925 PGA Championship was played in a match play format. Walter Hagen successfully defended his title, defeating Bill Melhorn 6 and 5 in the championship match. The PGA Championship was also played on courses No. 3 and 4 (No. 4 is now known as the North Course).
We dug into our archives to find a few pieces of this event, which included a letter from our first club president, Amos Alonzo Stagg, as well as an article from The Olympian that details the rules and regulations for the week of the championship.
The outdoor season for racquets made its return for the season yesterday, with members taking advantage of the warm weather for the first Open Play of the year!
Coming Soon: Open Play and Tri Play
Platform tennis wrapped up its season under Friday night lights at our Men’s Platform Tennis Championships.
Congratulations to our winners this year, Larry Vena and George McCabe!
