Playing captain Sam Snead was suspended from the 1961 Ryder Cup matches!

“Did You Know”
Playing captain Sam Snead was suspended from the 1961 Ryder Cup matches!

In the third week of September 1961 six big name professionals were playing in the $10,000 Losantiville Pro-Am in Cincinnati at the same time the $25,000 Portland Open was being played in Oregon. The six professionals were suspended and fined. Without a waiver from the tournament sponsor, certain PGA members could not play in a conflicting event. The rule was created by the PGA to protect the tournament sponsors of PGA sanctioned events.

One of the suspended professionals was Sam Snead; the USA’s playing captain of the upcoming Ryder Cup, which would be played in England. The other five were Tommy Bolt, Lew Worsham, Dick Mayer, Walter Burkemo and Chick Harbert. Snead and Bolt had asked for waivers and had been denied. The suspensions were for six months, and the fines were $500. The rules allowed that a PGA Tour professional did not need a waiver from a tournament sponsor to compete in tournaments in his own PGA Section.

After the first round, the six players were notified by the PGA via telegram of their suspensions. Snead, Bolt and Mayer withdrew before the second round. Snead maintained that playing in a pro-am was not a violation. He stated that this event was not an individual stroke play event like the Portland Open.  But he had been denied a waiver by the Portland Open sponsor. Snead said he would get a lawyer to appeal the suspension and would go to court if necessary. Bolt said that he was not committed to play anywhere and could never understand the PGA’s rules.

A student from The Ohio State University named Jack Nicklaus, and his golf coach Bob Kepler, won the two-day tournament for a second straight year. Kepler picked up a check for $2,000 and Nicklaus received $200 credit in the golf shop. After the tournament, Nicklaus told the press he had no intention of turning pro, but a few months later he was playing in the Los Angeles Open as a professional.

At the same time as the Portland Open was being played, Doug Ford was playing in the Met Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. Ford was a member of the Metropolitan PGA, so he did not need a waiver from the Portland Open.

After a long meeting of the PGA of America executive committee at the PGA national office in Dunedin, FL on September 26, it was announced that Snead was off the Ryder Cup team. He had been a member of seven Ryder Cup teams and playing captain in both 1951 and 1959. Snead was told that he could appeal the decision, but the PGA appeals committee would not be meeting until November 2nd. Snead was replaced on the Ryder Cup team by Doug Ford, who was number 11 in points for the ten-man team.

Snead was replaced as playing captain of the Ryder Cup team by Jerry Barber, who had won the PGA Championship that year. Barber had been the professional at Cedarbrook Country Club in 1950 and won the Pennsylvania Open that year. Wilmington, DE’s Ed “Porky” Oliver, who was in poor health, had been named honorary captain by the PGA, but died before the Ryder Cup was played.

When the Ryder Cup was played, there were two home-grown eastern Pennsylvania professionals on the team; Honesdale’s Art Wall and Berwick’s Mike Souchak. Also on the team was Bill Collins, who had been an assistant at Philmont Country Club in 1951. The US team, loaded with major tournament winners, won with ease; 14-1/5 points to 9-1/5 points for Great Britain & Ireland.

In November Snead met with the PGA appeals committee. After the meeting the fines for Snead and Bolt were reduced to $100 and the suspensions were reduced to 45 days. The fines and suspensions for the other four professionals were rescinded because they had not won a PGA Tour event in the last 12 months. That year, Snead had won the Tournament of Champions and Bolt had won the Pensacola Open.