The Professional Putters Association (PPA) was started in 1959 by Don Clayton, the founder of Putt-Putt Golf, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Originally begun as the Professional Putt-Putt Golfers Association in 1959, the name was changed in 1960 to the Professional Putters Association. The organization was formed to provide tournaments and competition for those who viewed putting as a sport. Since 1959, the PPA has held a National Championship Tournament.
The PPA has awarded over $8,000,000 in prize money over the past 52 years. Billy Packer, best known for his work on college basketball telecasts for both NBC and CBS, and Frank Glieber, longtime sportscaster for CBS, served as the announcers for the Putt-Putt Golf Courses Championship TV series.
Timeline
1960 - The first National Tournament Program of the PPA offered $26,000 in prize money. 1961 - The first putting match ever to be filmed for television was the PPA "Parade of Champions" TV Series. 1965 - The PPA expanded to worldwide tournaments. The first foreign tournaments were held in Africa, with Australia, Japan, and Canada following soon after. 1969 - The Amateur Putters Association (APA) began. Today, amateur putters compete in their own division in all PPA tournaments. 1970 - Vance Randall was honored as the 1960s Putter of the Decade. 1973 - The PPA sponsored the World Putting Championship tournament offering over $200,000 in prize money. Mike Baldoza captured the first place money of $50,000. 1980 - Dick and Evelyn Florin were honored as the 1970s Putters of the Decade. 1987 - The PPA inducted its first members into the newly created Putt-Putt/PPA Hall of Fame. 1990 - Ron Frederick was honored as the 1980s Putter of the Decade. 1995 - The PPA TV Series is shown worldwide on ESPN. 1998 - Over $7,500,000 awarded in the 39 years of the PPA 2000 - The PPA awards $100,000 in prize money for the 2000 PPA National Championship. Alan Quinnelly's victory makes him the only three-time winner of this event as a professional. The $50,000 first place check made him the sport's all-time career leading money winner at the time. 2001 - Greg Ward was honored as the 1990s Putter of the Decade 2002 - The PPA World Match Play Championship returns to the schedule and is won by Greg Ward in Martinez, Georgia 2005 - Greg Ward surpasses Alan Quinnelly as the sport's all-time leading money winner.
Oak Island is a seaside town located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina, United States. Part of Brunswick County, the major portion of the town is on Oak Island which it shares with Caswell Beach. Founded in 1999 as the result of the consolidation of two existing towns, Oak Island's main industry is tourism. Per the 2020 census, the town has a permanent population of 8,396 while its summer population is near 50,000. It along with the town of Caswell Beach is part of the Wilmington, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous 60-mile (97 km) stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its year-round population was 35,682 as of the 2020 census, making it the 13th-most populous city in South Carolina.
Theodore Ernest Els is a South African professional golfer. A former World No. 1, he is nicknamed "The Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 at Oakmont and in 1997 at Congressional, and The Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. He is one of six golfers to twice win both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.
Miniature golf is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played on courses consisting of a series of holes similar to those of its parent, but the courses are characterized by their short length.
Malibu Grand Prix (MGP) was an entertainment company that was popular during the 1970s and 1980s as a franchised miniature Indy car racing track. The typical complex included a 3000-4000 sq ft. arcade with a concession stand and a race track outside, covering around 10,000 to 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) altogether. It was acquired by Warner Communications in 1976 which in turn sold it in late 1983 to a group of Canadian developers and a local entrepreneur whose background included Chuck E. Cheese’s. There were a total of 40 locations at the time of acquisition including 32 tracks and 8 family entertainment centers featuring miniature golf, batting cages, bumper boats and more. As part of the acquisition, Malibu acquired seven parks from Castle Entertainment which was in bankruptcy. These locations were located in North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, and Redondo Beach, California; El Paso, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, Florida. A location in Tulsa, Oklahoma was acquired in late 1984 that included a small waterpark and a Malibu-like racing facility. The California partner sold out in 1986, and the Canadians sold the chain to Mountasia in 1995.
