Welcome to PGA Forum!

We're here to help you learn about the PGA, learn a little about the equipment, and maybe even find a golf course to play. As time goes by we'll be expanding the site based on your feedback, so please tell us what you'd like to see.

The Professional Golfers Association of America has been supporting golfers since 1916 and has just celebrated their 90th year of service. There is also a PGA in Europe that has been around even longer - since 1901. Both organizations are committed to developing programs that promote golfing and to attract new and existing players.

There are also some related organizations that have the letters PGA in their names. At one time part of the PGA of America, in 1968 the Tournament Players Division split from the PGA to form its own organization. This eventually became known as the PGA Tour, and it now runs the PGA Tour, the Nationwide Tour, and the Champions Tour.



The PGA European Tour was created in 1984 by the Professional Golfers Association. This organization manages the European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the Challenge Tour.

Here are a few fun tidbits:
  • Did you know that until 1895 it was legal to use a pool cue as a putter at USGA tournaments?

  • The first rubber-cored ball, the Haskell ball, was designed and patented in 1898.

  • The first PGA Championship was held October 9th -14th, 1916, in Bronxville, New York, at the Siwanoy Country Club where Jim Barnes defeated Jock Hutchison. Rodman Wanamaker donated a purse of $2,580 and a trophy that has come to be known today as the Wanamaker cup.

  • The term "birdie" was coined in 1898 from "a bird of a hole".

  • Depending on who you ask, The first US golf magazine was either "Golf Illustrated" - first published in 1914 - or "Golf" - first published in 1895. The oldest continually-running golf publication in the United States is the PGA magazine that was founded in 1920 as "The Professional Golfer of America" and later renamed "PGA Magazine" in 1977.

  • William Taylor patented the first dimple-pattern golf ball in 1905.

  • Goodrich created a rubber-cored golf ball with the core filled with compressed air in 1906. One slight problem; the ball tended to explode in warm weather in golfer's pockets. Needless to say, the exploding "Pneu-matic" didn't catch on.


 

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