Orange County Open Invitational

Last updated
Orange County Open Invitational
Tournament information
Location Costa Mesa, California
Established1959
Course(s)Mesa Verde Country Club
Par71
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Format Stroke play
Prize fund US$20,000
Month playedOctober
Final year1962
Tournament record score
Aggregate267 Bob Rosburg (1962)
267 Tony Lema (1962)
To par−17 as above
Final champion
Flag of the United States.svg Tony Lema
Location Map
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Mesa Verde CC
Location in the United States
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Icona golf.svg
Mesa Verde CC
Location in California

The Orange County Open Invitational was a PGA Tour event that was played for four years at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, California during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Construction began on the championship course at Mesa Verde Country Club in 1958 under the supervision of golf course designer William Francis Bell, and was officially opened in January 1959. Later that same year, the inaugural Orange County Open took place, which was won by Jay Hebert. The first permanent clubhouse was in place for the second event by the time Billy Casper took the trophy. The fourth and final tournament was held in 1962, and was won by Tony Lema after a grueling three-hole sudden death playoff with Bob Rosburg. Lema celebrated his victory by providing free champagne to members of the press in the clubhouse, a promise he had made the day before contingent upon winning. As a result of this and Lema's dashing good looks, the press dubbed him Champagne Tony from that day forth. [1]

Winners

YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1962 Flag of the United States.svg Tony Lema 267−17Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Bob Rosburg
1961 Flag of the United States.svg Bob McCallister 278−62 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jacky Cupit
Flag of the United States.svg Don Fairfield
Flag of the United States.svg Marty Furgol
Flag of the United States.svg Al Geiberger
Flag of the United States.svg Phil Rodgers
1960 Flag of the United States.svg Billy Casper 276−81 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Charlie Sifford
1959 Flag of the United States.svg Jay Hebert 273−112 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jack Fleck
Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg Jerry Magee

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References

  1. "Historical information from Mesa Verde Country Club's online library". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2009-05-02.