500 Festival Open Invitation
The 500 Festival Open Invitation was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played during the 1960s in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was sponsored by The 500 Festival, a not-for-profit volunteer organization created in 1957 to organize civic events to promote the Indianapolis 500.[1]
The tournament was played at the Speedway Golf Course, located in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex; the exception was in 1965, when it was played at Greentree Country Club while the Speedway was undergoing renovations.
Tournament highlights
In 1961 Doug Ford won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Arnold Palmer.
In 1963 the Indianapolis 500 was held on Thursday May 30, and the tournament was held over four days from Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3. Previously the golf tournament was held prior to the running of the race. The one-day turnaround required grounds crews to quickly clean up the nine holes inside the track, used on race day for parking by fans. Considerable attention was given to the fact that several top names on the PGA Tour decided to skip the event.[2] Among the reasons cited was the low purse, and the overall unchallenging nature of the course.
In 1964 the tournament was held from Wednesday, May 27 through Friday, May 29, then concluded Sunday May 31. The Indianapolis 500 was held Saturday May 30. Gary Player sank a birdie putt on the final hole to clinch the victory.
The 1965 tournament was held at Greentree Country Club. The Speedway Golf Course was undergoing a renovation project. In 1966 the tournament was moved out of the month of May and away from the activities directly surrounding the Indy 500. Billy Casper won the event three times while Doug Ford won it twice.
Winners
Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Winner's share ($) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1968 | Billy Casper (3) | 280 | −8 | 1 stroke | Frank Beard Mike Hill | 20,000 | [3] |
1967 | Frank Beard | 279 | −9 | 3 strokes | Rod Funseth Rives McBee | 20,000 | [4] |
1966 | Billy Casper (2) | 277 | −11 | 3 strokes | R. H. Sikes | 16,400 | [5] |
1965 | Bruce Crampton | 279 | −5 | 1 stroke | Jacky Cupit Lionel Hebert | 15,200 | [6] |
1964 | Gary Player | 273 | −11 | 1 stroke | Doug Sanders Art Wall Jr. | 12,000 | [7] |
1963 | Dow Finsterwald | 268 | −16 | 2 strokes | Tommy Aaron Julius Boros Tony Lema Bobby Nichols | 10,000 | [8] |
1962 | Billy Casper | 264 | −20 | 1 stroke | George Bayer Jerry Steelsmith | 9,000 | [9] |
1961 | Doug Ford (2) | 273 | −11 | Playoff | Arnold Palmer | 9,000 | [10] |
1960 | Doug Ford | 270 | −14 | 2 strokes | Jerry Barber | 9,000 | [11] |
See also
- 500 Ladies Classic – LPGA Tour event held in June 1968
- Brickyard Crossing Championship – senior tour event was played from 1994 to 2000
- Indy Women in Tech Championship – LPGA Tour event from 2017 to 2019
References
- ^ "The 500 Festival". Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
- ^ "Speedway Golf Sponsors Angry". Sarasota Journal. Florida. Associated Press. June 3, 1963. p. 16 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Casper nips Hill for fourth win". The Gazette. Montreal. Associated Press. June 10, 1968. p. 25 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Beard Wins Speedway". The Telegraph-Herald. Dubuque, Iowa. Associated Press. July 9, 1967. p. 6 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Burgess, Dale (August 1, 1966). "Billy Casper is Winner at Indianapolis". The Gettysburg Times. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. 5 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Crampton Scores Narrow Victory in 500 Tourney". St. Joseph Gazette. Missouri. Associated Press. May 28, 1965. p. 3B – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Player Plans Brief Vacation". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press. June 1, 1964. p. 24 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Finsterwald Wins Golf Tournament". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. Associated Press. June 4, 1963. p. 12 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Casper Grabs First Money in 500 Open". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. May 29, 1962. p. 11 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Ford Golf Playoff Winner". Ottawa Citizen. Associated Press. May 29, 1961. p. 15 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Doug Ford Wins Speedway Golf". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Florida. Associated Press. May 30, 1960. p. 10 – via Google News Archive.
