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The CBS Match Play Classic

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Bill_McBride:
I remember the event being played at Firestone.  I saw enough matches from there that the course became quite familiar, especially the 625-yard 16th with the pond in front. 

Steve_ Shaffer:
I remember matches being played at LaCosta:

http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060220/news_1s20lacosta.html

http://www.hunter-pr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/la-costa-golf-course-stories-legends-of-game-champions-course.pdf

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Older-Zippo-Lighter-CBS-Match-Play-Classic-Has-111-on-left-and-right-side-/121505353069?pt=US_Solo_Sports_Fan_Shop&hash=item1c4a488d6d

http://www.theclubatlacosta.com/files/LaCosta%20JAN-MAR10_6.pdf

Rick Wolffe:
Thanks Steve and Bill...some good stuff on LaCosta and Firestone.

I found this brief mention on the CBS Classic at Firestone:

The American Golf Classic, initiated in 1961, began a new era of golf at Firestone. In 1962 The World Series of Golf began under its original format, and in succeeding years the course played host to many other competitions, including the CBS Golf Classic and Big Three Golf, the forerunner of The World Series of Golf.

In 1973, Firestone Country Club was the only course in the world on which three televised golf events- The American Golf Classic, The World Series of Golf and The CBS Golf Classic- were conducted in one calendar year. In 1969, the North Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones was opened. This scenic challenge was to become the site of the 1976 American Golf Classic and 1994 NEC World Series of Golf.

http://www.gulfcoastgolf.com/robert-trent-jones/courses/firestone-south.htm

What baffles me is that i can't find any records anywhere on the winners of these CBS made for tv tournaments.  Several months ago I made contact with the archivist at CBS and struck out...i was told that since this tournament was produced by Dan Curtis and his production studio that there was no archival film, or any records anywhere at CBS.

Contact at the PGA resulted in nothing and the curators at the USGA library had no records either.

Has the CBS Match Play Classic become "The Lost PGA Tournament?"

Tom Bagley:
I too have been stumped trying to find any info about the CBS Golf Classic, or videos online.  When I was a kid we were avid followers of the telecasts, partly because local Massachusetts golfer Paul Harney was frequently involved.  (I believe he won it one year with Don January as a partner).  My recollection is that the matches were played at Firestone and taped over several days in late summer/early fall for broadcast during the winter months.  In the pre-internet, pre-Golf Channel days, it was relatively easy to keep the winner a secret.  I also recall that the series was later moved to La Costa.

The players wore microphones, which added an extra dimension to the broadcast, and the format was (I believe) four-ball stroke play.  Tommy Jacobs holed a bunker shot one year to win the final match, the video clip of which was used as a promo and in the introduction to each week's show.  When the final match aired, I can recall Jacobs entering the bunker on the last hole to play the shot, and realizing, "He is going to hole-out!"

Rick Wolffe:
Thank you Tom.  Your tip led me to this on Paul Harney at the Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame web site: 

Voted “Best Male Golf Professional of the 20th Century in Massachusetts” in 1999 by the readership of MassGolfer magazine, Worcester native Paul Harney arguably developed into the best part-time player the PGA Tour ever saw. The former Holy Cross College golf team captain won six PGA Tour events, the most of any Massachusetts-bred player. The last three came as a husband and father after, in 1963, he kept a promise to wife Patti and ‘retired’ as a full-time PGA Tour player once their first child began school.

After losing a playoff to Arnold Palmer at the Thunderbird Classic and missing out in a playoff by one stroke at the 1963 U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club in his home state, Harney accepted a club professional position in California. He won the inaugural 1964 CBS Golf Classic with Don January and back-to-back Los Angeles Opens in 1964 and 1965 (he missed a three-peat by one shot to Palmer in 1966). In this era, he also chalked up four top-10 finishes in the Masters.

http://www.massgolfhall.com/paul-harney.html

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