Greg Hansen's 10 best golf moments in Tucson history
- Updated
The expansion of Randolph from 18 to 36 holes in 1961 tops the list.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Editor’s note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today’s list: the top 10 golf moments in Tucson history.
San Diego amateur golf champion Dell Urich drove a Model T across the desert looking for work in 1931. He found it in Tucson, of all places.
Here’s what Urich found when hired at what is now Randolph North golf course:
“The greens were a mix of oil and sand with a base of cottonseeds,” he told the Star in 1961. “The course was in the country; we had trouble keeping cows off the greens; they’d break through the fences to eat the cottonseeds.”
By 1955, with grass replacing oil, sand and cottonseed, golf at Randolph thrived. It wasn’t unusual for more than 1,000 rounds to be played from Friday through Sunday. Getting a tee time between 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. required advance planning and luck.
On average, more than 75,000 rounds of golf were played each year at Randolph. Now it’s fortunate to get 30,000.
The city decided that adding a second course, Randolph South, would feed the growing golf hunger in Southern Arizona. By January 1961 the Randolph golf complex had 36 holes, a new clubhouse and driving range. How’d it go?
In 1995, Golf Digest wrote that the Randolph golf courses were the second-busiest in America, with about 200,000 rounds of golf per year. Only San Diego’s Torrey Pines hosted more golfers.
Urich became an institution in Tucson golf. In the late 1990s, when Randolph South was remodeled — it was beautifully reshaped as a flood control property — it was named the Dell Urich Golf Course.
I think the expansion of Randolph from 18 to 36 holes in 1961 was the top golf moment in Tucson history. It had a significant impact on the Tucson golf industry for four decades, until the game entered a recession period that continues now.
Here’s my list:
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Once the Randolph complex doubled in size, it became host to the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour for a combined 31 years, with winners including Tom Watson and Annika Sorenstam.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Until Arnie’s Army marched at Tucson National, the PGA Tour stop in Tucson was considered less than elite. But with Arnie’s name in lights, the PGA Tour in Tucson flourished for the next 45 years.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Construction of a resort hotel with Nicklaus’ signature on the 27-hole golf course was at the hub of a 1980s golf boom that included the construction of Ventana Canyon Golf Club, Fred Enke Golf Club, Starr Pass Golf Club and El Conquistador Golf Club.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Woods, at the height of his career, won the Dove Mountain championship that included an epic comeback win over J.B. Holmes.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Chicago construction businessman Bill Nanini built the first luxury golf resort with the idea it would become host of the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open. It did, for more than 30 years, as a first-class resort attracted unprecedented live coverage on NBC.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
As Miller rose to stardom in golf, he became Mr. Tucson, winning at Tucson National three years in succession, shooting a combined 55-under-par, still considered among the top golf performances on PGA Tour history.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The purse in ’45 was only $5,000, but Sam Snead and many of the game’s top names began a regular stop at El Rio Golf Course for the next 15 years.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Rival ASU was strongly favored as Phil Mickelson won a third straight individual title, but the Wildcats, led by Harry Rudolph, won their only men’s NCAA title, in Albuquerque, by seven strokes.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Only a junior at ASU, Mickelson became the third amateur in golf history to win a PGA Tour event, played at the new TPC Starr Pass property. Mickelson then won the 1995 and 1996 Tucson Opens.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
As an Arizona freshman in ’91, Sorenstam won the national championship , played at Ohio State. By the time she left Arizona a year later, Sorenstam had won seven college championships and then joined the LPGA Tour.
Editor’s note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports.
Today’s list: the top 10 golf moments in Tucson history.
San Diego amateur golf champion Dell Urich drove a Model T across the desert looking for work in 1931. He found it in Tucson, of all places.
Here’s what Urich found when hired at what is now Randolph North golf course:
“The greens were a mix of oil and sand with a base of cottonseeds,” he told the Star in 1961. “The course was in the country; we had trouble keeping cows off the greens; they’d break through the fences to eat the cottonseeds.”
By 1955, with grass replacing oil, sand and cottonseed, golf at Randolph thrived. It wasn’t unusual for more than 1,000 rounds to be played from Friday through Sunday. Getting a tee time between 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. required advance planning and luck.
On average, more than 75,000 rounds of golf were played each year at Randolph. Now it’s fortunate to get 30,000.
The city decided that adding a second course, Randolph South, would feed the growing golf hunger in Southern Arizona. By January 1961 the Randolph golf complex had 36 holes, a new clubhouse and driving range. How’d it go?
In 1995, Golf Digest wrote that the Randolph golf courses were the second-busiest in America, with about 200,000 rounds of golf per year. Only San Diego’s Torrey Pines hosted more golfers.
Urich became an institution in Tucson golf. In the late 1990s, when Randolph South was remodeled — it was beautifully reshaped as a flood control property — it was named the Dell Urich Golf Course.
I think the expansion of Randolph from 18 to 36 holes in 1961 was the top golf moment in Tucson history. It had a significant impact on the Tucson golf industry for four decades, until the game entered a recession period that continues now.
Here’s my list:
Once the Randolph complex doubled in size, it became host to the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour for a combined 31 years, with winners including Tom Watson and Annika Sorenstam.
Until Arnie’s Army marched at Tucson National, the PGA Tour stop in Tucson was considered less than elite. But with Arnie’s name in lights, the PGA Tour in Tucson flourished for the next 45 years.
Construction of a resort hotel with Nicklaus’ signature on the 27-hole golf course was at the hub of a 1980s golf boom that included the construction of Ventana Canyon Golf Club, Fred Enke Golf Club, Starr Pass Golf Club and El Conquistador Golf Club.
Woods, at the height of his career, won the Dove Mountain championship that included an epic comeback win over J.B. Holmes.
Chicago construction businessman Bill Nanini built the first luxury golf resort with the idea it would become host of the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open. It did, for more than 30 years, as a first-class resort attracted unprecedented live coverage on NBC.
As Miller rose to stardom in golf, he became Mr. Tucson, winning at Tucson National three years in succession, shooting a combined 55-under-par, still considered among the top golf performances on PGA Tour history.
The purse in ’45 was only $5,000, but Sam Snead and many of the game’s top names began a regular stop at El Rio Golf Course for the next 15 years.
Rival ASU was strongly favored as Phil Mickelson won a third straight individual title, but the Wildcats, led by Harry Rudolph, won their only men’s NCAA title, in Albuquerque, by seven strokes.
Only a junior at ASU, Mickelson became the third amateur in golf history to win a PGA Tour event, played at the new TPC Starr Pass property. Mickelson then won the 1995 and 1996 Tucson Opens.
As an Arizona freshman in ’91, Sorenstam won the national championship , played at Ohio State. By the time she left Arizona a year later, Sorenstam had won seven college championships and then joined the LPGA Tour.
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