Seattle Open Invitational

The Seattle Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the northwest United States, in the greater Seattle area. It was played eight times over three decades under five names at three locations.

Seattle Open Invitational
Tournament information
LocationSeattle metro area,
Washington, U.S.
Established1936, 1945, 1961
Course(s)Broadmoor Golf Club
Inglewood Golf Club
Everett Golf & Country Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund$50,000
Month playedSeptember
Final year1966
Final champion
Homero Blancas
Seattle
Location in the United States
Seattle
Location in Washington

The first Seattle Open was held 84 years ago in 1936 at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore in early August. Macdonald Smith won an 18-hole playoff with a course record 65 (–8), six strokes ahead of runner-up Ralph Guldahl,[1][2][3] who won the next two U.S Opens (1937, 1938) and the Masters in 1939. The next Seattle Open was played nine years later in October 1945 at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle and won by Byron Nelson, with a world record 259 (–21) and a victory margin of 13 strokes.[4][5] He won a record eighteen tournaments in 1945, including eleven consecutive.

Sixteen years later, the tour returned to Seattle in 1961 at Broadmoor in mid-September with the Greater Seattle Open Invitational. Dave Marr won in a sudden-death playoff, over Bob Rosburg and Jacky Cupit; Marr shot a final round 63 (–7) and birdied the first extra hole to win.[6] In 1962, it was renamed the Seattle World's Fair Open Invitational as part of the region's celebration of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. The victor by two strokes was a 22-year-old rookie from Ohio named Jack Nicklaus.[7][8] It was his second tour win and first non-major, following a playoff victory over Arnold Palmer in June at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Nicklaus had won $50,000 in the exhibition World Series of Golf the week before,[9][10] and won in Portland the following week for his third tour title.[11]

The last event in 1966, the Greater Seattle-Everett Classic, was held at the Everett Golf & Country Club. It was won by Homero Blancas, one stroke ahead of Cupit, a two-time runner-up.[12][13]

Inglewood later hosted the GTE Northwest Classic on the Senior PGA Tour, from 1987 through 1995.

Tournament sites
YearsCourseParLocationCoordinates
1966Everett Golf & Country Club71Everett47.947°N 122.21°W / 47.947; -122.21
1965, 1963, 1936^Inglewood Golf Club72Kenmore47.75°N 122.255°W / 47.75; -122.255
1964, 1962, 1961, 1945Broadmoor Golf Club70Seattle47.64°N 122.292°W / 47.64; -122.292

^ par 73 in 1936

Winners
YearDateWinnerCountryScoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner(s)-upWinner's
share ($)		Purse ($)Notes
Greater Seattle-Everett Classic
1966Sep 25Homero Blancas United States266−181 stroke Jacky Cupit6,60050,000[12]
Greater Seattle Open Invitational
1965Sep 26Gay Brewer United States279−9Playoff Doug Sanders6,60045,000[14]
1964Sep 27Billy Casper United States265−152 strokes Mason Rudolph5,80040,000[15]
Seattle Open Invitational
1963Sep 15Bobby Nichols United States272−162 strokes Raymond Floyd
Stan Leonard		5,30035,000[16]
Seattle World's Fair Open Invitational
1962Sep 16Jack Nicklaus United States265−152 strokes Tony Lema4,30030,000[7][8]
Greater Seattle Open Invitational
1961Sep 17Dave Marr United States265−15Playoff Jacky Cupit
Bob Rosburg		3,50025,000[6]
Seattle Open
1945Oct 14Byron Nelson United States259−2113 strokes Harry Givan (a)
Jug McSpaden		2,00010,250[4][5]
1936Aug 3Macdonald Smith Scotland
 United States		285−7Playoff Ralph Guldahl1,2005,000[1][2][3]

(a) = Amateur

Playoffs
  • 1965: Brewer had a tap-in par on the first playoff hole, a par-4, and Sanders bogeyed.[14]
  • 1961: Marr sank a 3-foot (0.9 m) birdie putt on the first playoff hole, a par-5, for the win.[6]
  • 1936: 18-hole playoff, Smith 65 (–8), Guldahl 71 (–2).[1][2][3]

References
  1. "Guldahl and Smith on extra eighteen". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 3, 1936. p. 6.
  2. "Mac Smith has great golf day". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 4, 1936. p. 12.
  3. "Macdonald Smith wins Seattle golf tourney". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. August 4, 1936. p. 22.
  4. "Nelson posts world's record in winning Seattle Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 15, 1961. p. 2.
  5. "Nelson's 259 at Seattle breaks world record". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. October 15, 1945. p. 22.
  6. "Marr victor in golf playoff". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 18, 1961. p. 3B.
  7. "Nicklaus wins Seattle Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 17, 1962. p. 3B.
  8. "Nicklaus wins Seattle Open by 2 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. UPI. September 17, 1962. p. 4, sec. 4.
  9. "World Series won by Jack". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 10, 1962. p. 3B.
  10. "Nicklaus wins $75,000 exhibition; Palmer fades". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. September 10, 1962. p. 1, sec. 4.
  11. "Open won in Portland by Nicklaus". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. September 24, 1961. p. 2B.
  12. "Blancas tops Cupit for title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 26, 1966. p. 4B.
  13. Paul Nyhan (August 21, 2002). "Tour History in Washington". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  14. "Brewer wins Seattle Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 27, 1965. p. 11.
  15. "Casper wins Seattle Open; Rudolph 2nd". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 28, 1963. p. 4B.
  16. "Seattle Open win taken by Nichols". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 16, 1963. p. 4B.

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