Hershey Open Explained

Hershey Open
Location:Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Establishment:1933
Course:Hershey Country Club
Par:73
Yardage:7000yd[1]
Tour:PGA Tour
Purse:$5,000
Final Year:1941
Aggregate:275 Ben Hogan (1941)
To-Par:−17 same
Final Champion: Ben Hogan
Map:USA#USA Pennsylvania
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:Hershey
Coordinates:40.298°N -76.63°W

The Hershey Open was a golf tournament in Pennsylvania on the PGA Tour from 1933 to 1941. It was played at the Hershey Country Club in Hershey on what is now called the West Course.[2] It was played as a 72-hole stroke play event every year except 1938. That year, it was played as a 126-hole round-robin match play tournament with eight two-man teams and called the Hershey Four-Ball;[3] its format was identical to the one used by the Inverness Invitational Four-Ball. The event was not held in 1940, when the club hosted the PGA Championship.

Three times it was won by the resident golf pro—Henry Picard in 1936 and 1937 and Ben Hogan in his first year at Hershey in 1941.[1] His win in 1938 in the team event with Vic Ghezzi was Hogan's first as a professional;[3] his first win as an individual came in March 1940 in North Carolina.[4] [5]

Winners

YearPlayerCountryScoreTo parMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-upWinner's
share ($)
Ref
Hershey Open
1941 275 −17 5 strokes 1,200
1940 align=center colspan=8No tournament – hosted PGA Championship
1939 284 −8 2 strokes 1,200 [6]
Hershey Four-Ball
1938
align=center colspan=2+17 15 points 550
(each)
[7]
Hershey Open
1937 Henry Picard (2) 280 −12 3 strokes 1,200 [8]
1936 287 −5 1 stroke 1,200 [9]
1935 290 −2 Playoff 1,000 [10] [11]
1934 286 −6 5 strokes [12]
1933 288 −4 10 strokes 500 [13]

Notes and References

  1. News: Hogan's 275 routs field at Hershey . Reading Eagle . (Pennsylvania) . United Press . September 1, 1941 . 7.
  2. Web site: Golf Course Review - Hershey Country Club (East/West Courses). Golf News. The Sports Network. October 8, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20120322001159/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/golf/article_1286565.php/Golf_Course_Review_-_Hershey_Country_Club__East_West_Courses_. March 22, 2012.
  3. News: Third money deadlock for Byron Nelson . Reading Eagle . (Pennsylvania) . September 5, 1938 . 6.
  4. News: Hogan finally takes a title . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho) . Associated Press . Boni . Bill . March 22, 1940 . 9.
  5. News: Hogan new threat to money golfers . Pittsburgh Press . United Press . March 22, 1940 . 35.
  6. News: Serafin surprises in Hershey victory . Pittsburgh Press . United Press . September 4, 1939 . 10.
  7. News: Ghezzi-Horan Golf Duo Wins . The Spokesman-Review . AP . September 5, 1938 . 8.
  8. News: Picard Sets Record To Win Hershey Open . The Pittsburgh Press . United Press . September 6, 1937 . 12.
  9. News: Henry Picard Triumphs In Hershey Open Event . The Pittsburgh Press . United Press . September 7, 1936 . 12.
  10. News: Ted Luther, Serafin Tie . The Pittsburgh Press . August 25, 1935 . 12.
  11. News: Luther Takes Hershey Golf . The Pittsburgh Press . August 26, 1935 . 12.
  12. News: Ky Laffoon Winner . The Spokesman-Review . AP . September 2, 1934 . Part Two 1.
  13. News: DudleyTakes Hershey Meet . Youngtown Vindicator . AP . September 3, 1933 . C-1.