There are now five major senior golf championships played including the Senior PGA, U.S. Senior Open, Senior British Open, The Tradition and the Senior Players Championship. The oldest of the five being the PGA Senior Championship, which started in 1937 followed by the U.S Senior Open, The Tradition and the Senior players in the 1980's. The Senior British received recognition in 2003. Senior golf amateurs and pros from all over the world compete in these events to see who will come out on top, win the championship, and take home the winnings.
The women or the LPGA recognizes four annual championships, which are Kraft Nabisco, McDonald's U.S. LPGA presented by Coco-Cola, U.S. Women's Open and the Ricoh Women's British Open. In 1969, the first player from outside the United States was introduced to the tour card. Her name was Vivien Saunders from the United Kingdom. Today, there are currently participants from twenty-six different countries playing the LPGA. The Women's Senior Golf Tour was established in 2003, which then became known as the Legends Tour. Women who are forty-five years or older play the LPGA Legend Tour. This well-publicized event draws attention from the media everywhere.
Senior golf is not just for men, many women compete professionally just as well as the men do. Whether you are an amateur or a professional, golf does not have a gender set as to who can golf and who cannot. Many women have come to prove that they can complete and ensure the even the toughest golf courses just like the men. Some of the top leaders in the LPGA have won some pretty impressive purses and have gone on to become professional senior golf players who also offer lessons to beginners and those wanting to improve their game. In 2006, Lorena Ochoa from Canada won the player of the year and Vare trophy while Seon Hwa Lee of Korea won the Rookie of the Year.
Before 1994, the majority of the trophy winners were from the United States. From 1994 until today, the majority of winners are from other countries this goes for the leading money winners as well. Although at the end of the 2006 season, the third place career money winner was Juli Inkster with Karrie Webb from Australia in second and Annika Sorenstam of Sweden in first place. Women senior golf is not as large as the men's senior golf, but it is fast becoming something more women are taking an interest in today and becoming successful.
Because many more women are taking an interest in senior golf and golf in general, you may see more women tournaments then the scheduled ones they have to date. The LPGA and the PGA are both highly published events that are watched by millions either on television or in person when the events are being played. The women senior golf pros bring in just as much revenue during the tours and can keep the audiences attention just as well as the men's tour do.
The very first Senior Golf Open was played in New York in June of 1980 at the Winged Foot Golf Club on the East Course. It was established because of the interest of senior golfers who wanted to compete on an amateur and professional level. The very first Senior Open had six hundred and thirty-one entries. At this time, the senior golfer had to be at least fifty-five years of age the day of the tournament. Some of the former champions competed in the first Senior Golf Open such as William Campbell, Tommy Bolt, Jack Fleck, Ed Furgol and Lew Worsham.
The winner of the first Senior Golf Open was Roberto De Vicenzo while William Campbell was in second place. The age limit was lowered to fifty just one year later to allow for more participants in the tournament. Arnold Palmer went onto win the second Senior Open at the age of fifty-one in Michigan. Miller Barber won the Senior Open in 1982, which was just one of his three wins for a Senior Open. The other two wins were for 1984 and 1985. As of 2002, there were a little over three thousand entries for the Senior Golf Open.
In 2006, Allen Doyle became the new oldest winner of the Senior Open at the age of fifty-seven, eleven months, seventeen days. The oldest winner before that was De Vicenzo at the age of fifty-seven years, two months and fifteen days. Don Pooley won his way into the Senior Golf Open by qualifying and went onto win the tournament in 2002.
Today, you will see only a three or four hole playoff if needed were in the past it used to be four playoffs of eighteen holes. There have only been a few times in the Senior Open history of a playoff occurring, once in 1981, 1983, 1988 and 1991 with the winners being Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Gary Player and Jack Nicholas respectfully.
In 2007, the Senior Open was played at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin where senior golf player Brad Bryant won the Championship. He had winnings of four hundred and seventy thousand dollars to take home with him. He did share his revenue with his caddies Tony Smith. The golf course designed Pete Dye was designed to attract PGA tournaments in the future. It proved to be a tricky course that is considered rugged terrain that does not have golf cart abilities.
If you want a chance to watch the U.S. Senior Open when it comes to your town, you can buy advance tickets, walk around with your favorite players, and see how they fair in the tournament. Some of the courses they play are set up according to the guidelines established for the tours. This is just another way to see how the pros do it and how they apply different stances and what clubs they use to get distance and win the game. It is always a spectacular event for any city and golf course when the Senior Open comes to town.
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