Original articles relating to the History of Golf.
written by J. Jones for the 2009 S.C.G.A. Hall of Fame
©2009jjonesgolfhistoricalsociety
written by J. Jones
©2014jjonesgolfhistoricalsociety
For the sixth Los Angeles Open at Rancho (Park) in 1960, Tournament Director Gene Whitlock allowed the golf course to be re-routed. For the previous five years, the course was played with the nines reversed, but in 1960, while still starting on the back-nine 10th tee, the round finished on today’s par-five 4th hole!
The round started on our 10 (#1), but after 17 (#8), they played 9 (#9), and then played 5 (#10,) through 8 (#13), followed by 18 (#14), 1 (#15), 2 (#16), 3 (#17), and finally 4 (#18)!
The long walk from the 8th green (#13), to the 18th tee (#14) must have been fun!
“There are shots from that first tee (#15), that go into the gallery at the 4th #(18), and those bleachers alongside 4th (#18) green are going to get a lot of the second shots on that hole.” said Dow Finsterwald in the Los Angeles Times.
Harvey Raynor of the P.G.A., said that the field was the best ever assembled for a Professional Golfer’s event, with 58 winners of PGA tournaments playing.
1960 was the year that California Attorney General Stanley Mosk told the PGA to remove their caucasian-only-clause, if they were going to hold tournaments on public golf courses in the State. Mosk learned about the rule while playing golf with band leader Billy Eckstine and future L.A. Open winner Charlie Sifford, next door, at Hillcrest Country Club.
Ohio University graduate Dow Finsterwald went on to win the rain delayed 1960 Open with 280, after Hillcrest C.C. teaching pro Eric Monti collapsed and shot 80 in the fourth round, having led the first three days!
Other moments of madness in 1960 involved the USGA changing “stroke and distance” to “distance only” for a Ball Out of Bounds.
I wonder if the eleven holes on Rancho with out of bounds helped sway their decision? Too bad they didn’t keep the rule for 1961 when Arnold Palmer took his 12 at the 18th!
During 1960, clubs could also enact a local rule allowing players to take a drop near the point that the ball went into a hazard or out of bounds, and add a stoke. The Southern California Golf Association continued the distance-only rule through 1961.
And to make matters more interesting, 1960 was the year of the lively new balls that allowed Mr Palmer to reach the 346-yd. first green at Cherry Hills in the U.S. Open, and also when a seven-handicapper, on the old Roosevelt links in Griffith Park, drove three par-4 greens, and put “a billion and half dollars worth of golf courses in the country” in peril. Sound like today? It was reported at the time that Mr. Palmer actually won the 1960 Masters with a banned ball…
On the brighter side, 29-year old Barbara Eden was LA Open Queen for 1960! Here she is in Jimmy Thompson’s pro shop with L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce President Bob Meyer.
©2016 J.I.B. Jones and the Golf Historical Society.
All Rights reserved.
The Rancho Park golf club, and the golfers of Los Angeles and the World, are sad to hear of the passing of our greatest champion, Mr. Arnold Palmer, on September 25, 2016.
Arnold Palmer will always be remembered on our fairways for his booming drives and personality. With his “army” on his side (“they arrive at dawn to cheer on their general”), Arnold won the Los Angeles Open at Rancho three times: 1963, where he came from three strokes behind to win : 1966, where he shot a course record 62 : 1967, where he won by five strokes.
But, before those wins, the number-one golfer in America scored his infamous 12 on the fence-lined 18th hole at Rancho in January 1961, and missed the 36-hole cut. This single hole had a lot to say about the man, who, when asked how he did it, said, “I missed the putt for an 11”.
A plaque was placed on the tee of the 18th in 1963, to “commemorate” the humility of our greatest golfer, and every time he played the course he stopped and had a look at his plaque. In later years he said, “It is difficult for me to play that hole without thinking about the 12…it’s the first thing you see when you walk onto the tee.”
53 year old Arnold Palmer played his last Los Angeles Open at Rancho Park in 1983, where he was followed by thousands of fans, one even falling out of a tree. On the final day he was ten under par, and one shot out of the lead, but his putter let him down and he finished 10th.
Mr. Palmer returned to Rancho in 1990 for the L.A. Senior Open, and to take a final bow for his L.A. army. When asked about the 12, he said he would play it the same way he had done in 1961.
