US Airways - August 2014 - (Page 18)

explore Wyndham Championship Is Golden North Carolina's oldest PGA TOUR event turns 75. By Irwin Smallwood Clockwise from below: Ben Hogan in 1940, spectators in 2013, Byron Nelson in 1941, and winners Patrick Reed (2013), Sergio Garcia (2012), and Webb Simpson (2011) 18 AUGUST 2014 As the PGA TOUR's young guns and their elders gather once more for competition on the beautiful, rolling hills of North Carolina's Piedmont region this month, they are drawn to a storied place where tournament golf as we know it today was aborning, even as the drums of World War II were sounding across the globe. In the spring of 1938, a fledgling group of community leaders took a leap of faith into major league golf by launching the Greater Greensboro Open. Now, for the 75th time, golf's finest are returning: this time for the 2014 edition of what is now the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event in the FedExCup season. The scene, then as now, is Sedgefield Country Club, a Donald Ross masterpiece recently restored to its original grandeur. Think Snead, Hogan, Nelson. If you love golf, if you really love golf, just the sound of their names sends chills down your ★ usairwaysmag.com spine. They were there at the beginning. Their ghosts still hover in the stately pines that frame Sedgefield's lush fairways. And well they should. Sam Snead won the first GGO, as it was later dubbed. Ben Hogan won the third, and Byron Nelson won the fourth. After World War II, as the PGA TOUR emerged as an important sports organization, it was largely on the shoulders of these three Hall-of-Famers. The GGO, Wyndham's predecessor, also thrived because of the fantastic play of these men. Even today, no tournament in the history of the PGA TOUR can boast a more celebrated beginning. Hogan, Nelson, and Snead have significant ties to North Carolina. Hogan won the first tournament of his remarkable career at Pinehurst the week before the 1940 GGO, which he also won. He then won the Land of the Sky Open at Asheville a week later, making it three wins in a row. Nelson, whose birdie-birdie finish won the 1941 GGO, returned in 1945 to win again, and this time it was the third of his historic 11-straight PGA TOUR titles, a record that still stands today. And then there's Snead, who the Wyndham Championship trophy - the Sam Snead Cup - http://www.usairwaysmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of US Airways - August 2014

Table of Contents
Perspective: CEO Letter
Did You Know?
Hot Spots: Best Cultural Sites
Great Escapes: RIU Hotels and Resorts
Style Spotlight: Beach Wear
Golf: Wyndham Championship
Diversions: Stargazing
Connections: Everybody's Business
Gear Up: Stay Cool
Travel Feature: Vancouver
Great Tastes: Bonefish Grill
Special Section: Orange County, California
University Spotlight: Salisbury University
Special Section: Celebrate Opera
To Your Health: Lumiday and Luminite
Special Section: Newport News, Virginia
Best of Health: Miami Foot & Ankle Surgery
Great Dates: Las Vegas Marathon
Special Section: Women's College Coalition
Puzzles
Readers Resource Index
Your US Airways Guide
Audio Entertainment
Video Entertainment
U.S. and Caribbean Service Map
International Service Map
Airport Terminal Maps
oneworld alliance
Passenger Info/Contact US Airways
US Airways MarketPlace®
US Airways Fleet/Customs & Immigration
Window or Aisle?

US Airways - August 2014