The New England Classic was a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

from 1969 through 1998. It was held under various names at

Pleasant Valley Country Club Pleasant Valley Country Club is a golf course and country club in the northeastern United States, located in Sutton, Massachusetts. The course is a 72 par that measures . History In 1959, a apple orchard was carved out to built Pleasant Valley C ...

Sutton, Massachusetts Sutton, officially the Town of Sutton, is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The population was 9,357 in the 2020 United States Census. Located in the Blackstone Valley, the town was designated as a Preserve America community in 2004. H ...

Tournament highlights

*1975:

Roger Maltbie Roger Lin Maltbie (born June 30, 1951) is an American professional golfer and on-course analyst for NBC Sports. Career Maltbie was born in Modesto, California and grew up in San Jose. He attended James Lick High School where he was a teammate of ...

wins for the second consecutive week on the PGA Tour. He beats

Mac McLendon Benson Rayfield McLendon Jr. (August 10, 1945 – July 4, 2022) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s. McLendon was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Louisiana State University in Bato ...

by one shot. Afterwards, Maltbie left his $40,000 winner's check behind in a bar. *1977: Due to the PGA Tour labeling it a 'designated event', Jack Nicklaus plays in the tournament for the first and only time. He finishes in second place two shots behind winner

Raymond Floyd Raymond Loran Floyd (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four senior majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame ...

. *1978: One week after winning the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

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 turn ...

also takes home the American Optical Classic title. He beats defending champion Raymond Floyd and the PGA Tour's only

optometrist Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Uni ...

Gil Morgan Gilmer Bryan Morgan II, OD (born September 25, 1946) is an American professional golfer. Morgan was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma in 1968. In 1972, Morgan earned a Doctor of Optometry deg ...

, by two shots. *1986:

Gene Sauers Gene Craig Sauers (born August 22, 1962) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions. He had three wins on the PGA Tour and overcame a deadly skin condition that kept him off the golf course for five years. He ...

defeats

Blaine McCallister Blaine McCallister (born October 17, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. McCallister was born in Fort Stockton, Texas. He attended the University of Houston and was a member ...

on the third hole of a sudden death playoff for his first ever PGA Tour title after having to hole a par chip on the first playoff hole to avoid elimination. *1989: Three years after suffering a tough luck playoff loss at Pleasant Valley, Blaine McCallister birdies the final two holes to win the 21st edition of the tournament by one shot over

Brad Faxon Bradford John Faxon Jr. (born August 1, 1961) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Faxon was born in Oceanport, New Jersey and raised in Barrington, Rhode Island. He attended Fu ...

. *1998: Steve Pate wins the last edition of the tournament. He beat

Scott Hoch Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

and Bradley Hughes by one shot.Car crash, bad hole can't stop Steve Pate
/ref> For Pate it was his first victory since a 1996 car accident.

Winners

Notes

References

External links

Pleasant Valley Country Club official site
{{CVS Health 1969 establishments in Massachusetts 1998 disestablishments in Massachusetts Former PGA Tour events Golf in Massachusetts History of Worcester County, Massachusetts Recurring sporting events established in 1969 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1998 Sports competitions in Massachusetts Sports in Worcester County, Massachusetts Sutton, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Worcester County, Massachusetts

Tournament highlights

Winners

See also

Notes

References

External links