“I think you could say there was no lasting effect. I won the next two tournaments on the tour and then had three winning tournaments at Rancho in future years. I’ve always enjoyed playing there.” His last Los Angeles open at Rancho was in 1992, when he scored 74, 69 and 67.
This year we have been working with Mr. Palmer and the First Tee of Los Angeles to restore and remount the plaque at the 18th tee. The original bronze plaque was stolen many years ago, and a reproduction of the original, along with a relief of Arnold, and the names of the donors, will be installed at the time of the Los Angeles Open next February.
Long live the King!
The Recreation and Parks Department of Los Angeles have a website that has every tree at every park in Los Angeles on a map.
You Zoom in on the park, and click on individual trees, many of which have detail information and photos of the species, including the cost and benefit of each tree in dollars!
I will stop complaining about the trees at Rancho now!
Awesome!
note – The search was weird. I always have to zoom out from where it puts me…
Jack Nicklaus was 21 years old when he played in his first golf tournament as a professional, on January 4, 1962, at the season opening Los Angeles Open at Rancho Park golf course in west Los Angeles.
The 1949 William Johnson and William P. Bell Rancho golf course was designed as a championship tournament layout from the start, with ample spectator paths, viewing mounds, and parking, but with an inadequate clubhouse (left open to the public on tournament days), and very poor practice facilities.
Never the less, Rancho hosted the L.A. Open 18 times between 1956 and 1983. Rancho also hosted the Los Angeles City Championship, USGA, LPGA, Senior PGA, SCGA & PLGA). Arnold Palmer won all three of his L.A. Opens at Rancho.
Nicklaus, always a golf record and trophy hunter, who thought the oldest professional tournament on tour should be “classier”, wanted a change from it’s “Muny” location and a return to Riviera Country Club, where Hogan had won the U.S. Open in 1948, as well as the L.A. Open in 1947 and 1948.
Jack made the cut in his debut, but ended up with a 289 in a three way tie for $100 last place, with Billy Maxwell and Don Massengale. His cheque was for $33.33. He took a 9 on Arnie Palmer’s infamous par five 9th (#18), by hitting two shots out of bounds, during the pro-am.
Twenty three year old Phil Rodgers won the 1962 tournament with a 67-71-68-62 – 268, nine shots in front of the field, and a record low for the L.A. Open’s played at Rancho. (Lanny Wadkins 264 at Riviera in 1985 is the record low for all L.A. Open’s)
1962 also marked the year that the Rancho Golf Course was renamed the Rancho Park Golf Course after successful lobbying of the Recreation and Parks Commission by the Rancho Park Chamber of Commerce.
In 1967 Jack came to Rancho after winning the Crosby at Pebble Beach, fighting a hook. He aimed right to compensate, but mostly mostly ended up in the trees.
Jack Nicklaus’ record in the Los Angeles Open at Rancho Park Golf Course:
1962 – T50th ($33.33) 74-70-72-73 – 289 (Phil Rogers 268)
1963 – T24th ($525) 71-74-68-69 – 282 (Arnold Palmer 274)
1967 – T58th ($0) 71-74-68-69 – 286 (Arnold Palmer 269)
This page and it’s contents are the property of J.I.B. Jones/Golf Historical Society
Copyright ©2010-2016
May 18, 2016
Armand Hammer/Holmby Park golf course’s 87th birthday!
by J.I.B. Jones
In 1919 Arthur Letts, Sr., the merchant prince of Los Angeles, and the founder of Broadway Department Stores, bought the 3296 acre Wolfskill Ranch for a real estate development. The boundaries were roughly Bel Air on the north, with Pico south, and from the Los Angeles Country Club west to Sepulveda boulevard. The area was marketed by the Janss Investment Corporation and named Westwood. The south eastern section, which included the future Century City, was called Westwood Hills.
L.A.C.C. member Arthur Letts named the Holmby Hills area, as he had his nearby home in Laughlin Park; Holmby House. In 1927, his golfing mad son; Arthur Letts Jr., built his own rambling English type house overlooking the country club. It became the infamous Playboy Mansion West in 1971.
