FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Classic CourseFall 2015
Home›Classic Course›Historic Tournaments at Classic Courses

Historic Tournaments at Classic Courses

By Judd Spicer
July 1, 2015
9219
0
Share:
Historic Tournaments - 1st place

The vibrant tapestry of tournament golf across the Southland paints a living history of the game’s time-honored traditions.

At some of the most storied clubs in Los Angeles, annual events pay homage to SoCal’s golf roots … with some serious bragging rights along the way.

With insight from club insiders, we take a look inside the gates to explore four historic tournaments annually held at L.A.’s classic courses.

From famed jocks, to celeb feats (and follies) to respective tips of the cap toward SoCal’s founding fathers of golf, the tournaments’ fields, formats and famed fairways offer a perpetual tribute to our game.

The Cravens Invitational

The Club: San Gabriel Country Club (est., 1904)

The Backdrop: Founded by Los Angeles businessman John S. Cravens at Midwick CC in 1924, The Cravens Invitational has been held at San Gabriel every year (save for one) since 1943; in 2014, the tournament celebrated its 90th Anniversary.

Played upon the oldest 18-hole course located on its original site in all of Southern California, San Gabriel’s Cravens event is long reputed among the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the country, bringing in teams (with max, individual handicap index of 11.2) from across the nation vying for the coveted Silver Bell.

Dress to Impress: Annually held the week after Mother’s Day, the venerable vibe sees men attired in coasts and ties and women donning their spring bests.

Formatted as a two-man, “Modified Scotch,” The Cravens is an alternate shot with one player teeing off on odd holes and the other on even holes.

The Thursday playoff for duos hunting to qualify for the Championship Flight is a scene of SoCal lore, with competitors (along with their respective caddies) all grouped together.

“The atmosphere is a social gathering as well as a golf tournament,” says Bob Gross, a veteran of 47 Cravens and a member of the tournament committee for the past 30 years.  “The galleries for the playoff can be up to 300 people.” Classic Courses

Adds Gross of the festive scene at The Cravens:

“You join San Gabriel for 51 weeks out of the year and for the 52nd week you’re asked to work for The Cravens.  It becomes a small city.”

Famed Field: Fielding nearly 200 teams a year, The Cravens has seen its share of notable competitors, including: Gen. Omar Bradley, Glenn “Mr. Outside” Davis, Clint Eastwood, Jerry West, John Elway, Steve Nicklaus (for the last 23 years), Rick Neuheisel and Pat Haden.

“Sure, we love to have a well-known name; it gives us something to talk about,” adds Gross.  “But what we’re looking for is gentlemen who love the game of golf, love to compete.”

The Sartori Invitational

The Club: The Los Angeles Country Club (est., 1897)

The Backdrop: Named in honor of SoCal business and community magnate, and SCGA founding co-founding father Joseph Sartori (also a club co-founder), the annual Sartori Invitational was first played at The Los Angeles Country Club in 1953.

With a clubhouse renovation and a Gil Hanse redesign of the club’s South Course currently in the works, the Sartori will take a two-year hiatus until 2017.  Traditionally played on the North Course (redesigned by Hanse in 2010), the tournament is expected to move to the new South when Invitational play resumes.

A Gentleman’s Game: Consisting of two-man teams from The Los Angeles CC and invited teams (with both players from the same club) from across the country, teams participate in a qualifying round to determine flights, with the low 16 qualifiers playing in the championship Sartori Flight.

Once a team is placed in a 16-team flight, it’s two-man four-ball format for four consecutive days.

“We try to invite true gentlemen.  And you have to be a competitor just to be in the tournament,” says Mark Pender, a tournament co-chairman for the past decade.  “It’s not an easy task; it’s a full week of golf with a practice round, a qualifying round and then four, four-ball matches.  So one could play six consecutive days.  You need to be not only in good shape, but a good competitor to win this tournament.”

Being in good condition extends to one’s manner.

“And we keep track of those who don’t conduct themselves in a gentlemanly manner,” adds Pender.  “Those who don’t, they may not get that invitation back the following year.”

At the event’s award ceremony, bagpipers play in full Scottish regalia as victors claim the perpetual silver cup trophy.

The Voice: Club Member and luminary ABC sportscaster Keith Jackson serves as announcing starter on the first tee for the finals.

“That famous voice of his,” says Pender, “He’s very colorful, with stuff like, ‘From Texas!  The big right hander!'”

The Swinging Bridge Invitational

The Club: Bel-Air Country Club (est., 1925)

The Backdrop: Monikered in honor of the bridged walk from tee-to-green on the famed, par-3 10th, The Swinging Bridge Invitational at Bel-Air has been played annually in its current format since 1970.

The Event: Consisting of 188 players, two-man teams are formed with one Bel-Air member and one player from another USGA-recognized club. Historic Winners

The three-day format begins with a partners’ better ball, followed by a “Chapman” style alternate shot on the second day and closes with a day three combined total of the two players.

Competitors from across the globe play the Swinging Bridge, held the week after the U.S. Open in June, with players swinging to win a perpetual trophy and a (more coveted) gold money clip in the form of a swinging bridge.

The Stories They Could Tell: SCGA Hall of Famer Eddie Merrins has been with Bel-Air since 1962, serving as the club’s golf professional emeritus since 2003 after four decades as Bel-Air’s head pro and director of golf.  The iconic “Little Pro” has more than a few Sartori yarns to spin.

“Tom Harmon was the chairman and he had the late, great Howard Cosell as the ‘roast master,'” Merrins recalls from the tourney’s opening night dinner in 1971.   “And there was a head table with John McKay, Pepper Rodgers, John Wooden, Willie Shoemaker, Jerry West, Al Davis and Jimmy McLarnin among others.  And Cosell stood behind each of them in a row and he roasted each one in his inimitable style the likes of which you never heard.  He gets down the list and the eleventh person he came to was John Wooden and he says, ‘Saint John … what else can you say?’ and then he moved on to the next guy.”

A “Rockfish” moment from 1998 is also among Merrins’ favorites.

“Jim (James) Garner was sizing up his putt on the eighth green and in so doing he was squatting, as players do behind a putt, and he inadvertently backed up and the eighth is flanked by a pond,” Merrins remembers.  “And he backed right into that pond – clothing and all.  He almost drowned in that water; he came out kicking and fuming.  He finished the eighth, got a fresh set of clothes to finish the back nine and on to greater things – he went on the win the tournament.”

Famed Players on Winning Teams include: John Brody (1970), George Blanda (1975), Alex Spanos (1981), Garner (1998), Chris O’Donnell (2000; during which his brother, former UCLA golfer John O’Donnell, established a then amateur course record of 66), John Hadl (2001), Mike Dunleavy, Sr. (2011), Rick Neuheisel (2012) and Tony Renaud (2014).

The Macbeth Invitational

The Club: Wilshire Country Club (est., 1919)

The Backdrop: Annually held on Memorial Day weekend since 1950, the Macbeth Invitational is named in honor of Wilshire course designer and California golf legend Norman Macbeth (also a champion player in his native United Kingdom).

The Event: Aptly-reputed as one of the finest amateur fields in the country, the Macbeth generally consists of 25, two-man Wilshire teams and 75 invitational teams from around the country.

Played across three days, the event’s first two days are better ball partners’ play with the third day an aggregate team tally.

“It’s generally regarded as one of the strongest fields in amateur golf, because the average handicap is generally between four and five,” says Doug Dickey, a Wilshire member for 40 years and club historian since 2005. “And there are a lot of plus-ones, plus-twos and plus-threes that play.”

Playing for the champion’s commemorative crystal, the tough field has including former world amateur No. 1 and current PGA Tour pro Patrick Cantlay, 1988 U.S. Amateur champion Eric Meeks, and four-time SCGA Amateur champ and four-time SCGA Amateur Champ Craig Steinberg.

Classic courses- HistoricIt’s a Race!: A Derby on the second day features the twelve finest golfers in the field, including Wilshire’s club champion, playing holes 10, 11, and 15-18; the four remaining contestants vie for Win, Place and Show on the home hole.

“The Saturday is a really special day,” says Dickey.  “After play, it culminates with the Derby, which starts at 5 p.m.  Generally, it features Scottish bag pipers who start it off and, typically, there’s a crowd anywhere from 300 to 750 people following the Derby and watching some of the finest players in Southern California.”

Let’s Table That: Crowds congregate at the scoring table not merely for the red numbers.

“It was specially built and it’s only used for the Macbeth,” Dickey says of the event’s unique scoring board.  “It’s a configuration that’s very special and just sets the whole ambience.  Everybody crowds around; it’s a custom made metalwork, a piece of art that people just gravitate toward.”

Previous Article

To Post or Not to Post: Is ...

Next Article

Fall 2015

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Judd Spicer

Judd Spicer is an award-winning writer, radio host, columnist for The Desert Sun newspaper and an Associate Member of the Golf Writers Association of America.  A Minnesota native, he relocated to the Palm Springs region in 2011 to pursue his Champions Tour dream.  Sporting wayward accuracy off the tee, Judd refers to his 56-degree as his magic wand.  Visit www.juddspicer.com and @JuddSpicer for more.

Related articles More from author

  • Classic CourseSummer 2021

    MacKenzie Magic: The Valley Club of Montecito

    August 3, 2021
    By Joe Passov
  • Fall 2015News

    Future Scorecard: SCGA junior debuts the donor legacy society

    October 1, 2015
    By Judd Spicer
  • #18 U.S. Open
    Classic CourseSummer 2016

    The Riv: As Nearly Perfect as Man Could Make It

    July 1, 2016
    By Bob Buttitta
  • Classic CourseSummer 2022

    Championship Pedigree: San Diego Country Club Honors the Past and Hosts the Future

    July 21, 2022
    By Tod Leonard
  • Classic CourseFeaturedWinter 2023

    A Return to SoCal: The U.S. Open at LACC is the Start of Something Big

    February 6, 2023
    By Tod Leonard
  • Brentwood-CC
    Classic CourseFall 2015

    An Enduring Legacy: Celebrating 100 Years at Brentwood CC

    October 1, 2015
    By Jay Stuller

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • FeaturedSCGA JuniorWinter 2023

    Making a Future in Golf a Reality: Skylar Graham and the Pathways Internship

  • FeaturedProfilesWinter 2023

    Unbreakable Spirit: The Amazing Journey of Tracy Drake

  • FeaturedFirst CutWinter 2023

    Talking It Out: What’s a Round Without a Recap?

  • FeaturedHandicap HintsWinter 2023

    New Year’s Daze: Looking Forward and Looking Back at your Handicap

  • FeaturedProfilesWinter 2023

    A Steady Hand at the Helm: A Fond Farewell to SCGA Stalwart Kevin Heaney

FOLLOW US

Facebook 0Fans
Twitter 0Followers
Instagram 0Followers
Youtube 0Subscriber
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Changing of the Guard: New Galleri Classic Set to Debut in the Desert

    By Judd Spicer
    February 7, 2023
  • New Year’s Daze: Looking Forward and Looking Back at your Handicap

    By Kevin O'Connor
    February 7, 2023
  • Grass by Design: Pure Research Yields New Strains of Drought-Tolerant Grass

    By Craig Kessler
    February 7, 2023
  • Best Ball Bar & Grill: Woodley Lakes GC Gets a Big Culinary Upgrade

    By David Weiss
    February 7, 2023
  • Making a Future in Golf a Reality: Skylar Graham and the Pathways Internship

    By Ken Van Vechten
    February 7, 2023
  • The Diva Golfer

    By Azucena Maldonado
    January 31, 2017
  • The USGA’s Major Proposed Changes to the Rules of Golf

    By admin
    December 14, 2017
  • Stand By Me: Temecula Native Joe Skovron On Life As Rickie Fowler’s Caddie

    By Jonathan Coe
    October 26, 2016
  • Watching the Tiger Watchers

    By Andy Brumer
    February 20, 2018
  • Remembering Jim Murray: Best of the Best

    By Bill Dwyre
    February 14, 2017
  • Julie
    on
    November 13, 2022

    The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”

    Thanks for this. I ...
  • free proxy list
    on
    December 5, 2018

    Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know

    Hello,I log on to ...
  • Adela C. Garcia
    on
    November 17, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Azucena Maldonado is a ...
  • Rose Sauceda
    on
    November 15, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Congratulations my lovely Amiga ...
  • Judy Carls
    on
    November 15, 2018

    The Gilded One: Eldorado CC

    Excellent magazine..thank you Judy Carls LPGA ...

RECENT COMMENTS

  • Julie on The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”
  • free proxy list on Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know
  • Adela C. Garcia on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Rose Sauceda on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Judy Carls on The Gilded One: Eldorado CC
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise