History of Golf on the Mississippi Gulf Coast
With Sam Snead and Byron Nelson’s match in the 1945 Gulfport Open the golf gateway was opened for travelers to desend on the area to experience the pleasures of golf, fishing and recreational sports which make up the lure of the area. With the established Vegas Stlye gaming coming to the region in 1992 these great sporting experiences were enhance to offer the recreational traveler more to occupy their time during their stay.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast has long been recognized as a great golf destination but with the formation of the Mississippi Golf Course Association the brand has grown stronger. The addition of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic Champions Tour event only solidifies what people have seen in visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Gulf Coast is aptly named the “Golf Coast.”
With courses designers ranging from Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Mark McCumber, Davis Love and Jerry Pate the Mississippi Gulf Coast has distingushed itself as a top golf destination. One would say that,
“Champions do not visit here just once a year but helped the Golf Coast build the experience years ago.”
For golf course and golf package travel information visit: www.golfcoast.com
For Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic information visit: www.mississippigulfresortclassic.com
Of note:
The Gulfport Open was a golf tournament on the PGA TOUR that played in the 1940s on Mississippi‘‘s oldest golf course, the Great Southern Golf Club of Gulfport.
At the 1945 event, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead finished play in regulation tied for the lead. Nineteen holes later in one of golf’s most epic playoffs, Nelson conceded a putt to Snead giving him the tournament. Later that year, Nelson would complete a record-setting season by winning eighteen tournaments, 11 of them consecutively.
The Great Southern golf club was designed by Donald Ross in 1908.
Coastal Athlete/ Golf
As an ongoing effort to support junior golf and to assist in providing the best opportunity for these junior golfers to play at the highest level possible the Mississippi Gulf Coast has established the golfers section of the Coastal Athlete to make this possible.
It is with this program that junior golfers will be given the chance to track their successes while giving colleges, college recruiters and college golf coaches intricate information such as statistics, scoring averages and detail records of Coastal Golfers. From junior events, high school events and other USGA Junior events, college recruiters will have first hand knowledge of how these athletes are progressing to provide the platform for them to play at the next level.
