Sahara Invitational
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Sahara Invitational
The Sahara Invitational was a PGA Tour event in Nevada from 1958 through 1976, played Las Vegas and sponsored by the Sahara Hotel. In the first four years, it was the Sahara Pro-Am and an unofficial tour event. Paradise Valley Country Club hosted in 1970 and 1971, and Sahara Nevada Country Club from 1972–1976. Jack Nicklaus won Sahara four times in a seven-year span in the 1960s, and three future major champions (Tony Lema, Lanny Wadkins, and John Mahaffey) made Sahara their first tour victory. A month after the 1976 event, it was announced in early November that the Sahara Invitational was being discontinued. Edward M. Nigro, vice president and general manager of Hotel Sahara, cited rising costs, scheduling conflicts, and a decline in the national promotion benefit as the reasons for the tournament's cancellation. The Las Vegas Founders returned the PGA Tour to Las Vegas in 1983 with the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic; since 2007, it has been organized by t ...
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Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one ...
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John Mahaffey
John Drayton Mahaffey Jr. (born May 9, 1948) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including 10 PGA Tour events. Mahaffey was born in Kerrville, Texas. He attended the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. He turned pro in 1971 after graduating in 1970 with a degree in psychology. Mahaffey came close to winning back to back U.S. Opens. In 1975 he lost in a playoff to Lou Graham at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois. The following year Mahaffey had a two-shot lead after 54 holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia before shooting a final round 73 and finishing T4th. In 1978 he won twice on the tour including one major, the PGA Championship. He also won the World Cup individual and team event where he was paired with Andy North in 1978. The 1978 PGA championship was held at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Mahaffey became the best comeback winner in PGA history after trailing Tom Watson by seven strokes w ...
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Al Geiberger
Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 1937) is an American former professional golfer. Professional career Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first being the 1962 Ontario Open and the biggest being the 1966 PGA Championship, a major title. He won the Tournament Players Championship in 1975, and played on the Ryder Cup teams in 1967 and 1975. Geiberger also won 10 times on the Senior PGA Tour, now called the Champions Tour. Mr. 59 During the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977, Geiberger became the first player in history to post a score of 59 (−13) in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Starting on the tenth tee of the Colonial Country Club in Cordova, Tennessee, he shot a bogey-free round of six pars, 11 birdies, and an eagle on the layout. He sank a putt for birdie on his opening hole, and ended the round with a birdie from ; the lone eagle was a holed-out wedge shot. Gei ...
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Lee Trevino
Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and 29 PGA Tour events over the course of his career. He is one of only four players to twice win the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. The Masters Tournament was the only major that eluded him. He is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex," both affectionate nicknames given to him by other golfers. Early life Trevino was born in Garland, Texas, into a family of Mexican ancestry. He was raised by his mother, Juanita Trevino, and his grandfather, Joe Trevino, a gravedigger. Trevino never knew his father, Joseph Trevino, who left when his son was small. During his childhood, Trevino occasionally attended school and worked to earn money for the family. At age 5, he start ...
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Frank Beard (golfer)
Joseph Franklin Beard (born May 1, 1939) is an American former professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. Beard won eleven PGA Tour events. Early years Beard was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and won the Kentucky state high school golf championship as a senior in 1957. College career He attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Conrad Rehling's Florida Gators men's golf team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1958 to 1961. He was recognized as an All-American in 1960 and 1961. He graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1961, and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great." Professional career Beard turned professional in 1962. He topped the PGA Tour money list in 1969 with earnings of $175,223. He has eleven wins on the tour including victo ...
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Dale Douglass
Dale Dwight Douglass (March 5, 1936 – July 6, 2022) was an American professional golfer who won tournaments at both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour level. Douglass was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He grew up in Fort Morgan, Colorado, where graduated from high school in 1956. Douglass graduated from University of Colorado in 1959, turned pro in 1960, and joined the PGA Tour in 1963. He played on the 1969 Ryder Cup team. Douglass won three times and earned $573,351 in just under 25 years on the PGA Tour. His best finish in a major championship was T-13 at the 1969 U.S. Open. His fortunes improved dramatically when he reached the age of 50 and joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the PGA Tour Champions). In this venue, Douglass had 11 wins including the 1986 U.S. Senior Open and accumulated approximately $7 million in earnings. Douglass lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on July 6, 2022 at the age of 86. Professional wins (21) PGA Tour wi ...
