On January 27th PGA TOUR commissioner Jay Monahan issued an email to the players that stated the TOUR would take whatever steps were neccessary to thwart the creation of a competitive tour, the Premier Golf League an idea being floated by Team Concept Golf from launching. He warned the players “If the Team Golf Concept or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series.”
While history doesn’t exactly repeat, it does rhyme. The following story shows how the PGA fought to keep the players on TOUR from forming their own tour in the middle to late 1960s.
Frank Sinatra wanted to join his fellow entertainers Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in being a celebrity host to a PGA golf tournament.
The $175,000 tournament was to be held in Palm Springs two weeks before the Bob Hope Desert Classic and the tournament was approved by the Tournament Committee which governed the tour. The committee was comprised of four players and the three top officers of the PGA. The players were Dan Sikes (Chairman), Doug Ford, Mason Rudolph and Gardner Dickinson while the three PGA officers were Max Elbin, President of the PGA, Leo Fraser, Secretary and Warren Orlick, Treasurer. These three PGA officers, along with Sikes, made up the Executive Committee, a subcommittee within the larger Tournament Committee. The Executive Committee had the option to exercise veto power on any decision and did so (for the first time) with a 3-1 vote in June of 1967 on the Frank Sinatra tournament.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The PGA feared that having a tournament two weeks prior to the Desert Classic, and in such proximity, would adversely affect ticket sales. Bob Hope had been a friend to golf, the PGA and Palm Springs for many years and the PGA did not want to put that relationship at risk.
Bob Hope drives his custom golf cart during the Bob Hope Desert Classic
In response to the veto, the players held a closed-door meeting prior to the start of the Speedway Open in Indianapolis the first week of July. The players threatened to boycott the PGA Championship in July at Columbine Country Club outside of Denver and there was talk of breaking away from the PGA to start their own tour.
The PGA pros who focused on playing tournament golf (professional golfers) differed from their PGA brethren who worked in the pro shops around the country (golf professionals) and sought to form an independent section within the PGA ever since the “Hogan Plan” was floated in 1946 during a speech by Ben Hogan in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The PGA tried to flex its muscles concerning an event that Fred Corcoran developed; the Canada Cup which pitted two-man teams from a variety of countries. In 1965 the PGA distributed a letter that prohibited players from playing in the unsanctioned Canada Cup as it was played at the same time as the PGA sanctioned Sahara Invitational.
The dates of the Canada Cup were eventually changed to avoid the conflict and Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema represented the United States. While many players wanted to play in the Sahara Invitational with its $20,000 first prize check, the situation did highlight the position of power that the PGA enjoyed over the players.
Real trouble began to surface with the advent of television revenue in the early 1960s. The playing pros were not happy that these funds went into the general funds of the organization and not into building larger tournament purses for the players.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The sniping back and forth about TV revenues came to head at the 1966 PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron (rescheduled after flooding damaged the Columbine Country Club) and continued to simmer until it was temporarily diffused in December at the annual PGA convention in Palm Springs Garden, Florida. Then came the veto of the Sinatra tournament and the dam burst regarding player discontent.
The players held a meeting in early May of 1967 at the New Orleans tournament and then another the next week at the Colonial Invitational in Fort Worth. It was at these meetings that the idea of the players forming their own tour came up for serious discussion. In a June meeting a compromise seemed to be achieved with the Tournament Committee being expanded from seven members to eight.
The added spot on the committee would be a player bringing an equilibrium of players and PGA officials. Theoretically this would result in the elimination of the veto power that the PGA enjoyed (used only once to veto the Sinatra tournament). If the compromise were to be agreed to, and a deadlock between the players and the PGA officials subsequently occurred, the dispute would go to an advisory committee comprised of men considered to be “friends of golf.” Bob Hope, Senator George Smathers and Cliff Roberts were mentioned as potential members of the committee.
Max Elbin threw cold water on this compromise when he made clear that the PGA would still retain a veto power.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
Late in June of 1967 the players held a closed-door meeting that was attended by about 90 players. At the meeting the players came to a unanimous decision to give the PGA until Wednesday, July 4th to meet their demands of establishing a player’s division within the wider PGA organization or they would “regretfully refrain from participating in the PGA Championship and would be forced to charter a new organization to do business in 1968.”
“The only big name that wasn’t there was Arnold Palmer,” Doug Ford said. “He has supported us before, has signed a petition asking for more control and I’m sure he would go along with that.”
| “Beyond that, the PGA must maintain its veto for any segment of the organization.”
“It’s squarely up to the PGA now,” Ford went on. “If they want to have a tournament in Denver (the PGA Championship), they have to agree.”
