As the Philadelphia PGA Section turns 100, we take a look back at the people and events that helped make the Section what it is today, with the help of Section Historian Pete Trenham, PGA, and his website Trenham Golf History.

1942 PGA Championship: In the last week of May Seaview Country Club and its head professional Bruce Coltart hosted the PGA Championship. Seaview had two very dissimilar nines in architecture. There was the Bay Course with 18-holes designed by Donald Ross and 9-holes in the pines designed by Bill Flynn. It was decided that the back nine of the Bay Course would be played first and then the pros would finish on the Pines nine. In the later rounds the Bay nine was played last to accommodate the gallery. In the previous PGA Championships all the players received mileage money, which was based on how far they lived from the tournament site. In 1942 only those who failed to qualify for the match play were paid the mileage money. Hershey CC professional Ben Hogan, who hit more practice balls than anyone, hurt his wrist practicing the day before the championship started and had to have x-rays taken. Fred Corcoran, the PGA Tournament Manager, told the press that Hogan’s starting time for the next day would be pushed back a few hours from his scheduled time. Because the country was now at war, the pros were qualifying for only 32 places in order to shorten the championship by one day. All the matches were scheduled for 36 holes. PGA of America president Ed Dudley led the 100 starters on the first day of qualifying with a six-under-par 66, which tied the record for the lowest qualifying round in the PGA championship. At the end of qualifying Harry Cooper was the medalist with a 138, while Sam Byrd tied for second at 139. Dudley and Hogan were part of a three-way tie for fifth at 141. Coltart (142), Jug McSpaden (143), Jimmy Thompson (143), Dutch Harrison (144), Sam Snead (144) and Joe Kirkwood, Sr. (147) were the other members of the Philadelphia Section who made it into the match play. Kirkwood had to survive a playoff to win one of the last spots. Corporal Elwood Brey, Corporal Ed Oliver, Felix Serafin, Clarence Ehresman and Leo Diegel failed to qualify.  Byrd, Coltart, Thomson and Harrison lost in the first round. In the second round Kirkwood lost to Byron Nelson and McSpaden lost to Jim Turnesa. Three Section members; Snead, Dudley and Hogan made it into the quarter-finals. Hogan then lost to Turnesa one-down and Dudley lost to Snead, who was the Shawnee Inn & CC playing professional, one-down. Dudley lost to Snead when his tee shot on the last hole hit a spectator and bounced into the woods for an unplayable lie. Snead beat Jimmy Demaret 3&2 in one semifinal match and Turnesa defeated Byron Nelson in a match that went 37 holes. Snead went on to defeat Turnesa, who was stationed at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, in the 36-hole finals 2&1. Snead took his first prize of $2,000 in a war bond, which would have been worth $1,500 in cash. The total purse was $7,550. Turnesa was granted leave to compete in the championship with the understanding that any money he won would go to the Army Relief Fund. Turnesa won $750 in cash and wore his army uniform while playing in the tournament. The total purse was $7,550. Two days later Snead was in the U.S. Navy as Seaman First Class Snead. The draft board had given Snead a 10-day extension on his reporting date so he could play in the PGA. Snead’s caddy was a young man named Tony DeSimone who went on to own an automobile dealership and a golf course in South Jersey. DeSimone became one of the Philadelphia Section’s most faithful sponsors. All profits from the tournament were donated to the Army and Navy relief funds. This was the last major golf championship played until the end of the war.

The PGA Championship final was played on Sunday May 31. That evening the PGA of America held a meeting of its executive committee. The Atlantic City Golf Association and Seaview Country Club had issued an invitation for the PGA to hold its championship at Seaview again in 1943. Due to the war the PGA wasn’t sure when it might hold its championship again. The PGA executive committee did vote to hold its championship at Seaview again and publicly stated that when it was played again it would be held at Seaview. There would be no PGA Championship held in 1943 and by 1944 when it was held the commitment to Seaview had apparently been forgotten.

George Jerome Fazio: George Fazio was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania in 1912. He had a varied and outstanding career in golf. He worked as a golf professional, leased courses and driving ranges, won golf tournaments and designed golf courses. His career in golf began as a caddy at the Plymouth Country Club. He worked as a professional at six different golf courses in the Philadelphia area including the Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey and he played the PGA Tour on and off during the late 1940s and most of the 1950s. For a number of years Fazio owned a Ford automobile agency in Conshohocken that was set up for him by William Clay Ford. Locally Fazio won the Philadelphia Section Championship in 1941 and from 1949 to 1959 he won five Philadelphia Opens along with finishing second twice. In 1950 while working in the Middle Atlantic Section Fazio won their Section championship. He won twice on the PGA Tour, which included winning the Canadian Open in 1946, and finished second seven times. In 1950 he tied with Ben Hogan and Lloyd Mangrum for the U.S. Open title at Merion Golf Club and lost in an 18-hole playoff. He also finished fifth in the 1952 U.S. Open and tied for fourth in 1953. During his career he played in 14 U.S. Opens, 14 PGA Championships and 7 Masters Tournaments. Fazio also knew golf talent. When Gary Player first ventured to America to try his hand on the PGA Tour he wasn’t very successful. Fazio gave Player some money, which allowed him to stay on the tour. At the time Fazio was leasing Flourtown Golf Club and Langhorne Country Club so to return the favor Player agreed to represent Langhorne on the PGA Tour. In the mid 1950s television was in its infancy and a young Jack Whitaker was doing ten minutes of sports at 11:00 pm on WCAU TV. Whitaker could see that golf was becoming very popular so he invited Fazio to be a guest on his show each Wednesday evening. The Wednesday show with Fazio was a hit as hundreds of viewers sent in postcards and letters with golf questions. Some of the shows featured Fazio demonstrating various golf shots at the Presidential Course, which was what remained of the Philadelphia Country Club’s original course. In 1955 the city of Philadelphia hired Fazio to make changes that would tighten up its Cobbs Creek Golf Club for the PGA Tour’s Daily News Open that the course was hosting that year. That got him started in course design and in 1960 he shifted his career over to building golf courses. Fazio gained more fame as a golf course architect than he had from playing tournaments. He designed 64 courses and redesigned 20 more. Nine of the courses he created were in the Philadelphia Section. Several of his courses quickly made Golf Digest’s list of “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses. A number of golf courses that Fazio designed and golf courses that he redesigned hosted national championships and PGA Tour events. The list included the 1972 Masters, six U.S. Open courses and the 1968 U.S. Women’s Open. Fazio was inducted into the Philadelphia Section PGA Hall of Fame in 2008. For more of Trenham Golf History’s Leaders & Legends, visit https://trenhamgolfhistory.org/philadelphia-pga-leaders-legends/leaders-legends-1950-1959/

• Co-Chairs: Ron Pine, PGA, Aronimink G.C.; and John Rogers, PGA
• Tournament Chair: Michael Congdon, PGA, Aronimink G.C.
• Education Chair: Steve Frederick, PGA, Overbrook G.C.
• Youth Golf / Charity / Finance Chair: Tony Shields, PGA, The ACE Club
• Communication / Mentorship Chair: Ashley Grier, PGA, Overbrook G.C.

ALL EVENTS ARE 10:15 SHOTGUN START

Date               Site                              Phone number            Format

Nov. 2              Yardley                           215-493-4531                  2 man modified better ball

Nov. 9              LuLu                               215-884-5108                  2 man better ball

Nov. 16            Odessa National             302-464-1007                Individual

Nov. 23            North Hills                      215-576-9875                 MB 4 Man Wacky Pins

Dec. 30            Raven’s Claw                    610-495-4710               2 man DR chapman

Dec. 7               Cedarbrook                      215-643-3560               2 man better ball

Dec. 14             Talamore                           215-646-8900               2 man scramble

Dec. 21            North Hills                          215-576-9875                Individual

Dec. 28           Bucks Club                          215-343-0350                2 man DR chapman

Jan. 4              Paxon Hollow                     610-353-0220               Individual

Jan. 11            North Hills                           215-576-9875                 2 man better ball

Jan. 18            Odessa National                302-464-1007                 Individual

Jan. 25            Indian Spring                    856-983-0222                2 man scramble

Feb. 1              Bucks Club                        215-343-0350                  Individual stableford

Feb. 8              Kimberton                        610-933-8836                 2 man DR chapman

Feb. 15            LuLu                                   215-884-5108                  2 man scramble

Feb. 22           Bensalem                           215-956-9727                  Individual

Mar. 1             Hershey’s Mill                   610-692-6592                2 modified better ball

Mar. 8             Indian Spring                   856-983-0222                 Individual

Mar. 15             Laurel Creek                    856-778-1342                 4 man/2 better ball of 4

Mar. 22             Cedarbrook                      215-643-3560                Championship

2020 – 2021 FDS WINTER TOUR

ELIGIBILITY               Both professionals and amateurs are welcome. There is an open and amateur division. The amateur division will compete for net prizes. Amateurs are welcome to participate in both divisions. However they must pay separate entries, but only one walk/ride fee.   Amateurs will receive gift certificates at the HOST club.

SIGNING UP              MANDATORY – You may either email Jamie Shaffer at shaffer004@aol.com or text

EACH WEEK             me at 215-915-3809.

STARTING TIMES     All events will be 10:15 shotgun starts. PLEASE let me know you are playing, SO THE HOST FACILITY CAN BE APPROPRIATELY PREPARED!  ALSO, be ON TIME or WE WILL START WITHOUT YOU.

FEES                          CASH ONLY – no checks will be accepted.

REGISTRATION         $70.00 – must be paid at the first event you play.

ENTRY FEE               OPEN DIVISION $50.00 Individual – $100.00 Team – $5.00 per person of entry will go into a skins pool. In the event there are no skins, the skin money will go into that day’s purse. Walk/ride fee of $20.00 at each event.

AMATEUR DIVISION $50.00 Individual – $100.00 Team – $5.00 per person of entry will go into an optional skins pool. Walk/ride fee of $20.00 at each event.

HANDICAPS               Amateurs will play with their USGA COURSE HANDICAPS – MAX HCP OF 16

If you do not have a handicap, one will be assigned to you.

BIRDIE RACE              OPEN DIVISION PLAYERS ONLY The birdie race will pay a minimum of three places for the total number of birdies made for the year. Players will get credit for their own birdies in individual and better ball events. Players are responsible for notifying scorers of their birdie total at each event.   No card – No birdies.  Eagles and aces count as two birdies.

CONDUCT                  Clubs hosting the FDS Winter Tour have been very generous and hospitable to host us. It is in our collective best interest to return this consideration with respect to the club, the golf course, and the members and staff. Your sportsmanlike behavior will ensure our continued welcome at these clubs.

CHAMPIONSHIP       To be eligible for the championship, you MUST have PAID entries in over 50% of the events that are played.  You may prepay an entry (and not play) on or before the date of that particular event, and it will count toward your total for the championship.

RULES OF PLAY       “Winter Rules” – lift, clean and place within one club length, no closer to the hole, everywhere.  The ball must remain in the same condition – i.e. rough stays in rough, fairway stays in fairway, ball in the water stays in the water (you can go no closer to the hole in more shallow water, but it must stay in the water)        

INFORMATION          Call or text Jamie Shaffer at 215-915-3809 or email at shaffer004@aol.com, if you have any questions. The first person to email me the correct answer to the following question will receive a free entry. As a junior golfer, when something unfortunate happened on the golf course, FDS legend Dave Roberts had a predilection to a certain curse word. What was that word he delivered with a pubescent whine?

                                   You get one guess only.