- v
- t
- e
- 500 Festival Open Invitation
- Agua Caliente Open
- Alameda County Open
- Alcan Open
- All American Open
- Almaden Open
- American Golf Classic
- Ardmore Open
- Arlington Hotel Open
- Atlanta Classic
- Azalea Open Invitational
- Bahamas National Open
- Bakersfield Open Invitational
- Baton Rouge Open Invitational
- B.C. Open
- Beaumont Open Invitational
- Bellevue Country Club Open
- Blue Ribbon Open
- Buick Open
- Cajun Classic Open Invitational
- California State Open
- Carling World Open
- Cavalcade Of Golf
- Chattanooga Classic
- Chicago Open
- CIMB Classic
- CJ Cup
- Cleveland Open
- Colgate Hall of Fame Classic
- Connecticut Open
- Coral Gables Open Invitational
- Coral Springs Open Invitational
- Dallas Open
- Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic
- Dapper Dan Open
- Dell Technologies Championship
- Denver Open Invitational
- De Soto Open Invitational
- Doral Open
- Dow Jones Open Invitational
- Durham Open
- Eastern Open Invitational
- El Paso Open
- Empire State Open
- Esmeralda Open
- Fig Garden Village Open Invitational
- Florida Open
- Fort Wayne Open
- Frank Sinatra Open Invitational
- Gasparilla Open
- Ginn sur Mer Classic
- Glens Falls Open
- Golden Gate Championship
- Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin
- Greater Jacksonville Open
- Greater Milwaukee Open
- Greater St. Louis Golf Classic
- Greater Vancouver Open
- Greenbrier Classic
- Gulfport Open
- Haig Open Invitational
- Hale America National Open Golf Tournament
- Hershey Open
- Hesperia Open Invitational
- Houston Open
- Indian Ridge Hospital Open Invitational
- The International
- Inverness Invitational Four-Ball
- IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic
- Kansas City Open Invitational
- Kemper Open
- Kentucky Derby Open
- Knoxville Invitational
- La Gorce Open
- Labatt Open
- Liggett & Myers Open
- Long Beach Open
- Long Island Open
- Lucky International Open
- Maryland Open
- Massachusetts Open
- Mayakoba Golf Classic
- Mayfair Inn Open
- Memphis Invitational
- Metropolitan Open
- Metropolitan PGA Championship
- Miami Beach Open
- Miami International Four-Ball
- Miami Open
- Michelob Championship
- Michigan Golf Classic
- Milwaukee Open
- Milwaukee Open Invitational
- Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational
- Motor City Open
- Mountain View Open
- Nashville Invitational
- Nassau Bahamas Open
- Nassau Open
- The National
- National Airlines Open Invitational
- National Celebrities Open
- National Team Championship
- NEC World Series of Golf
- New England Classic
- New Jersey PGA Championship
- New Jersey State Open
- New York State Open
- North and South Open
- Northern California Open
- Oakland Open
- Ohio Kings Island Open
- Ohio Open
- Oklahoma City Open Invitational
- Oklahoma Open
- Ontario Open
- Orange County Open Invitational
- Oregon Open
- Orlando Open
- Palmetto Championship
- Pasadena Open
- Pennsylvania Classic
- Pennsylvania Open Championship
- Pensacola Open
- Pepsi Championship
- Philadelphia Daily News Open
- Philadelphia Inquirer Open
- Philadelphia Open Championship
- Portland Open Invitational
- Reading Open
- Rebel Yell Open
- Rio Grande Valley Open
- Robinson Open
- Rubber City Open Invitational
- Sacramento Open
- Sahara Invitational
- St. Jude Classic
- St. Paul Open Invitational
- St. Petersburg Open Invitational
- Seattle Open Invitational
- Shawnee Open
- Sioux City Open
- Southern Open
- Southern (Spring) Open
- Southwest Golf Classic
- Sunset-Camellia Open Invitational
- Sunshine Open Invitational
- Tacoma Open Invitational
- Tallahassee Open
- Thomasville Open
- Thunderbird Classic
- Thunderbird Invitational
- Tournament of the Gardens Open
- Tucson Open
- Turning Stone Resort Championship
- U.S. Professional Match Play Championship
- Utah Open
- Virginia Beach Open
- Virginia Open
- Waco Turner Open
- Walt Disney World Golf Classic
- West End Classic
- West Palm Beach Open Invitational
- Westchester Open
- Western Open
- WGC Championship
- WGC Match Play
- WGC-HSBC Champions
- WGC Invitational
- White Sulphur Springs Open
- Wisconsin State Open
- Workday Charity Open
- World Championship of Golf
- Yorba Linda Open Invitational
39°47′20″N 86°13′44″W / 39.789°N 86.229°W / 39.789; -86.229