PGA Tour Thomasville Open Winners, History
First played: 1936
Last played: 1941
The Thomasville Open was played each year at the same golf course, the Glen Arven County Club in the town of Thomasville in southwest Georgia. It was always played in the first quarter of the year, early in the tour schedule, five out of six times in February.
Winners of the PGA Tour Thomasville Open
In its first three years, the tournament was four rounds, 72 holes. In its final three years, it was three rounds, 54 holes.
1936 — Johnny Revolta, 283
1937 — Dick Metz, 284 (def. Ed Dudley in playoff)
1938 — Byron Nelson, 280
1939 — Henry Picard, 211
1940 — Lloyd Mangrum, 203
1941 — Jug McSpaden, 207
Three of the Thomasville Open's six champions — Byron Nelson, Henry Picard and Lloyd Mangrum — are World Golf Hall of Famers today. A fourth, Johnny Revolta, was a 20-time PGA Tour winner and might still join them some day. And the other two — Dick Metz (8 career wins) and Jug McSpaden (17 wins) — were respected and successful tour players of the era.
Revolta became the first champion in 1936 by passing Vic Ghezzi on the final hole. When they teed off the hole, Ghezzi led Revolta by one. But Revolta birdied the par-5 closing hole while Ghezzi bogeyed it.
Metz's victory in 1937 was the first of his eventual eight PGA Tour wins. He got it by beating Ed Dudley in an 18-hole playoff, 72 to 76.
In 1940, Mangrum and Nelson were tied for the lead going to the 18th hole, then Mangrum eagled it for the win. Mangrum tied for second (with Ben Hogan and Chandler Harper) the following year, the tournament's last, but eight strokes behind the winner, McSpaden. McSpaden's margin of victory was the largest in the tournament's span.
Mangrum's victory in this tournament was the first of his 36 career PGA Tour wins. Nelson's win here was the fifth of his 52 career PGA Tour triumphs.
There was also once a tournament called the Thomasville Open on the LPGA Tour. It existed for one year only, 1952, and the winner was Betsy Rawls.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh (Pa.) Press. "Dick Metz Beats Dudley in Playoff," United Press, February 23, 1937, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19370223&id=ueQdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5125,4333009&hl=en.
Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gazette. "13 Under Par Wins Tourney," Universal Press, March 11, 1940, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19400311&id=CbhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dGkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3764,1310533&hl=en.
Prescott (Ariz.) Evening Courier. "Nelson Takes Cash in Thomasville Open," February 28, 1938, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=897&dat=19380228&id=7DYxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LVADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4201,2682876&hl=en.
Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal. "Revolta Wins First Prize in Golf," Associated Press, February 17, 1936, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SFOYbPikdlgC&dat=19360217&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.
The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. "Picard Wins Coin in Thomasville Tourney," February 27, 1939, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19390227&id=Yec-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=KU0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5235,2479589&hl=en.
The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. "McSpaden Takes Georgia Open," Associated Press, February 24, 1941, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19410224&id=ejo_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=t0wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4943,2274023&hl=en.
