PGA Historical Museum ~ Port St. Lucie Attraction

Golf is rich in its history and its appreciation of the great traditions that frame the context of the game. In Golf the past has certainly served as prelude for today's game. Take a memorable tour of golf's great history, dating all the way back to the 1600s.

And it won't cost you a cent.

The PGA Historical Center, located next to the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance in Port St. Lucie, Fla., is the key that unlocks the great history of the sport of golf.

The PGA Historical Center offers you the one of a kind opportunity to view the actual Ryder Cup.

The growth of golf in the United States, as driven by The PGA of America, is ready for you to view. The PGA's founders, traditions, championships and award winners are presented as never before throughout the 8,300-square-foot facility.

The PGA Historical Center is a dynamic resource center for golf historians as well as beginners, and serves as a highly functional conference facility. The PGA Historical Center is the home of the Probst Library, which contains more than 6,000 hard-cover books, and more than 3,000 handbooks and yearbooks.

The PGA Historical Center Hours:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am until 4pm

In celebration of the nationwide kickoff to the golf season, the PGA Historical Center, in Port St. Lucie, Fla., has unveiled a new tribute to the legendary PGA President Horton Smith, who won the inaugural Masters in 1934. One of golf's first "boy wonders," Smith won the inaugural Augusta National Invitational, and then again just two years later in 1936, before the tournament became known as the Masters.

Featured in the PGA Historical Center display is the Winner's Medal from 1934, and a Masters Club Member watch fob awarded to Smith in becoming a member of Augusta National. In all, he won 32 events and finished second 37 times. He is believed to be the first professional to use a sand wedge in competition, a 23-ounce model invented by Texas cotton farmer Edward Kerr McClain. He was elected the 10th PGA President in 1952, and was chosen to five Ryder Cup teams, where he was undefeated (including one tie). Since 1965, The PGA has annually presented the Horton Smith Award to an individual PGA Professional for outstanding and continuing contributions to professional education. Smith passed away in 1963.

A separate display honors Jock Hutchison, winner of the first Senior PGA Championship, conducted at Augusta National in 1937, at the invitation of Bobby Jones and through the support of Alfred S. Bourne, who donated the namesake trophy annually awarded to the Senior PGA Champion - which is also on display at the PGA Historical Center. Hutchison, the 1920 PGA Champion, also finished as runner-up to Jim Barnes at the inaugural PGA Championship in 1916, at Siwanoy Country Club, in Bronxville, N.Y.

The 2009 PGA Teacher of the Year Mike Bender, of the Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Fla., is also honored in a display highlighted by a tribute to his instruction of Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion.  The exhibits accompany ongoing tributes to five-time PGA Champion Walter Hagen; 2009 PGA Champion Y.E. Yang; and 2009 Senior PGA Champion Michael Allen. Visitors can also witness the Ryder Cup Trophy and the four major Championship trophies of golf.

Admission to the PGA Historical Center is complimentary. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily through April 18; and Thurs.-Sun. only from April 22 through Christmas. 

The PGA Historical Center is located adjacent to the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance at 8565 Commerce Center Dr., Port St. Lucie, Fla. Combined with the nearby PGA Golf Club, the facilities form PGA Village, which is ranked among the "75 Best Golf Resorts in North America" by Golf Digest.

www.premiergolf.com

888-612-7991