The players notified Elbin of their decision via a telegram from Dan Sikes of the Players Committee on Thursday, June 29th. Elbin told the press that when any matter comes to arbitration, the PGA Executive Committee will abide by the decision of those selected to arbitrate, meaning the new eight member Tournament Committee.
“Beyond that, the PGA must maintain its veto for any segment of the organization,” Elbin explained.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The new year would bring new controversies and a real threat of a separation of the touring pros from the PGA. Elbin introduced a new, draconian entry form for all its tournaments early in 1968. The new entry form virtually committed the pros to only do what the PGA allowed. Both Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer made clear that they had no intention of signing the new form and most of the other pros followed suit.
The new entry form replaced a form that was as effective as it was simple. The pro promised to pay an entry fee of $1 for every $1000 of prize money ($50 maximum), abide by all PGA tournament rules and regulations, that he has the required liability insurance and that their image could be used in print, movies or television promotions of that particular tournament. It also required that the player play in the National Golf Day matches if he won either the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.
The new entry form was scheduled to go into effect in the middle of March 1968, at the Citrus Open in Orlando, Florida. The week before, at the Doral Open, the PGA let it be known that the new entry form would have some additional requirements. One change was that concessions made by the player for the tournament he was entering would also apply to “other tournaments” as well. Players now had to commit to playing not only in the National Golf Day requirement but also to playing in the “Annual Championship of the PGA” if they qualified. The release of personal images now included promotions for any tournament instead of just the tournament that they were applying for.
The real kicker of the new entry form was the brand-new clause that the player agrees to, “not compete in any tournament, exhibition or golf event which is in conflict with any PGA cosponsored or approved tournament without the consent of the PGA.” This would mean that the players could not play in the Open Championship (what Americans call the British Open) without permission from the PGA since the inaugural Greater Milwaukee Open was scheduled during the same week.
Dave Stockton shakes his caddy’s hand after winning the inaugural Milwaukee Open. Photo courtesy of Ernest W. Anheuser|Milwaukee Sentinel
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
Elbin explained that the new form was needed to give the PGA power to negotiate the television rights to any future tournament (a right that they technically didn’t hold at that time) and to insure against a player boycott of the PGA Championship which had been threatened both of the last two years. The new entry form was also intended to give more security to tournament sponsors.
The players viewed the new entry form with a very wary eye. To their view, they were giving complete power to the PGA over all their activities including extracurricular activities, especially the televised matches such as Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf and The CBS Golf Classic that would be taped and then aired at the same time that PGA tournaments were in progress.
The Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf provided an additional revenue stream that the PGA wanted to take under its control
In the summer of 1968, the players learned that the PGA was in secret negotiations to secure the television rights to the World Series of Golf and Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. The revenues generated by these deals would not go to the players or to prize purses, they would instead go into the PGA general fund. This was a tipping point that sent the players into revolt.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The four players on the Tournament Committee for 1968, Jack Nicklaus, Gardner Dickenson (chairman), Doug Ford and Frank Beard, hired Samuel Gates of New York as the player’s attorney. After reading the new entry form, Gates advised the players not to sign it and the players took his advice. The PGA then rescinded the new entry form using the old form instead and then hired Washington attorney William Rogers.
Rogers and Gates met to try to iron out the disagreements, especially when it came to the veto power of the PGA.
“We phoned and met a great number of times,” Gates was quoted in the September 2nd, 1968 issue of Sports Illustrated. “From the outset, I told him that the PGA could simply not have the final say on matters regarding the touring pros. We talked it out and there was never any acrimony between us.”
Gates and Rogers agreed that the best solution to the disagreement was to create a separate section within the PGA organization for the touring pros.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The two attorneys did not agree to anything regarding the veto power of the PGA over decisions that this new section might make. Gates drafted a resolution to amend the PGA constitution with part of the first section reading: “Resolved . . . to establish a Tournament Players Section of the PGA which shall have full and complete authority over the conduct and management of the PGA tournament programs.”
This proposal was presented to the Tournament Committee in early August and the four non-playing members of the committee found it completely unacceptable.
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
Samuel Gates and Max Elbin met in Washington three weeks later to try and hammer out an agreement. It didn’t go well. Elbin handed Gates a list of eight points that had to be met in order to settle the issue. Gates didn’t make it past the second point which was the proposal to establish the advisory committee consisting of the “friends of golf” to adjudicate any deadlocks from the Tournament Committee. The trouble was that the veto power of the PGA was left intact.
Make Elbin (l) president of the PGA and Sam Gates (r) attorney for the players (photo credit: Sports Illustrated)
“The notion of a PGA tour in which the PGA has no voice is an impossibility,” Elbin said.
Gates rejected the proposal and the players began the process of forming their own organization to conduct their own tour. The players announced on Tuesday, August 13th that they would break away from the PGA Tour and form their own organization. They also pledged to honor all contracts for 1968.
| “If he wants to join the other group,” Elbin said. “Then I would pull his card immediately.”
