A Brief History of the Southern Open: 1970 to 2002
The Southern Open Tribute Page .. aka The Buick Challenge .. Columbus GA .. Pine Mountain GA .. 1970 to 2002 .. PGA Tour Golf .. Frank's Humble Abode at frankosite2020.com .. formerly known as frankosport.com
TITLE NAME »» Green Island Invitational (1970)
Southern Open (1971-1989)
Buick Southern Open (1990-1994)
Buick Challenge (1995-2002)

HOST COURSE, 1970 to 1990: Green Island CC - Columbus, GA (Par-70/6791-yds)
1991 to 2002: Mountain Course at Callaway Gardens Pine Mountain, GA (Par-72/7057-yds)

The Southern Open, which eventually became known as the Buick Challenge, was an official PGA Tour event from 1970
to 2002. It was played first at Green Island CC in Columbus GA (1970 to 1990), and then at the Callaway Gardens Resort
in Pine Mountain GA (1991 to 2002).

During its time at Callaway Gardens, PGA Tour players would say that the Mountain View course and club facilities were
among the best on the entire PGA Tour. But for primary sponsor Buick-GM, the issues of medium attendance, a remote
location and competition from pro and college football were just too much to bear. So, in mid-2001, Buick opted to end
its sponsorship of the event after 2002, and the event's last staging would be 2002.

For that final event in 2002, Phil Mickelson, then #2 player in the world, headed a field that was scheduled to include the
likes of Ernie Els, David Duval, Davis Love III, Paul Azinger, Fred Funk, David Toms, Jim Furyk, Loren Roberts, Mark
O'Meara, Gary Nicklaus, Jesper Parnevik, Scott Hoch, Segio Garcia and defending champion Chris DiMarco. Also
playing this last edition in 2002 was the 1987 Masters winner Larry Mize, who made his home in Columbus GA.

In case anyone is wondering, Tiger Woods never played at Callaway. He was scheduled to play there in 1996 and receive
the Fred Haskins award for his outstanding college record. Unfortunately, due to his heavy Fall 1996 playing schedule,
Woods opted to withdrew at the last moment !!!!

Southern Charities, a non-profit group that owned and ran the Buick Challenge, looked for some way to keep the event
going. On December 9th 2002, the PGA Tour announced that the Columbus Southern Open, a new Champions Tour event,
would be held at Green Island C.C. in Columbus, Georgia, beginning 2003.

The Green Island C.C. course (as well as its clubhouse) had been worked on extensively in recent years. Larry Mize, the
Columbus-based 1987 Masters champion, would say that Green Island's greens putt the best of any course in the area.

The 2003 Columbus Southern Open was won by Morris Hatalsky. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that there would be
no PGA Tour-sponsored event after 2003. No such event has been held in the Columbus, GA area since then !!

Southern Open / Buick Challenge Tournament History Summary
Winners, Finishers, Scores and Earnings from 1970 to 2002
Click-on a year for full tournament results 
Year -- Winner -- Winning Score -- 1st Prize($$) -- Total Purse($$)

NOTE .. Years 1992, 1994 and 1996 .... Weather-shortened events

1970   Mason Rudolph     75, 68, 67, 64 = 274    12,000 /  60,000
1971   Johnny Miller     65, 67, 68, 67 = 267    20,000 / 100,000
1972   Dewitt Weaver     65, 67, 72, 72 = 276    20,000 / 100,000
1973   Gary Player       69, 65, 67, 69 = 270    20,030 / 100,000
1974   Forrest Fezler    70, 68, 68, 65 = 271    20,000 / 100,000

1975   Hubert Green      68, 66, 66, 64 = 264    20,000 / 100,000
1976   Mac McLendon      68, 69, 69, 68 = 274    25,000 / 125,000
1977   Jerry Pate        64, 67, 69, 66 = 266    25,000 / 125,000
1978   Jerry Pate        67, 67, 66, 69 = 269    35,000 / 175,000
1979   Ed Fiori          69, 72, 65, 68 = 274    36,000 / 200,000

1980   Mike Sullivan     68, 63, 69, 69 = 269    36,000 / 200,000
1981   J.C. Snead        67, 68, 70, 66 = 271    36,000 / 200,000
1982   Bobby Clampett    65, 69, 68, 64 = 266    45,000 / 250,000
1983   Ronnie Black      68, 69, 65, 69 = 271    45,000 / 250,000
1984   Hubert Green      65, 66, 67, 67 = 265    54,000 / 300,000

1985   Tim Simpson       64, 64, 69, 67 = 264    63,000 / 350,000
1986   Fred Wadsworth    67, 67, 68, 67 = 269    63,000 / 350,000
1987   Ken Brown         65, 64, 69, 68 = 266    72,000 / 400,000
1988   David Frost       70, 68, 65, 67 = 270    72,000 / 400,000
1989   Ted Schulz        66, 66, 68, 66 = 266    72,000 / 400,000

1990   Kenny Knox        69, 62, 68, 66 = 265    108,000 / 600,000
1991   David Peoples     67, 71, 72, 66 = 276    126,000 / 700,000
1992   Gary Hallberg     68, 69, 69  -- = 206    126,000 / 700,000
1993   John Inman        71, 73, 64, 70 = 278    126,000 / 700,000
1994   Steve Elkington   66, 66, 68  -- = 200    144,000 / 800,000

1995   Fred Funk         69, 67, 69, 67 = 272    180,000 / 1,000,000
1996   Michael Bradley   66, 68  ------ = 134    180,000 / 1,000,000
1997   Davis Love        67, 65, 67, 68 = 267    216,000 / 1,200,000
1998   Steve Elkington   66, 70, 66, 65 = 267    270,000 / 1,500,000

1999   David Toms        68, 66, 66, 71 = 271    324,000 / 1,800,000
2000   David Duval       68, 69, 67, 65 = 269    414,000 / 2,300,000
2001   Chris DiMarco     67, 64, 71, 65 = 267    612,000 / 3,400,000
2002   Jonathan Byrd     67, 66, 65, 63 = 261    666,000 / 3,700,000

Year -- Winner -- Winning Score -- 1st Prize($$) -- Total Purse($$)

NOTE .. Years 1992, 1994 and 1996 .... Weather-shortened events
____________________________________________________________________
The 2003 Columbus Southern Open (Champions Tour, three rounds only)

2003   Morris Hatalsky   66, 65, 67 = 198        225,000 / 1,500,000
____________________________________________________________________
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1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 195 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003
Mason Rudolph - Johnny Miller - DeWitt Weaver - Gary Player - Forrest Fezler - Hubert Green - Mac McLendon - Jerry Pate - Ed Fiori - Mike Sullivan - J.C. Snead - Bobby Clampett - Ronnie Black - Tim Simpson
Fred Wadsworth - Ken Brown - David Frost - Ted Schulz - David Peoples - Gary Hallberg - John Inman - Steve Elkington - Fred Funk - Michael Bradley - Davis Love III - David Toms - David Duval - Chris DiMarco - Jonathan Byrd
Morris Hatalsky - Gunby Jordan - Green Island CC - Callaway Gardens Resort - Mountain Course - Pine Mountain - PGA Tour - Champions - golf - invitational - history - prize money - purse - par-70 - par-72 - stroke play - playoff