Sixty years have passed since the Harvey Chapman, a professional golfer with the PGA convinced the members of the Kiwanis Club of Gardena Valley to take on a Pro-Am tournament. The inaugural tourney took place at the golf course on the north end of the city of Gardena, – now known as the Chester Washington Golf Course. Little did they know what they were getting themselves into.
Somehow they needed to attract known professional golfers to play, establish a large team of workers to conduct an event of the caliber to attract known professionals.
Sixty years have passed since the Harvey Chapman, a professional golfer with the PGA convinced the members of the Kiwanis Club of Gardena Valley to take on a Pro-Am tournament. The inaugural tourney took place at the golf course on the north end of the city of Gardena, – now known as the Chester Washington Golf Course. Little did they know what they were getting themselves into.
Somehow they needed to attract known professional golfers to play, establish a large team of workers to conduct an event of the caliber to attract known professionals.
In addition it required the club to raise the funds sufficient to cover the expenses of the Tournament and have enough to pay an acceptable purse to the golfers and have some left over to carry on the charitable projects the club was committed to provide
Fortunately, Chapman, a City Councilman and later to be Mayor, was a member of the Kiwanis Club and having been on the golf pro circuit knew enough known Professional Golfers, and being a very likeable fellow could convince some well-known professional golfers to play in the Pro-Am event. Some of those named golfers might be remembered by some of you taking the time to read this story.
One of those golfers was probably the first African American professional to play of the professional circuit. If you ever saw him, you would remember him – he was almost always smoking a cigar — Charlie Sifford was his name. He along with other professionals like Jerry Barber made the Pro-Am successful. Charlie Sifford won the tournament in 1959. Jerry Barber won it in 1968. Other well-known professional golfers participating were Jim Ferrier, Bob Duden, and Jerry Heard, who later was struck by lighting and Lee Trevino while playing in another tournament.
To help make the tournament a success such notables as winning Indianapolis race driver Parnelli Jones, gave his support along with J.C. Agajanian Sr – all of which helped attract over three hundred players and large galleries to watch the Pros in action.
More than 300 professional golfers and amateurs teed off in 1964. While a purse of $10,000 does not sound like much today, at that time, it was enough to give a start to young amateurs who desired to play on the professional circuit.
Among the amateurs playing was Joe Kirkwood Jr., better known as Joe Palooka in the movies, and John Cook, from this country club, who later won and placed in many PGA Tournaments.
