Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin

The Goodall Palm Beach Robin Robin was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1938 to 1957. It was also known as the Goodall Robin Robin and the Palm Beach Robin Robin. The sponsors were the Goodall Company (later Goodall-Sanford Co.) and its subsidiary, the Palm Beach Clothing Co. The purse for the tournament was $5,000, with $1,000 going to the winner, from 1938 to 1941, increased to $10,000/$2,000 in 1946, and increased again to $15,000/$3,000 in 1949. Sam Snead won the event five times including both the first and last events.

Format

The tournament featured an unusual round robin format. From 1938 to 1946, the field consisted of 15 players. They would play seven rounds in five threesomes, a total of 126 holes. A player earned or lost points on each hole, in a match play style, based on his score versus his two opponents for that round. A player scored "+1" for each hole won and "−1" for each hole lost to each opponent. The groups were shuffled after every round so that every player played one round against every other player. The player with the most points after seven rounds won.[1][2][3]

In 1947, the tournament's format was altered to feature 16 invitees playing five rounds in groups of four for a total of 90 holes. In 1949, two further changes were made to the format. Up to that time, the committee, after every round, had to calculate the points won or lost on each hole for each match. This had proven difficult to figure out quickly, prompting the switch to a medal match play style where players plus or minus points were based on their medal score (strokes per round).[4][5]

The cause of the second change was television. In 1949, NBC televised a segment of the event making it the first-ever network telecast of a golf tournament. To accommodate the TV coverage, Wykagyl rearranged the golf course so that the regular ninth hole became the eighteenth hole. The number of spectators at the tournament opening day topped 5,000 people, the largest attendance for any of the Round Robins to that date.

The end of the tournament

After the 1957 event, the Palm Beach Round Robin dropped off the PGA Tour schedule. The majority of the touring pros, those whom no one would include in any select list of 16 players, protested the fairness of an event that forced them to take a week off in the middle of the season while the favored stars enjoyed a good payday.[6]

Tournament hosts

The tournament was played in May or June at a number of different courses, mostly in the New York metropolitan area.

YearsCountry ClubLocation
1938 Kenwood Country Club Cincinnati, Ohio
1939–41 Fresh Meadow Country Club Great Neck, New York
1946 Winged Foot Golf Club Mamaroneck, New York
1947 Charles River Country Club Newton, Massachusetts
1948–52 Wykagyl Country Club New Rochelle, New York
1953–54 Meadow Brook Country Club Westbury, New York
1955 Deepdale Country Club Great Neck, New York
1956–57 Wykagyl Country Club New Rochelle, New York

Winners

YearPlayerScoreRef
1957 Sam Snead +41 [7]
1956 Gene Littler +55 [8]
1955 Sam Snead +46 [9]
1954 Sam Snead +62 [10]
1953 Cary Middlecoff +42 [11]
1952 Sam Snead +57 [12][13]
1951 Roberto De Vicenzo +40 [14][15]
1950 Lloyd Mangrum +37 [16][17][18]
1949 Bobby Locke +66 [4][5][19]
1948 Herman Barron +38 [20][21]
1947 Bobby Locke +37 [22][23]
1946 Ben Hogan +51 [24][25]
1942–45 No tournament due to World War II
1941 Paul Runyan +26 [26]
1940 Ben Hogan +23 [3][27]
1939 Harry Cooper +31 [2][28][29]
1938 Sam Snead +14 [1][30][31][32]

References

  1. 1 2 "Picard Leads 'Round Robin'". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UP. June 25, 1938. p. Sports-3. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Golfers Ready to Compete in Round Robin Tournament". The Telegraph-Herald. Dubuque, Iowa. AP. June 1, 1939. p. 2-1. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Three Texans Favored In Round Robin Meet". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. AP. May 16, 1940. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Locke Favored In Round Robin Golf Tourney". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. May 12, 1949. p. 17. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Elite Pros Start Golf Meet". The Telegraph-Herald. Dubuque, Iowa. AP. May 12, 1949. p. 17. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ "End Round Robin Golf Tournament". Schenectady Gazette. Schenectady, New York. AP. September 26, 1957. p. 32. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Sam Snead Takes Wykagyl Tourney". The News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. AP. June 3, 1957. p. 5. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Littler Wins Round Robin". Wilmington Morning Star. Wilmington, North Carolina. AP. June 11, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sam Sets Record in Relaxed Round". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. June 6, 1955. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Sam Snead Wins Round Robin Golf". The News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. AP. May 17, 1954. p. 8. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Middlecoff Wins Meadow Brook". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. AP. May 18, 1953. p. 7. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Snead Leads Field Into Summer Golf Play". The News and Courier. Charleston, South Carolina. UP. May 13, 1952. p. 3-B. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Snead Wins Golf Tourney". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. UP. May 19, 1952. p. 4. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  14. ↑ "De Vicenzo Fires 75, But Still Triumphs". Wilmington Morning Star. Wilmington, North Carolina. AP. June 11, 1951. p. 5. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  15. ↑ "De Vicenzo Takes $3,000 In Golf Round Robin". The Dispatch. Lexington, North Carolina. AP. June 11, 1951. p. 8. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Mangrum Easily Wins Round Robin Tourney". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. June 19, 1950. p. 8. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Round Robin To Mangrum". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. AP. June 19, 1950. pp. 2–4. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Mangrum Heads To PGA Championships". Lewiston Evening Journal. Lewiston, Maine. AP. June 19, 1950. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Dazzling Golf Wins For Locke". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Lewiston, Idaho. AP. May 16, 1949. p. 6. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Barron Noses Out Locke In Goodall Round Robin". Meriden Record. Meriden, Connecticut. AP. May 10, 1948. p. 11. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Herman Barron Captures Goodall Open With 38 Plus". Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. AP. May 10, 1948. p. 22. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Vines Posts 64 To Lead In Goodall". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. May 30, 1947. p. 14. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Locke Adds Goodall to U.S. Sweep". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. June 2, 1947. p. 9. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Ben Hogan Smashes Record To Win Goodall". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. UP. June 5, 1946. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Hogan Winner In Goodall Golf Tourney". The Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. AP. June 5, 1946. p. 7. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Paul Runyan Winner In Round Robin Golf Meet". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. May 26, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Hogan Withstands Snead's Challenge to Win Goodall Golf". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. May 20, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Cooper's Nerve Wins Tourney". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Lewiston, Idaho. AP. June 5, 1939. p. 7. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Cooper Wins Match Tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. June 5, 1939. p. 15. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Picard Is Leader in Ohio Golf Meet". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. AP. June 25, 1938. p. 10. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  31. ↑ "Picard Holds Lead In Kenwood Golf". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. AP. June 26, 1938. p. 12. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  32. ↑ "Sam Snead Wins Goodall Tourney". The Day. New London, Connecticut. AP. June 27, 1938. p. 12. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
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