Always Listen to Your Mom ⛳
Thursday, March 4, 2021 Sign Up
The Bay Hill Invitational is this week, but you know how we are -- we're going to look at the Citrus Open which was the precurser to Arnie's tournament at Bay Hill. We're turning the backspin machine to 1975 and Lee Trevino.
Congrats to Steven Grief, a member of the Society of Golf Historians Facebook group, for winning WHAT HOLE IS IT? from last week. The hole was #5 at Machrihanish Dunes.
Check out our new "Guess The Clubhouse" quiz.
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Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going
The Red Shirt In The Final Round, A History
All our thoughts are with Tiger Woods and hopes for a speedy, and full recovery. It was a touching tribute by players on all tours wearing red shirts and black pants on Sunday. It is Tiger Woods signature "power suit" when he is in contention on Sundays.
"I wear red on Sundays because my mom thinks that's my power color," Tiger once explained. "And you know you should always listen to your mom."
But Tiger wasn't the first PGA star to wear a red shirt and black pants on Sundays for the power and confidence they derived from the outfit.
Lee Trevino arrived for the fourth round of the 1975 Citrus Open (precursor to the Bay Hill Invitational which was renamed the Arnold Palmer Invitational) wearing black slacks and a red shirt. He held the lead over Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw and Charles Coody. He spoke after the round about his outfit.
"I only wear it on Sunday if I think I'm going to win," Trevino explained. "This gives me a tremendous amount of confidence." Trevino would oftentimes add matching red socks and a red glove to the outfit.
That Sunday in 1975, Hale Irwin put a charge on Trevino making three birdies on the back nine at Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando, FL. But it wasn't enough to overtake Trevino and his power outfit. He pocketed, in those black pants, a winner's check of $40,000. Trevino also credited a new devotion to working out by running two miles a day as a reason for the victory.
After his round a reporter who heard about the new jogging regimen asked Trevino if he planned on doing any jogging that night. "As far as the nearest bar," Trevino cracked.
Check out the bonus fact about the Citrus Open below.
This week's playlist hits the sweet spot of music from my senior year in high school. Listen on Spotify.
This week's vintage ad features Lee Trevino with his red shirt, but it looks weird for him to not be wearing a cap.
Send your pictures of your favorite golf holes to larry@9acespublishing.com. If we use your pic for the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest, you'll win a prize.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Click to listen on Spotify
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
YOUR PICTURE COULD BE FEATURED IN WHAT HOLE IS IT?!
Send us your picture of your favorite hole and if we feature it, you win a prize.
Email to larry@9acespublishing.com
We'll post guest submissions on the third Thursday of the month.
Do you recognize this clubhouse? Find the answer below.
Eagle | Birdie | Par
We give you some recommendations to check out around the web.
Eagle: Get lost in the iconic photographs of PGA players by Leonard Kamsler. View HERE.
Birdie: Watch as Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy have 50 balls each to make a hole-in-one on a 148 yard hole. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg91Ac1Gx4Y
Par: Listen to the Talking Golf History podcast on the lost course Lido and plans for a planned resurrection in a very different location or the conversation with Ben Wright which is quite entertaining. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bonus Fact
Arnold Palmer won the Citrus Open in 1971 at Rio Pinar Country Club. A year earlier he took an ownership stake in the Bay Hill Club and Lodge and began to transform it into a high-end resort. By 1974 he had the full ownership and he began to lobby the PGA to move the Citrus Open from Rio Pinar to Bay Hill. He succeeded and the last Citrus Open was played at Rio Pinar in 1978 as the 1979 tournament was renamed the Bay Hill Citrus Classic. In 2007 the tournament became the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It is one of only five tournaments on the PGA schedule to be given the designation of an invitational (the Genesis Open, RBC Heritage, Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial are the other four.)
Arnold Palmer receives the 1971 Citrus Open winner's check of $30,000 from Joseph Dey
