| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Established | 1958 |
| Course | Sahara Nevada Country Club |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,800 yards (6,200 m) [1] |
| Tour | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$135,000 |
| Month played | September/October |
| Final year | 1976 |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 269 Billy Casper (1965) |
| To par | −15 as above |
| Final champion | |
 George Archer | |
| Location map | |
  Sahara Nevada CC Location in the United States  Sahara Nevada CC Location in Nevada | |
The Sahara Invitational was a PGA Tour event in Nevada from 1958 through 1976, played in Las Vegas and sponsored by the Sahara Hotel. In the first four years, it was the Sahara Pro-Am and an unofficial tour event. Paradise Valley Country Club hosted in 1970 and 1971, and Sahara Nevada Country Club from 1972 –1976.
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Jack Nicklaus won Sahara four times in a seven-year span in the 1960s, and three future major champions (Tony Lema, [2] Lanny Wadkins, and John Mahaffey) made Sahara their first tour victory.
A month after the 1976 event, [1] it was announced in early November that the Sahara Invitational was being discontinued. Edward M. Nigro, vice president and general manager of Hotel Sahara, cited rising costs, scheduling conflicts, and a decline in the national promotion benefit as the reasons for the tournament's cancellation. [3]
The Las Vegas Founders returned the PGA Tour to Las Vegas in 1983 with the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic; since 2007, it has been organized by the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
