St. Petersburg Open Invitational

St. Petersburg Open Invitational

Tournament information
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida
Established	1930
Course(s)	Lakewood Country Club
Par	72
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$25,000
Month played	March
Final year	1964
Tournament record score
Aggregate	261 Bob Goalby (1961)
To par	−23 as above
Final champion
Bruce Devlin
Location map
Lakewood Country Club Location in the United States Show map of the United States Lakewood Country Club Location in Florida Show map of Florida

The St. Petersburg Open Invitational, first played as the St. Petersburg Open, was a PGA Tour event that was held at three St. Petersburg, Florida area clubs for 29 years from 1930 until 1964.[1] The clubs that hosted the event were: Lakewood Country Club (now known as St. Petersburg Country Club),[2] Pasadena Country Club (now known as Pasadena Yacht and Country Club), and Sunset Golf Club of the Vinoy Park Hotel (now known as the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club).[1]

Bob Goalby won[3] the 1961 event after making eight consecutive birdies in the final round, a PGA Tour record at the time. Other golfers tied Goalby's mark but nobody surpassed it till 2009.[4] In 1963, Raymond Floyd won the event at 20 years 6 months of age becoming the youngest player to win a PGA Tour event since 1928.[1][5]

Bruce Devlin, an Australian golfer who had recently moved to the United States, won the first of his eight PGA Tour titles at the last one in 1964. The tournament succumbed to financial pressure when the St. Petersburg City Council voted to postpone a decision on sponsorship of the 1965 event, and then Jacksonville announced the resumption of the Jacksonville Open during week the tournament was to be held.[1]

Tournament hosts

Course	Years
Lakewood Country Club	1930 (co-host), 1933 (co-host), 1936 (co-host), 1938, 1940, 1942, 1948, 1952, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1962–64
Jungle Country Club	1930 (co-host)
Pasadena Country Club	1932, 1933 (co-host), 1934, 1936 (co-host), 1937, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949–51, 1953, 1957–58, 1961
Sunset Golf Club at Vinoy Park	1946

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
St. Petersburg Open Invitational
1964	Bruce Devlin	272	−16	4 strokes	Dan Sikes	3,300
1963	Raymond Floyd	274	−14	1 stroke	Dave Marr	3,500
1962	Bobby Nichols	272	−16	2 strokes	Frank Boynton	2,800
1961	Bob Goalby	261	−23	3 strokes	Ted Kroll	2,800
1960	George Bayer	282	−6	Playoff	Jack Fleck	2,000
1959	Cary Middlecoff (2)	275	−13	3 strokes	Pete Cooper	2,000
1958	Arnold Palmer	276	−8	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald Fred Hawkins	2,000
St. Petersburg Open
1957	Pete Cooper	269	−15	4 strokes	Jack Burke Jr.	1,700
1956	Mike Fetchick	275	−13	Playoff	Lionel Hebert	2,200
1955	Cary Middlecoff	274	−14	2 strokes	Jay Hebert	2,200
1954: No tournament
1953	Dutch Harrison	266	−18	1 stroke	Chick Harbert Dick Mayer	2,000
1952	Jack Burke Jr. (2)	266	−22	8 strokes	Al Besselink	2,000
1951	Jim Ferrier	268	−16	6 strokes	Al Brosch	2,000
1950	Jack Burke Jr.	272	−12	1 stroke	Chick Harbert	2,000
1949	Pete Cooper	275	−9	1 stroke	Cary Middlecoff	2,000
1948	Lawson Little	272	−16	3 strokes	Bobby Locke	2,000
1947	Jimmy Demaret (2)	280	−4	3 strokes	Jim Ferrier	2,000
1946	Ben Hogan	269	−15	5 strokes	Sam Snead	2,000
1943–1945: No tournament due to World War II
1942	Sam Snead (3)	286	−2	3 strokes	Sam Byrd Chick Harbert Byron Nelson	1,000
1941	Sam Snead (2)	279	−5	2 strokes	Herman Barron Chick Harbert Ben Hogan Jug McSpaden	1,200
1940	Jimmy Demaret	211	−2	1 stroke	Byron Nelson	700
1939	Sam Snead	207	−9	Playoff	Henry Picard	700
1938	Johnny Revolta	282	−2	Playoff	Chandler Harper	700
1937	Harry Cooper	284	−4	Playoff	Ralph Guldahl Horton Smith	700
1936	Leonard Dodson	283	−3	Playoff	Harry Cooper	500
1935: No tournament
1934	Paul Runyan	141	−3	3 strokes	Bill Mehlhorn	200
1933	Bob Stupple	144	+1	1 stroke	Denny Shute Al Watrous	275
1932	Willie Macfarlane	209	−7	1 stroke	Dave Hackney	500
1931: No tournament
1930	Jock Collins	141	+1	1 stroke	Horton Smith Frank Walsh	1,000

References

1. "St. Petersburg Open left legacy". St. Petersburg Times. October 15, 2000. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
2. "St. Petersburg Country Club Our Golf Course". St. Petersburg Country Club. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
3. Goalby cards 8 consecutive birdies to win at St. Pete
4. Most Consecutive Birdies in a PGA Tour Tournament
5. "USGA History:1951–1970". Archived from the original on 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-11-05.