500 Festival Open Invitation

500 Festival Open Invitation

Tournament information
Location	Speedway, Indiana
Established	1960
Course(s)	Speedway Golf Course
Par	72
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$100,000
Final year	1968
Tournament record score
Aggregate	264 Billy Casper (1962)
To par	−20 as above
Final champion
Billy Casper
Location map
Speedway GC Location in United States Show map of the United States Speedway GC Location in Indiana Show map of Indiana

The 500 Festival Open Invitation was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played during the 1960s in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was sponsored by The 500 Festival, a not-for-profit volunteer organization created in 1957 to organize civic events to promote the Indianapolis 500.^[1]

The tournament was played at the Speedway Golf Course, located in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex; the exception was in 1965, when it was played at Greentree Country Club while the Speedway was undergoing renovations.

Tournament highlights

In 1961 Doug Ford won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff over Arnold Palmer.

In 1963 the Indianapolis 500 was held on Thursday May 30, and the tournament was held over four days from Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3. Previously the golf tournament was held prior to the running of the race. The one-day turnaround required grounds crews to quickly clean up the nine holes inside the track, used on race day for parking by fans. Considerable attention was given to the fact that several top names on the PGA Tour decided to skip the event.^[2] Among the reasons cited was the low purse, and the overall unchallenging nature of the course.

In 1964 the tournament was held from Wednesday, May 27 through Friday, May 29, then concluded Sunday May 31. The Indianapolis 500 was held Saturday May 30. Gary Player sank a birdie putt on the final hole to clinch the victory.

The 1965 tournament was held at Greentree Country Club. The Speedway Golf Course was undergoing a renovation project. In 1966 the tournament was moved out of the month of May and away from the activities directly surrounding the Indy 500. Billy Casper won the event three times while Doug Ford won it twice.

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)	Ref.
1968	Billy Casper (3)	280	−8	1 stroke	Frank Beard Mike Hill	20,000	[3]
1967	Frank Beard	279	−9	3 strokes	Rod Funseth Rives McBee	20,000	[4]
1966	Billy Casper (2)	277	−11	3 strokes	R. H. Sikes	16,400	[5]
1965	Bruce Crampton	279	−5	1 stroke	Jacky Cupit Lionel Hebert	15,200	[6]
1964	Gary Player	273	−11	1 stroke	Doug Sanders Art Wall Jr.	12,000	[7]
1963	Dow Finsterwald	268	−16	2 strokes	Tommy Aaron Julius Boros Tony Lema Bobby Nichols	10,000	[8]
1962	Billy Casper	264	−20	1 stroke	George Bayer Jerry Steelsmith	9,000	[9]
1961	Doug Ford (2)	273	−11	Playoff	Arnold Palmer	9,000	[10]
1960	Doug Ford	270	−14	2 strokes	Jerry Barber	9,000	[11]

See also

• 500 Ladies Classic – LPGA Tour event held in June 1968
• Brickyard Crossing Championship – senior tour event was played from 1994 to 2000
• Indy Women in Tech Championship – LPGA Tour event from 2017 to 2019

References

1. "The 500 Festival". Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
2. "Speedway Golf Sponsors Angry". Sarasota Journal. Florida. Associated Press. June 3, 1963. p. 16 – via Google News Archive.
3. "Casper nips Hill for fourth win". The Gazette. Montreal. Associated Press. June 10, 1968. p. 25 – via Google News Archive.
4. "Beard Wins Speedway". The Telegraph-Herald. Dubuque, Iowa. Associated Press. July 9, 1967. p. 6 – via Google News Archive.
5. Burgess, Dale (August 1, 1966). "Billy Casper is Winner at Indianapolis". The Gettysburg Times. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. 5 – via Google News Archive.
6. "Crampton Scores Narrow Victory in 500 Tourney". St. Joseph Gazette. Missouri. Associated Press. May 28, 1965. p. 3B – via Google News Archive.
7. "Player Plans Brief Vacation". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press. June 1, 1964. p. 24 – via Google News Archive.
8. "Finsterwald Wins Golf Tournament". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. Associated Press. June 4, 1963. p. 12 – via Google News Archive.
9. "Casper Grabs First Money in 500 Open". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. May 29, 1962. p. 11 – via Google News Archive.
10. "Ford Golf Playoff Winner". Ottawa Citizen. Associated Press. May 29, 1961. p. 15 – via Google News Archive.
11. "Doug Ford Wins Speedway Golf". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Florida. Associated Press. May 30, 1960. p. 10 – via Google News Archive.

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