Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019 - 40

BACKSPIN
The PGA Returns
* BY MARK CRAIG *
Minnesota has waited 50 years for the PGA Tour to
return-and some things have changed since then.
H
alf a century later, John Valliere still remembers one
of his first assignments when the PGA Tour touched
down at Braemar Golf Couse in Edina for what would
be the final Minnesota Golf Classic.
A young business manager at the time, Valliere was told to
fetch the flamboyant Doug Sanders from the ninth hole. Sanders,
the colorfully clothed " Peacock of the Fairways, " was tearing
up the tee box while hitting shots hither and yon early in
one of the practice rounds.
" There he was, in all his colorful garb, orange shoes and all, "
says Valliere, Braemar's former longtime general manager. " He's
out there firing shot after shot two greens over. Taking a foot of
sod up with every swing. Thankfully, there
weren't many fans out there at the time. It
fell on my shoulders to tell him, 'Doug, you
can't do that! Go over to the driving range!' "
Yes, times have changed since Minnesota
hosted its last regular PGA Tour stop 50
years before the next one starts, July 1, with
the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
Tickets to a practice round back on July
7-8, 1969, were $2. The Wednesday ProAm,
featuring Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle
and Twins manager Billy Martin, cost five
bucks. A seven-day pass? $15.
Total purse: $100,000. Winner's share: 20
grand. TV coverage: Nope.
With 20 of the top 25 money winners
playing the British Open that week, 30-year-old Frank Beard
survived 96-degree heat on Saturday to take a one-shot lead
that grew to seven with a 15-under 269 in front of 13,782 fans.
Half a century later, someone will win about $1.2 million of
the 3M Open's $6.4 million purse.
" I never thought it would be another 50 years, " says Valliere. " In
1970, Hazeltine had the U.S. Open and it was, 'Wait a minute, the
Twin Cities can't support two major events.' So it was dropped and
never followed up on in 1971. Then, it just went away. "
Keller had played host to the St. Paul Open from 1930 to
1966, when it was renamed the Minnesota Golf Classic, and
again in 1968.
40
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2019
" The St. Paul Open was run by the St. Paul Jaycees, " Valliere
says. " It was too much effort. They wanted Minneapolis
to host one year and then alternate so all the work wouldn't
fall on St. Paul. "
Hazeltine played host in 1967. Two years later, 5-year-old
Braemar stepped up.
" Frankly, there really was no one else who wanted it, " Valliere
says. " We didn't think we would be able to accommodate
the standards of a PGA Tour event. "
One of only four public courses to host a PGA Tour event
that year, Braemar's yardage was stretched from 6,634 to
6,913. Its par dropped from 73 to 71.
Beard, the quiet Kentuckian with the sweet
" He's out there
firing shot after
shot two greens
over. Taking
a foot of sod
up with every
swing. "
-John Valliere on
Doug Sanders
swing and smooth putter, still hit 61 greens in
regulation while notching one of his 14 PGA
Tour wins. He finished the season as the leading
money winner with $175,223 and ended
up writing a book-entitled " Pro " -about
the 1969 PGA Tour season.
Feisty, outspoken Dave Hill, who would
blister Hazeltine's worthiness as a U.S.
Open course while finishing runner-up
to Tony Jacklin a year later, was second on
the money list with $156,432. He also took
offense to Beard saying publicly that golf
was just a job and that his only goal was
to lead the tour in money even if he never
won a major.
" If Beard doesn't like golf, " Hill said, " let him go work in a
filling station. "
To which Beard simply shrugged. Neither one of them had
won a major. And neither would.
" Well, " Beard said, " I guess neither one of us has learned
how to handle success. "
But, obscure or not, one of them did raise a trophy in
Minnesota.
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for
the Star Tribune.
mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019

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