As so often happens in disputes like this, the two sides were entrenched in their respective positions and finding a path toward an agreement became more and more remote. Max Elbin was ready to play hardball with the rebelling players. He let it be known to the press that he was calling a special meeting of the PGA Executive Committee in the middle of August where he would ask for permission to poll every player and ask him “whether he is a PGA member or a member of the other group.”
“If he wants to join the other group,” Elbin said. “Then I would pull his card immediately.” This would make the player ineligible to play in any of the remaining tournaments conducted in 1968.
Gates termed the threat of a poll “coercion” and “dictatorial.”
“I am advising the players, if this move is taken, not to respond to such a poll.” Gates said. “The players cannot be intimidated by this dictatorial action.”
Strangers In The Night | Do Be Do Be Do.
The International Golf Sponsors Association made up of tournament sponsors were caught in the middle of the disagreement. The president of the organization, Angus Mairs, advised his members to sit tight until their annual meeting in September. Mairs’ hope was that the sponsors could act collectively and bring the two sides together under conditions that would be satisfactory to both sides.
“I think it’s a matter of personalities as much as anything else,” Mairs said.
In August the verbal back-and-forth between the PGA and the players reached a fevered pitch. Max Elbin wrote to Frank True of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune with his views on the situation and leveled a variety of old man “get off my lawn” complaints.
“Certainly, none of the present stars was in a position to create a tournament tour at the time he became a professional,” Elbin wrote. “So we must ask: Does any present player have a greater claim on the PGA Tour than many of our great members, such as Walter Haig, Tommy Armour, Byron Nelson or Ben Hogan, just to name a few?”
In mid-August, the players made it official that they would break away from the PGA and form their own organization unit, the American Professional Golfers (APG), to run their own tour in 1969. The players reiterated that they would honor all contracts for the remainder of the 1968 PGA Tour. The new organization would have a board of directors with 11 members, seven players and four members from the general public who would be elected by all APG members.
| “We built this tour from scratch and we can build another”
The APG would also establish and run a training school for young players at Doral Country Club in Miami Beach. The organization would hire a full staff including legal, accounting, public relations and tournament director departments.
Max Elbin responded, “We built this tour from scratch and we can build another.”
The battle in the press continued when Jack Nicklaus penned a response to criticism from Leo Fraser, Secretary of the PGA, in the September 16th issue of Sports Illustrated. Nicklaus presented six reasons why the players needed to get out from underneath the PGA’s iron grip.
Jack Nicklaus responds to the attacks from the PGA Tour’s Leo Fraser. From Sports Illustrated Archive
“As you can see, the PGA controls the golf tour.” Nicklaus summed up. “Now we want the right to cast the decisive vote in matters that affect our livelihood. We have gone as far as we can in these deliberations. We have formed the APG. This is not designed to destroy the PGA. Instead, we want to provide a better vehicle for the operation of professional golf tournaments. The next action rests with the PGA.”
In Part 2 learn how the new APG tour explored different options to fund their nascent tournament schedule, how the PGA of America was able to finally keep the players under the PGA brand and how the PGA TOUR was able to build the modern tour with the help of Joesph Dey and Deane Beaman.
Sources
UPI Tuesday, May 25, 1965
AP Thursday, May 13, 1965
San Antonio Light, Harold Scherwitz, Friday, August 6, 1965
AP, Saturday, July 1, 1967
AP, Will Grimsley Wednesday, August 14, 1968
Pasadena Independent, John Hendrickson, August 15, 1968
AP, August 15, 1968
AP, Ted Meier, August 16, 1968
AP Sat. Aug. 17, 1968
Sports Illustrated, September 2, 1968
UPI, September 5, 1968
The Sarasota Herald Tribune, Frank True, Monday, September 9, 1968
Sports Illustrated, September 15, 1968
Sports Illustrated, Jack Nicklaus, September 16, 1968
UPI, Saturday, September 21, 1968
Long Beach Press Telegram, Dave Lewis, October 17, 1968
The Sporting News, Joe Schwendeman, November 2, 1968
UPI, Tuesday, November 5, 1968
Sports Illustrated, Alfred Wright, November 18, 1968
The Sporting News, Joe Schwendeman, December 7, 1968
The Sporting News, Joe Schwendeman, January 4, 1969
UPI, Thursday, January 9, 1969
Vice, October 2, 2014
Larry Baush is the author of Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema available at 9acespublishing.com or on Amazon as a paperback or Kindle edition. Larry carries a single digit handicap at Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, Washington. He is the editor of tourbackspin.com. You can contact larry at larry@9acespublishing.com.
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