NELSON VS. SNEAD
The year is 1945. The event – the PGA Tour’s Gulfport Open. The setting – Great Southern Golf Club. After playing the regulation round to a tie, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead went into a play-off. For nineteen holes they battled it out at the Donald Ross designed course. Finally the championship came down to one five-foot putt. Not a gimme, by any means. Make it, and Snead beats Nelson by one. Miss it, and the play-off continues. In an act of sportsmanship above-and-beyond, Nelson conceded the putt. Snead wins. But don’t feel bad for Byron, in 1945, he went on to win an unprecedented 11 straight tournaments.
- 1902 Around 1902, 14 years before the first golf club in the U.S., the “Golf Coast ” had golfers on Keller’s Green on the MS Gulf Coast hitting a ball in a field. Late that year, the railroad hired Spaulding employee and famous golf course architect Thomas Bendelow to design a course in Pass Christian for the Mexican Gulf Hotel and one in Biloxi. Some think the present day Pass Christian Isles Golf Club was built on the original site of the Mexican Gulf Golf Course and Thomas Bendelow’s grandson , Stuart Bendelow, agrees.
- 1910 GREAT SOUTHERN CLUB, presently considered the oldest golf club in the state of Mississippi. It was designed by the famous prominent New Orleans Architect, Charles Neiman. The original nine sported oyster shell tee-boxes and sand greens.
- 1953 SUNKIST COUNTRY CLUB built by Frank Stiedle to serve the growing golf community of Biloxi and probably as a direct result of the excitement of the PGA Tour coming the coast in the 40′s.
- 1965 MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL (previously Hickory Hills) was the first of many designed and built by Earl Stone. It has played host to PGA NIKE Tours.
- 1972 DIAMONDHEAD COUNTRY CLUB, a new coast residential development, built its Cardinal Course. It was designed by John Lafoy.
- 1977 DIAMONDHEAD COUNTRY CLUB built its second 18-hole course, the Pine Course. They use a local favorite, Earl Stone. This makes Diamondhead the only area club with 36 holes.
- 1986 WINDANCE COUNTRY CLUB, another private community, builds a championship 18-hole course by Mark McCumber and is host to many PGA Tour events.
- 1992 DOGWOOD HILLS GOLF CLUB was built in Woolmarket by local Brent Williams to serve the local community north of Biloxi. Interstate 10 makes it easily accessible from the entire coast.
- 1997 THE BRIDGES GOLF CLUB at Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis hired Arnold Palmer, the “king” of golf, to build a championship design that has been host to many events including PGA Tour Qualifiers and the Hooters Tour.
- 1998 THE OAKS GOLF CLUB is designed by the famous Landmark Design group that built Kiawah’s Ocean Course and Oak Tree. It has been host to many PGA Tour Events.
- 1999 GRAND BEAR GOLF CLUB brings golf’s past great star – Jack Nicklaus – to the Coast to design one of his best. Golf Digest gives it a 4 1/2 star rating.
- 2000 SHELL LANDING brings golf’s present star – Davis Love III – to the Coast to design the area’s newest championship course and is an instant classic. Davis Love III opens Shell landing with a course record.
- 2006 The Preserve Golf Club is introduced to rave reviews – a new course by Jerry Pate who has been active in golf course design for more than twenty years.
