Home     News     Obituaries     Sports     Dallas Cowboys     Features     Entertainment     Opinion     Classifieds

SPORTS Local Baseball Basketball Dallas Cowboys Football Golf Motor Sports Outdoors Recreation Soccer Tennis Tiger Woods Track and Field Other Sports

PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE Sunday, August 23, 1998 PGA Championship not bound for Texas anytime soon By DENNE H. FREEMAN Associated Press DALLAS -- They play the PGA Championship in August, a month that in Texas ranges from hot to hotter 'n heck. Last week, the tournament was played at the Sahalee Country Club near Seattle, putting it in the Pacific Northwest for the first time in more than 50 years. The players loved the golf course, the cool weather and the enthusiastic crowds. Of the 80 PGA Championships, two have been in Texas, in the 1960s. PGA officials have been mopping their brows ever since. The way the PGA sees it, August golf and Texas mix about as well as a jalapeno and Blue Bell ice cream. The official PGA Championship media guide pretty well sums up how the organization feels about having a tournament in Texas in the summer: "In 100-degree heat, Jack Nicklaus won the 45th PGA Championship ..." This was in 1963 at Dallas Athletic Club. Nicklaus wasn't even the first word mentioned. The heat was. At least Julius Boros' name came first in the PGA's description of his 1968 victory at Pecan Valley Country Club in San Antonio. "Julius Boros survived the wilting midsummer Texas heat and the treacherous 18th hole ... to snatch the 50th PGA Championship from Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles. ..." You might detect a trend here. The 1970s, 1980s and soon the 1990s will have passed without the tournament visiting a course somewhere between the Red River and the Gulf of Mexico and the Sabine River and Rio Grande. It has taken place in our neck of the woods as recently as 1994, when Nick Price won at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., hosted the tournament in 1988 and Southern Hills was the site again in 1970 and 1982. Having attended all of them, I can attest I sweated equally north of the Red River as I did south of it. I didn't wilt in San Antonio and wasn't parboiled in Dallas. I couldn't fry an egg on a cart path in Tulsa and nobody had to pack me in ice in Edmond. You can play golf in Texas during the month of August. It just takes good sense, plenty of water and suntan oil, a straw hat, an extra glove or two, and a high-collar shirt. The PGA, which tends to be defensive about these matters, has said that no Texas club has actively pursued the tournament because bent grass greens are the color of toast after a summer of sun. It has already scheduled tournaments until 2005: 1999 -- Medina (Ill.) Country Club 2000 -- Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. 2001 -- Atlanta Athletic Club, Duluth, Ga. 2002 -- Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn. 2003 -- Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, N.Y. 2004 -- Open 2005 -- The Country Club, Brookline, Mass. Go ahead pencil in Sahalee for 2004. After the tournament at Sahalee, PGA chief executive officer Jim Awtrey was singing its praises: "I believe you'll be seeing another championship out here again. It was an extremely successful tournament at here. A number of people are saying we need to do it again."   Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1998, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:

Search current site:        Search archives for:

© 1995- The E.W. Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News. All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement. We also have a Privacy Policy.