Défi mini-putt was a weekly show in the early 1990s on the Quebec cable sports network, Réseau des sports. It was the first professional miniature golf tournament to be regularly broadcast in Quebec.
The Grand Strand is an arc of beach land on the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina, United States, extending more than 60 miles (97 km) from Little River to Winyah Bay. It is located in Horry and Georgetown Counties on the northeastern South Carolina coast.
Rees Jones is an American golf course architect.
Bradford John Faxon Jr. is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour.
Michigan's Adventure is a 250-acre (1.0 km2) amusement park in Muskegon County, Michigan, about halfway between Muskegon and Whitehall. It is the largest amusement park in the state and has been owned and operated by Six Flags since 2024. The park was previously owned by Cedar Fair from 2001-2024. As of 2024, Michigan's Adventure has over 60 rides, slides and attractions, more than any other park in the state.
Wet'n'Wild Hawaii is a Hawaiian water park, located in Kapolei in the City and County of Honolulu on Oahu. The park occupies 29 acres (120,000 m2) of land and has more than 25 rides and attractions. It is currently the only water park in the state of Hawaii. It is one of six water parks operating under the Wet'n'Wild brand globally.
A sectional center facility (SCF) is a processing and distribution center (P&DC) of the United States Postal Service (USPS) that serves a designated geographical area defined by one or more three-digit ZIP Code prefixes. A sectional center facility routes mail between local post offices, sorting and delivery centers (SDCs), to and from network distribution centers (NDCs), and to and from other sectional center facilities.
Adventure Landing is a group of amusement parks located in Florida, New York, North Carolina and Texas. The first park was opened in Jacksonville Beach, Florida in 1995 by Adventure Entertainment Company. It was a success and nine other Adventure Landing parks were constructed.
The Daytona Beach Golf Course is a municipal golf course, located at 600 Wilder Blvd. in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the City of Daytona Beach, and offers two courses, the North Course and the South Course.
Chesterfield Inn, also known as Chesterfield Inn and Motor Lodge, was a historic hotel located at Myrtle Beach in Horry County, South Carolina. The Chesterfield Inn consisted of two three-story, rectangular buildings constructed in 1946 and 1965. The 1946 building was of frame construction with a brick veneer exterior, with an end to front gable roof, and a raised basement foundation. It was an unusual example of Colonial Revival style architecture in the Myrtle Beach area.
Robert W. White was born in St Andrews, Scotland, and was a school teacher there before emigrating in 1894 to the United States to study agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked as a professional and greenkeeper at several clubs and was an excellent clubmaker. He first took up a post as professional at the Myopia Hunt Club in 1895 and served at a number of other clubs, including Shawnee Country Club in 1914. White helped many young men from the British Isles find work in the United States as golf professionals and greenkeepers. White, who was best known as a golf course architect and golf administrator, was an accomplished golfer but didn't post many notable results. He entered and played in a few U.S. Open tournaments around the turn of the century, in 1897 and again in 1901. In the 1897 U.S. Open, White carded rounds of 89-97=186 and finished well back in the field.
The Hollywood Wax Museum is a two-story wax museum featuring replicas of celebrities located on Highway 76 in Branson, Missouri.
The Oak Island Golf Club (OIGC) is located in Caswell Beach NC on the south side of Oak Island looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lower Cape Fear region in Brunswick County, Southeast North Carolina, it is one of the few 18 holes golf courses built on a barrier island. The privately owned 6,720 yard, par 72 course is open to the public and has 37 bunkers with water in play on 11 holes. Laid out with five sets of tees which present a wide range of playability, the back (blue) tees are course rated at 73.1 with a slope of 139. A pro shop/pub/snack bar along with a full practice facility to include a sand trap, both putting and pitching greens, and a driving range is also available to the public.
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