Fore!

A hole at the Savannah Golf Club

Fore! Yes you guessed it: Savannah has a historic golf history. Savannah had the first golf game in America. We have the oldest golf club. The Savannah Golf Club was started in 1794 and later incorporated in 1899. The golf club’s current course was designed by prolific designer Donald J. Ross in 1927. Ross, between 1900-1948, would design over 400 courses. Ross was a founding member and first president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977. One of the challenges with the Savannah Golf Club design was the Confederate line of fortifications that ran across the property. He incorporated the fortifications into the design to preserve their history. This course and club still exist on President Street.

Savannah also hosted the Legends of Golf Tournament for eleven years between 2002-2013 on Hutchinson Island. Golf legends Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player among others played at the Westin Harbor Golf Course during these years. Today the tournament is held in another city and called the Bass Pro Hops Legends of Golf in Big Cedar.

One of the golfers who played in the tournament was Savannah native Gene Sauers. Sauers’ storied career consisted of three wins on the PGA tour. He had four dozen top ten finishes in PGA Tour events. He also won the U.S. Senior Open in 2016.

But let us not leave the ladies out: another Savannah native Hollis Stacy is considered one of the greats of the LPGA. Stacy won four major championships and 18 LPGA Tour events in a career that started in 1974. She was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2011. She was also a remarkably great amateur player too. Stacy won the U.S. Girls' Junior three consecutive times, the only player to accomplish this feat, in 1969, 1970, and 1971. In 1970, she won the North and South Women's Amateur at Pinehurst, and played for the 1972 United States Curtis Cup team.

Currently, on the PGA tour is one of the new generation of golfers, Brian Harman, who is also a Savannah native. Brian was a three-time, 2nd Team All-American on the University of Georgia golf team. He saw tremendous success as a collegiate golfer, winning the 2005 NCAA Preview and the 2006 Isleworth Invitational. He also won the US Junior Amateur in 2003, as well as the Players Amateur in 2005, and the Porter Cup in 2007. His impressive collegiate and amateur resumes earned him a spot on the victorious 2005 and 2009 Walker Cup Teams.

He is in his sixth full season on the PGA Tour. He has already had two PGA Tour wins at the 2014 John Deere Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship held at Eagle Point Golf Club. In 2015, Harman held the 54 hole lead at the Travelers Championship, but would miss the playoff, won by Bubba Watson, by one stroke and finished in solo third. 

Savannah has also been the setting for the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance; it is a 2000 sports drama film directed by Robert Redford. The movie stars Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. The film also served as the last movie for Jack Lemmon who died shortly after its premiere.
So while Savannah has every right to say ‘Land Ahoy!,’ we also have a unique right to say Fore!

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Hollis Stacy

Gene Sauers