The Seattle Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the northwest United States, in the greater Seattle area. It was played eight times over three decades under five names at three locations.
History The first Seattle Open was held in 1936 at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore in early August. Macdonald Smith won an playoff with a course record 65 (–8), six strokes ahead of runner-up Ralph Guldahl, who won the next two U.S Opens and the Masters in 1939. The next Seattle Open was played nine years later in October 1945 at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle and won by Byron Nelson, with a world record 259 (–21) and a victory margin of 13 strokes. He won a record eighteen tournaments in 1945, including eleven consecutive.
Sixteen years later, the tour returned to Seattle in 1961 at Broadmoor in mid-September with the Greater Seattle Open Invitational. won in a sudden-death playoff, over Bob Rosburg and Jacky Cupit; Marr shot a final round 63 (–7) and birdied the first extra hole In 1962, it was renamed the Seattle World's Fair Open Invitational as part of the region's celebration of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. The victor by two strokes was a 22-year-old rookie from Ohio named Jack Nicklaus. It was his second tour win and first non-major, following a playoff victory over Arnold Palmer in June at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Nicklaus had won $50,000 in the exhibition World Series of Golf the week before, and won in Portland the following week for his third tour title.
The last event in 1966, the Greater Seattle-Everett Classic, was held at the Everett Golf & Country Club. It was won by Homero Blancas, one stroke ahead of Cupit, a two-time runner-up.
Inglewood later hosted the GTE Northwest Classic on the Senior PGA Tour, from 1987 through 1995.
Venues Years CourseParLocationCoordinates 1966 Everett Golf & Country Club 71 Everett 1936, 1963, 1965 Inglewood Golf Club 72 Kenmore 1945, 1961, 1962, 1964 Broadmoor Golf Club 70 Seattle
Winners YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upPurse(US$)Winner'sshare ($)Ref.Greater Seattle-Everett Classic 1966 Homero Blancas 266 −18 1 stroke Jacky Cupit50,0006,600Greater Seattle Open Invitational 1965 Gay Brewer 279 −9 Playoff Doug Sanders45,0006,600 1964 Billy Casper 265 −15 2 strokes Mason Rudolph40,0005,800Seattle Open Invitational 1963 Bobby Nichols 272 −16 2 strokes Raymond Floyd Stan Leonard35,0005,300Seattle World's Fair Open Invitational 1962 Jack Nicklaus 265 −15 2 strokes Tony Lema30,0004,300Greater Seattle Open Invitational 1961 Dave Marr 265 −15 Playoff Jacky Cupit Bob Rosburg25,0003,500Seattle Open1946–1960: No tournament 1945 Byron Nelson 259 −21 13 strokes Harry Givan (a) Jug McSpaden 10,2502,0001937–1944: No tournament 1936 Macdonald Smith 285 −7 Playoff Ralph Guldahl5,0001,200
Playoffs 1936: 18-hole playoff, Smith 65 (–8), Guldahl 71 (–2). 1961: Marr sank a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, a par-5, for the win. 1965: Brewer had a tap-in par on the first playoff hole, a par-4, and Sanders bogeyed.
Notes
References
External links Broadmoor Golf Club Inglewood Golf Club Everett Golf & Country Club