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Chi-Chi Rodríguez
Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez (born October 23, 1935) is a Puerto Rican professional golfer. The winner of eight PGA Tour events, he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Early years Rodríguez was born into a poor family in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He was one of six siblings. His father used to earn $18 a week as a laborer and cattle handler. When Rodríguez was seven years old, he helped the family by earning money as a water carrier on a sugar plantation. One day Juan wandered off into a golf course. When he saw that the caddies were earning more money than he was, he decided to become a caddie himself. Rodríguez would take a branch from a guava tree and turn it into a golf club. Using a metal can as a "golf ball," he would practice what he had seen the "real" golfers do, teaching himself how to play golf. By the time he was nine years old, he was proficient at golf, and in 1947, at the age of 12, he scored a 67. In 1954, when Rod ...
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Steve Spray
John Stephen Spray (December 16, 1940 – May 15, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s. Spray was born in Des Moines, Iowa and reared in Indianola, Iowa. His first big win as an amateur came in the 1958 Iowa Junior Amateur; the next year he gained national fame by winning the Western Junior. Spray attended the University of Iowa initially, but transferred to Eastern New Mexico University where he spent most of his college career. He won the NAIA Championship in 1962 and 1963 while at Eastern New Mexico. Spray turned professional in 1964 and began play on the PGA Tour in 1965. The highlight of Spray's career came in 1969 with a win at the San Francisco Open Invitational, the last PGA Tour event held at San Francisco's storied Harding Park. His best finish in a major championship was a T-5 at the 1968 U.S. Open. Spray was hampered by injuries during the last years of his PGA career including tendinitis in his left thumb that ...
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Jack McGowan (golfer)
John W. "Jack" McGowan (December 18, 1930 – February 15, 2001) was an American professional golfer. McGowan was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He turned professional in 1954 and joined the PGA Tour in 1961. He played on the PGA Tour through 1970, winning one event, the 1964 Mountain View Open among 32 top-10 finishes. He had four runner-up finishes: 1964 St. Paul Open Invitational to Chuck Courtney, 1964 Sahara Invitational to R. H. Sikes, 1965 Western Open to Billy Casper, and 1969 Texas Open Invitational to Deane Beman } Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer, golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. Early years Born in Washington, D.C., Beman attended the University of Maryla .... Professional wins (1) PGA Tour wins (1) PGA Tour playoff record (0–1) References American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from New Hampshire Sportspeople from Concord, New Hampshire 1930 ...
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Phil Rodgers
Phil Rodgers (April 3, 1938 – June 26, 2018) was an American professional golfer. Life Rodgers was born in San Diego, California. He won the 1958 NCAA Division I Championship while playing at the University of Houston. Immediately after, he was placed in the first position on the first team of the 1958 All-American golf team, which included many well known professionals including future winners of the PGA Championship, Al Geiberger and Bobby Nichols and Masters Tournament winner, Tommy Aaron. While in the Marine Corps, Rodgers won virtually every service tournament (he was even pulled out of Boot Camp to play in the All Services tournament), then turned professional in 1961. He won five times on the PGA Tour in the 1960s. Playing sparingly in 1961, but winning the "unofficial" 54-hole Sahara Pro-Am in Las Vegas, Nevada, Rodgers started his first full year on the PGA Tour in 1962, which began with the Los Angeles Open. Tied for the lead after 54 holes with Fred Hawkin ...
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Don January
Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship. Early life Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a member of the North Texas State golf team that won four consecutive NCAA Division I titles from 1949 to 1952. January is a Member of the Sunset High School Hall of Fame. While in college as a sophomore, as part of his scholarship, January helped teach a beginning golf class, where he met his future wife, Patricia "Pat" Rushing. They both graduated in 1953 and eloped to Ardmore, Oklahoma. They lived in San Antonio while Don was in the Air Force, and began their family—two boys and a girl. Professional career January won 10 PGA Tour titles, though never more than one in a year, with his most notable at the 1967 PGA Championship, an 18-hole playoff victory over Don Massengale. January had lost the 1961 PGA Championship in a playoff to Jerry Barb ...
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Shriners Hospitals For Children
Shriners Children's is a network of non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Care for children is usually provided until age 18, although in some cases, it may be extended to age 21. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the hospitals are owned and operated by Shriners International, formerly known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a Freemasonry-related organization whose members are known as Shriners. Patients are not required to have any familial affiliation with the Shriners order nor Freemasonry. The current advertising campaign for the healthcare system features the tagline, "Love to the Rescue." History In 1920, the Imperial Session of the Shriners was held in Portland, Oregon. During that session the membership unanimousl ...
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