Gene Sarazen, on his way to finishing eighth in the 1941 Times-Union newspaper, was asked about Oak Hill Country Club as a potential host for a U.S. Open, or PGA Championship.
Sarazen compared the venues of the 1941 and 1940 U.S. Opens to the Fort Worth Country Club in Cleveland and the Canterbury Golf Club at Cleveland. Opens, respectively.
Sam Snead who won the second of two T-U Tournaments in 1942 (Ben Hogan had won the other one in 1941) also agreed and said that the East Course “was the best I’ve ever seen, suitable for the Open or PGA.”
They knew what they talked about and soon the U.S. The Golf Association and PGA of America began to listen.
Oak Hill, which has been hosting major golf tournaments for 82 years, has become one the most iconic sites in the World. It is the only venue in the United States to have hosted the U.S. Open three times, the PGA Championship four times, the Senior PGA twice, the U.S. Senior Open twice, the Ryder Cup, and the U.S. Amateur (2027 is the third).
The 105th PGA Championship will begin this month, bringing together the greatest names in the sport, including Walter Hagen from Rochester, Snead and Sarazen of Snead, Sarazen and Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Rory McIlroy are also expected to compete.
Take a look at some of the major events held at Oak Hill in the past:
