1945: Byron Nelson wins 18 tournaments in a calendar year to set an all-time PGA TOUR record-including a record 11 in a row and a record 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His total prize earnings during his 11-win streak, $30,000, is less than last place money for the PGA TOUR Championship by 1992.
The Tam O'Shanter Open offers a then-record purse of $60,000.
1946: The U.S. Women's Open is instituted. Patty Berg is the first winner.
1947: Mildred "Babe" Zaharias becomes the first American to win the British Women's Open, at Gullane.
Golf is televised for the first time, in a local St. Louis telecast of the U.S. Open.
1948: Ben Hogan wins his first US Open at Los Angeles.
Bobby Locke becomes the first South African to win the British Open.
Bobby Locke sets a PGA TOUR record with a 16-stroke winning margin in the Chicago Victory National Championship.
Herbert Warren Wind's authoritative "The Story of American Golf" is published.
The U.S. Junior Amateur is instituted. Ken Venturi loses to Dean Lind in the first final.
The "USGA Golf Journal" is founded.
1949: Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women's Open by a record margin of 14 strokes.
Marie Roke of Wollaston, MA aces a 393 yard (359 m) hole-the longest ace ever recorded by a woman.
1950:The LPGA is founded, replacing the ailing Women's Professional Golf Association.
Ben Hogan, only weeks after returning to the PGA TOUR following a near-fatal auto accident, wins his second U.S. Open at Oakland Hills.
1951: Francis Ouimet becomes the first American Captain of the R & A.
The USGA and the R & A, in a conference, complete a newly revised Rules of Golf. Although in 1951 the R & A and the USGA continue to differ over the size of the golf ball, all other conflicts are resolved in this momentous conference. The center-shafted putter is legalized world-wide. The out-of-bounds penalty is standardized at stroke-and-distance, and the stymie is finally and forever abolished.
"Golf Digest" is founded, with Bill Davis as editor.
Al Brosch shoots 60 in the Texas Open to set an 18-hole PGA TOUR record.
1952: Marlene Hagge wins the Sarasota Open when she is 18 years 14 days old-an LPGA record.
Patty Berg shoots an LPGA-record of 64 for an 18-hole round.
The National Hole-in-One Clearing House is established by Golf Digest.
Ben Hogan wins the first three legs of the modern Grand Slam (The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open), but does not compete in the final leg, the PGA Championship.
The Tam O'Shanter World Championship becomes the first tournament to be nationally televised. Lew Worsham holes a 104 yard (95 m) wedge shot on the final hole for eagle and victory in one of the most dramatic finishes ever.
The Canada Cup is instituted, the first event that brings together teams from all over the world. After 1966 the tournament is known as the World Cup.
1954:Peter Thomson becomes the first Australian to win a major tournament with a victory in the British Open.
Architect Robert Trent Jones, upon receiving complaints that he has made the par-3 fourth hole at Baltusrol too hard for the upcoming U.S. Open, plays the hole to see for himself and records a hole-in-one.
The U.S. Open is nationally televised for the first time.
The Tam O'Shanter World Championship offers the first $100,000 purse for a golf tournament.
"All-Star Golf," a filmed series of matches, debuts on network television.
Babe Zaharias returns to the LPGA Tour following cancer surgery and wins the U.S. Women's Open.
The first PGA Merchandise Show is held in a parking lot in Dunedin, Florida, outside the PGA National Golf Club. Salesmen work the show out of the trunks of their cars. The Show goes on to become one of the main events on the golfing calendar - by 1994 it grows to over 30,000 attendees, four days, and has become the single largest tenant of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, spilling over 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²) of exhibit space.
1955:Mike Souchak shoots 60-68-64-65 for a PGA TOUR record 27-under-par 257 for 72 holes, at Brackenridge Park GC in the Texas Open. The record still stands.
1956: The current yardage guides for par are adopted by the USGA.
1957: The Great Britain and Ireland team wins the Ryder Cup Matches at Lindrick, ending a drought that dates back to 1935.
E. Harvie Ward loses his amateur status for accepting expenses from sponsors for golf tournaments. The ruling is reversed in 1958.
Learn what mistakes you can afford to make, how to play to your strengths and hide your weaknesses, and discover the ten mistakes amateurs make that pros never do.
Golf History and Tradition
by David Stirk
Explores the possible origins of the sport staring with ancient Rome, and moving through all the significant events and developments of the sport. With biographies on significant golfers. More information:
The Complete History of Golf,
Vol. 1 -
Let the Game Begin (1100-1916)
VHS tape More information:
Pinehurst:
Golf, History And The Good Life
by Audrey Moriarty