It was the company of Letts’ son in law Harold Janss who donated the land in 1926 to the city of Los Angeles, and it was Park Commissioner Van Griffith, son of Griffith Park donor Griffith J. Griffith, who was the father of the new idea of a bowling green and a pony golf course for the park.
It is likely that William P. Bell and or George C. Thomas Jr. designed the original layout, which was revamped in 1940 under Parks superintendent William Johnson. Alterations, mainly due to providing common park areas at the north end of the park, have reduced the size of the course over the years.
In 1981 Holmby Park Golf Course was threatened with closure, due to a city of Los Angeles budget crisis, but was saved at the last minute by neighbors Hugh Hefner of Playboy Mansion West (the Arthur Letts Jr. house), and Occidental Petroleum billionaire Armand Hammer, whose name now adorns the course.
The Golf Division of the Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) of the City of Los Angeles has been operating the 18-hole pony course and bowling greens since 1926.
Happy 87th Birthday Holmby Park!
This page and it’s contents are the property of J.I.B. Jones/Golf Historical Society
Copyright ©2010-2016
This is my article about the history of municipal golf in Los Angeles.
A Centennial Celebration – 100 Years of Golf at Griffith Park by JIB Jones – FORE Magazine
This page and it’s contents are the property of J.I.B. Jones/Golf Historical Society
Copyright ©2010-2016
by J.I.B. Jones
The First edition, third printing, of the paperback book; 100 Years of Golf in Griffith Park, 1914-2014, is now available to purchase on lulu for $12.00.
100 Years of Golf in Griffith Park, 1914-2014 by J.I.B. Jones
This page and it’s contents are the property of J.I.B. Jones/Golf Historical Society
Copyright ©2010-2020
by J.I.B. Jones
The twelfth annual Los Angeles Open Golf Tournament was held at Griffith Park in January 1937, on the all-grass George C. Thomas designed Wilson (1927) golf course, the first time a public links was used for the main event of this classic.
The 1937 L.A. Open was saved from cancellation by the Los Angeles Times, who along with the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the local S.C.P.G.A., and the city Parks department, came to the rescue and financed the event at the last minute! Title play was over four days, and began on Friday January 8, and ended on Monday the 11th.
The other George C. Thomas Jr., designed Griffith golf course, Harding (1923), was used for a fund raising pro-am that was played on Thursday. This allowed public golfers to keep their “weekend tee times” on the Harding course, while the stars competed for the $8,000 purse on Wilson!
William Johnson and William “Billy” Bell, lengthened and strengthened George Thomas’s original 1923-1927 Wilson and Harding designs for the Open. New irrigation, fairways, traps, and new severely undulating greens, were built between 1935-1937, and have mostly stood the test of time! Along with a new clubhouse, the improvements were paid for with Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor and funds.
In unusually cold and frosty conditions, Harry Cooper won the 12th Open title and $2,500, with a 274, the lowest score yet in any L.A. Open. With every winner since 1926 except Bobby Cruickshank entered, and Olin Dutra too sick to start, the 1937 event included the best of the touring professionals, and a sprinkling of local professionals and amateurs, 150 of whom attempted to qualify at Baldwin Hills GC (Fox Hills GC West), California CC (Culver City), Fox Hills GC East, Sunset Fields GC #1 (Crenshaw Plaza), Sunset Fields GC #2 (Crenshaw Plaza), and Rancho GC, on January 6, 1937.
The “bombardiers of the links” included: Ralph Guldahl, Jimmy Thomson, Lawson Little, Horton Smith, Macdonald Smith, George Von Elm, Vic Ghezzi, Craig Wood, Jimmy Hines, Charley Guest, Willie Hunter, Denny Shute, Paul Runyan, Henry Picard, Johnny Revolta, George Schneiter (medalist), Paul & Lloyd Mangrum, John Bulla, Byron Nelson, Leo Diegel, Bruce McCormick (amateur), Newt & Harry Bassler, Angel de la Torre, Sam Snead, Mortie Dutra, Faye Coleman, Bud Oakley, Fred Morrison, Dick Metz, Eddie Loos, Joe Robinson, Harry Pressler, Harold McSpaden,and others.
1937 was the last year before fourteen clubs became the maximum allowed after 1938.
Henry Picard drove the ball 310 yards on the 4th hole of Wilson during the tournament!
Highlights of the 1937 Los Angeles Open at Griffith Park on YouTube: