Waco Turner Open
Encyclopedia
The Waco Turner Open was a PGA Tour
event that was played in Burneyville, Oklahoma
in the early 1960s.
The founder of the tournament, Waco Turner, was a millionaire Oklahoma
oilman with a passion for golf
. He started Turner's Lodge, a golf resort on what he hoped would flourish into a 2700 acres (10.9 km²) grand development of 3,000 homes with a hotel, restaurants, tennis courts, swimming pools and an airstrip built around three lakes. The project ran into financial difficulties and the PGA left after the 1964 event.
The greatest claim to fame for the tournament is that in 1964 an African American
golfer, Pete Brown
, won an official PGA Tour event for the first time at this event.
The development, now called Falconhead Resort, has changed hands repeatedly in the ensuing decades, and only about 400 homes have been built on the 3,000 home sites.
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
event that was played in Burneyville, Oklahoma
Burneyville, Oklahoma
Burneyville is a small community located in Love County, Oklahoma. The post office was established May 5, 1879. It was named for David C. Burney, father of Benjamin Crooks Burney...
in the early 1960s.
The founder of the tournament, Waco Turner, was a millionaire Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
oilman with a passion for golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. He started Turner's Lodge, a golf resort on what he hoped would flourish into a 2700 acres (10.9 km²) grand development of 3,000 homes with a hotel, restaurants, tennis courts, swimming pools and an airstrip built around three lakes. The project ran into financial difficulties and the PGA left after the 1964 event.
The greatest claim to fame for the tournament is that in 1964 an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
golfer, Pete Brown
Pete Brown (golfer)
Pete Brown is an American professional golfer who is best known as the first African American to win a PGA Tour event....
, won an official PGA Tour event for the first time at this event.
The development, now called Falconhead Resort, has changed hands repeatedly in the ensuing decades, and only about 400 homes have been built on the 3,000 home sites.
Winners
- 1964 Pete BrownPete Brown (golfer)Pete Brown is an American professional golfer who is best known as the first African American to win a PGA Tour event....
- 1963 Gay BrewerGay BrewerGay Robert Brewer, Jr. was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament....
- 1962 Johnny Pott
- 1961 Butch BairdButch BairdFred "Butch" Baird is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour .Baird was born in Chicago. He learned the game at the age of 14 from his father...