When The PGA of America was formed, there was no distinction between club and touring professionals. As The PGA began to develop and promote tournaments, it became easier for the touring professionals to devote their efforts to playing tournaments and exhibitions.
In 1968, PGA tournament players, who comprised a small percentage of the membership, broke away from the Association to form a Tournament Players Division and acquire more control of the tournament schedule.
In 1975, the Tournament Players
Division was renamed the PGA Tour.
Today, the PGA Tour is headquartered
in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and maintains
a close working relationship with The PGA
of America, as most PGA Tour
professionals maintain dual membership
in the organizations. The PGA of America
conducts the PGA Championship, along
with the Ryder Cup, the Senior PGA
Championship and the PGA Grand Slam
of Golf.
The PGA of America and the PGA Tour
While the Tour professionals may have
created a league of their own, the PGA
Professional ranks continue to include
many excellent players, and The PGA of
America conducts more than 30
tournaments for its members and
apprentices, including the PGA
Professional National Championship and
the Senior PGA Professional National
Championship.
The PGA Championship has been hosted in 25 different states (this is the third time Wisconsin has hosted the Championship). New York and Ohio lead the way, as each state has hosted the PGA Championship 11 times. PGA Championship factoid
field to a maximum of 1 5 6 players.
Making the field is a challenge
in itself, but the PGA
Championship has many rewards
for the winner. Last year, Yang
won 1.35 million from a purse of
every 1,000 earned toward a berth on the
2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Don Jozwiak is PGA Magazine’s senior editor.
Owned and operated by The PGA of America, PGA Village St. Lucie is home to the PGA Golf Club, the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance and the PGA Historical Center.
Fifty-four holes of championship golf designed by Tom Fazio and Pete Dye serve as the centerpiece for the ultimate golf experience at PGA Golf Club.
Fazio’s Wanamaker Course is defined by a picturesque Florida design set against a backdrop of marshlands, palm trees and palmettos, while the rolling hills, majestic pine trees and challenging water hazards of his Ryder Course offer a distinct Carolina feel. To compliment them, the Dye Course blends scenic Florida surroundings with hints of the British Isles.
The PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance is a prototype, 35-acre golf instruction, practice, technology and fitness facility that is home to the PGA of America Golf Schools.
The adjacent PGA Historical Center golf museum showcases the
PGA Village: Stay, Play, Live, Learn
Ryder Cup, along with golf’s four major championship trophies, the oldest known written mention of golf and the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.
PGA Village is a public access golf resort, complete with a Private Members Club, which is currently ranked No. 51 in Golf Digest’s Top 75 Golf Resorts in North America.
On the horizon is PGA Village The Bahamas.
Located on Cat Island, this will become the first PGA
of America facility built outside the U.S. The resort
broke ground last year on 1,906 acres of Bahamian
beachfront and will feature a Rees Jones-designed
golf course in a resort-style setting when complete.
For more information about PGA Village St. Lucie, visit www.pgavillage.com or call (800) 800-4653 for general public tee times and reservations. For PGA Golf Club membership inquires call (772) 340-1444, ext. 125.
30 THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF THE 2010 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP