PGA Tour Champions has a long history in the Coachella Valley

Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·2 min read
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Jack Nicklaus (left) and Arnold Palmer share a laugh during the Senior Skins Gamein Hawaii in January. Nicklaus ended a streak of playing in 154 straight majors when he withdrew from the British Open last week. AP Photo
Jack Nicklaus (left) and Arnold Palmer share a laugh during the Senior Skins Gamein Hawaii in January. Nicklaus ended a streak of playing in 154 straight majors when he withdrew from the British Open last week. AP Photo

1980: The Senior PGA Tour is officially established, two years after the 1978 Legends of Golf tournament sparks interest in the concept of a tour for players 50 and over.

1981: The Vintage Invitational, an unofficial event for the Senior PGA Tour, debuts at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells. Gene Littler, a winner of 29 events on the PGA Tour and the 1961 U.S. Open, wins the first event.

1984: The Vintage Invitational becomes an official event on the Senior PGA Tour. Don January wins the tournament.

1993: After 12 years at The Vintage Club, the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational moves to the Indian Wells Golf Resort. Raymond Floyd wins the title, but the tournament ends after just one year at IWGR.

1994: The Diners Club Matches debut at PGA West in La Quinta, with divisions for PGA Tour, PGA and Senior PGA Tour players. The first senior division is won by the team of Raymond Floyd and Dave Eichelberger over the team of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

1995: The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, the tournament that inspired the creation of the Senior PGA Tour, moves from Texas to the Stadium Course at PGA West. Still a team competition, the first event is won by Mike Hill and Lee Trevino, with divisions for older golfers also played. The event moves to the Palmer Course at PGA West after one year.

1995: The Lexus Challenge hosted by Raymond Floyd, an event featuring one senior pro and one celebrity per team, debuts at the Citrus Course at PGA West. Floyd wins the first event with partner actor Michael Chiklis.

1997: Two events are played for the last time in the desert, the Legends of Golf and the Diners Club matches. Both events complain about low attendance as well as early tee times needed to meet television broadcast windows.

1998: The Lexus Challenge, which has featured celebrities like Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, is played for the final time in La Quinta, with Lexus pulling out of the tournament as the sponsor.

2022: Now called the PGA Tour Champions, the senior tour announces in April it will return to the desert in 2023 after the LPGA announces it is leaving the desert after 51 years. The senior tour announces it will play the Galleri Classic on the same Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage that the LPGA had played.

Fred Couples tees off during the PGA Chubb Classic Golf tournament at the Tiburon Golf Club, Sunday, February 19th, 2022, in Naples, Fla. (Photo/Chris Tilley)
Fred Couples tees off during the PGA Chubb Classic Golf tournament at the Tiburon Golf Club, Sunday, February 19th, 2022, in Naples, Fla. (Photo/Chris Tilley)

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Galleri Classic: PGA Tour Champions has a long history in the Coachella Valley