500 Festival Open Invitation
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Speedway, Indiana |
| Established | 1960 |
| Course(s) | Speedway Golf Course |
| Par | 72 |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play – 72 holes (2018) |
| Prize fund | $100,000 |
| Month played | June (1968) |
| Final year | 1968 |
| Final champion | |
 Billy Casper | |
| Location map | |
  Indianapolis Location in United States  Indianapolis Location in Indiana | |
The 500 Festival Open Invitation was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played during the 1960s in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was sponsored by The 500 Festival, a not-for-profit volunteer organization created in 1957 to organize civic events to promote the Indianapolis 500.[1]
The tournament was played at the Speedway Golf Course, located in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex; the exception was in 1965, when it was played at Greentree Country Club while the Speedway was undergoing renovations.
Tournament highlights
In 1961 Doug Ford won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Arnold Palmer.
In 1963 the Indianapolis 500 was held on Thursday May 30, and the tournament was held over four days from Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3. Previously the golf tournament was held prior to the running of the race. The one-day turnaround required grounds crews to quickly clean up the nine holes inside the track, used on race day for parking by fans. Considerable attention was given to the fact that several top names on the PGA Tour decided to skip the event.[2] Among the reasons cited was the low purse, and the overall unchallenging nature of the course.
In 1964 the tournament was held from Wednesday, May 27 through Friday, May 29, then concluded Sunday May 31. The Indianapolis 500 was held Saturday May 30. Gary Player sank a birdie putt on the final hole to clinch the victory.
The 1965 tournament was held at Greentree Country Club. The Speedway Golf Course was undergoing a renovation project. In 1966 the tournament was moved out of the month of May and away from the activities directly surrounding the Indy 500. Billy Casper won the event three times while Doug Ford won it twice.
Winners
| Year | Dates | Player | Country | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Winner's share ($) |
Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Jun 6–9 | Billy Casper (3) |  United States |
70-71-69-70=280 | −8 | 1 stroke | Frank Beard Mike Hill |
20,000 | [3] |
| 1967 | Jul 6–9 | Frank Beard | United States |
70-71-69-69=279 | −9 | 3 strokes | Rod Funseth Rives McBee |
20,000 | [4] |
| 1966 | Jul 28–31 | Billy Casper (2) | United States |
69-70-68-70=277 | −11 | 3 strokes | R. H. Sikes |
16,400 | [5] |
| 1965 | May 24–27 | Bruce Crampton |  Australia |
71-70-67-71=279 | −5 | 1 stroke | Jacky Cupit Lionel Hebert |
15,200 | [6] |
| 1964 | May 27–31 | Gary Player |  South Africa |
70-66-70-67=273 | −11 | 1 stroke | Doug Sanders Art Wall Jr. |
12,000 | [7] |
| 1963 | May 31 – Jun 3 | Dow Finsterwald | United States |
68-68-64-68=268 | −16 | 2 strokes | Tommy Aaron Julius Boros Tony Lema Bobby Nichols |
10,000 | [8] |
| 1962 | May 24–27 | Billy Casper | United States |
66-67-67-64=264 | −18 | 1 stroke | George Bayer Jerry Steelsmith |
9,000 | [9] |
| 1961 | May 25–28 | Doug Ford (2) | United States |
69-69-67-68=273 | −11 | Playoff | Arnold Palmer |
9,000 | [10] |
| 1960 | May 26–29 | Doug Ford | United States |
66-68-68-68=270 | −14 | 2 strokes | Jerry Barber |
9,000 | [11] |
See also
- 500 Ladies Classic – the LPGA Tour event was held in June 1968
- Brickyard Crossing Championship – the senior tour event was played from 1994 through 2000
- Indy Women in Tech Championship – the LPGA Tour event debuted in 2017
References
- ^ "The 500 Festival". Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
- ^ Speedway Golf Sponsors Angry
- ^ Casper nips Hill for fourth win
- ^ Beard Wins Speedway
- ^ Billy Casper Is Winner at Indianapolis
- ^ Crampton Scores Narrow Victory in 500 Tourney
- ^ Player Plans Brief Vacation
- ^ Finsterwald Wins Golf Tournament
- ^ Casper Grabs First Money in 500 Open
- ^ Ford Golf Playoff Winner
- ^ Doug Ford Wins Speedway Golf