The USGA and the R&A, in a conference, complete a newly revised Rules of Golf. Although in1951 the R&A and the USGA continue to differ over the size of the golf ball, all other conflicts are resolved in this momentous conference. The center-shafted putter is legalized world-wide. The out-of-bounds penalty is standardized at stroke-and-distance, and the stymie is finally and forever abolished.
(1951)

Golf Digest is founded, with Bill Davis as editor.
(1951)

Al Brosch shoots 60 in the Texas Open to set an 18-hole PGA TOUR record.
(1951)

Marlene Hagge wins the Sarasota Open when she is 18 years 14 days old-an LPGA record.
(1952)

Patty Berg shoots an LPGA-record of 64 for an 18-hole round.
(1952)

The National Hole-in-One Clearing House is established by Golf Digest.
(1952)

Tommy Armour's How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time is published and becomes the first golf book ever to hit the best-seller lists.
(1953)

Ben Hogan wins the first three legs of the modern "Grand Slam" (The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open), but fails to win the final leg, the PGA Championship.
(1953)

The Tam O'Shanter World Championship becomes the first tournament to be nationally televised. Lew Worsham holes a 104-yard wedge shot on the final hole for eagle and victory in one of the most dramatic finishes ever.
(1953)

The Canada Cup is instituted, the first event that brings together teams from all over the world. After 1966 the tournament is known as the World Cup.
(1953)

Peter Thomson becomes the first Australian to win a major tournament with a victory in the British Open.
(1954)

Architect Robert Trent Jones, upon receiving complaints that he has made the par-3 fourth hole at Baltusrol too hard for the upcoming U.S. Open, plays the hole to see for himself and records a hole-in-one.
(1954)

The U.S. Open is nationally televised for the first time.
(1954)

The Tam O'Shanter World Championship offers the first $100,000 purse for a golf tournament.
(1954)

"All-Star Golf," a filmed series of matches, debuts on network television.
(1954)

Babe Zaharias returns to the LPGA Tour following cancer surgery and wins the U.S. Women's Open.
(1954)

The first PGA Merchandise Show is held in a parking lot in Dunedin, Florida, outside the PGA National Golf Club. Salesmen work the show out of the trunks of their cars. The Show goes on to become one of the main events on the golfing calendar-by 1994 it grows to over 30,000 attendees, four days, and has become the single-largest tenant of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, spilling over 220,000 square feet of exhibit space.
(1954)

Mike Souchak shoots 60-68-64-65 for a PGA TOUR record 27-under-par 257 for 72 holes, at Brackenridge Park GC in the Texas Open. The record still stands.
(1955)

The current yardage guides for par are adopted by the USGA.
(1956)

Great Britain wins the Ryder Cup matches at Lindrick-ending a drought that dates back to 1935.
(1957)

E. Harvie Ward loses his amateur status for accepting expenses from sponsors for golf tournaments. The ruling is reversed in 1958.
(1957)

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons is published.
(1957)

Arnold Palmer is allowed a controversial free drop to save par in the final round of the Masters, and he goes on to defeat Ken Venturi.
(1958)

Bill Wright, in winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links, becomes the first African-American to win a national championship.
(1959)

Golf Magazine is founded, with Charles Price as the first editor.
(1959)

Arnold Palmer comes back from six shots down in the final round to win the US Open. With his victory, he completes the first two legs of the modern Grand Slam after winning the Masters in April, the first to do so since Ben Hogan in 1953. He finishes second to Kel Nagle in the British Open to end his bid. Palmer's entry in the British Open is credited with reviving world-wide interest in the championship. Palmer went on to win the British Open in both 1961 and 1962.
(1960)

Lifting, cleaning, and repairing ballmarks is allowed on the putting green for the first time.
(1960)

Gary Player becomes the first foreign player to win the Masters.
(1961)

Caucasians-only clause stricken from the PGA constitution, and at the Greater Greensboro Open Charlie Sifford becomes the first black golfer to play in a PGA co-sponsored tournament in the South.
(1961)

Dr. Joseph Boydstone records 11 aces in one calendar year. Three were recorded in one round, at Bakersfield C.C., Calif.
(1962)

Jack Nicklaus wins his first professional tournament, the U.S. Open, the last player to win the U.S. Open as his first pro victory.
(1962)

Painted lines are first utilized to mark water hazards at the U.S. Open.
(1962)

Arnold Palmer becomes the first professional to earn over $100,000 in official prize money in one calendar year.
(1963)

Mickey Wright wins a record 13 events on the LPGA Tour in one year.
(1963)

The casting method for irons is first employed.
(1963)

PGA National opens, in Palm Beach, Fla.
(1964)

Mickey Wright sets the LPGA 18-hole record with a 62 at Hogan Park GC in the Tall City Open.
(1964)

Norman Manley, an amateur from Long Beach, Calif., scores holes-in-one on two successive par-4s at Del Valley CC, Calif. It is the first and only time this feat has been accomplished.
(1964)

Sam Snead wins the Greater Greensboro Open, his 81st TOUR victory, a record. His victory is the eighth in the Greensboro event, also a record. Finally, he wins at the age of 52, also a PGA TOUR record.
(1965)

Jack Nicklaus sets a tournament record of 271 in winning the Masters.
(1965)

Mrs. William Jenkins Sr. of Baltimore, Md., double-eagles the par-five 12th hole at Longview GC, the longest ever recorded by a woman.
(1965)

PGA TOUR Qualifying School is inaugurated at PGA National, with 17 golfers of the 49 applicants winning their playing cards.
(1965)

Arnold Palmer blows a six-shot lead in the final round of the US Open, losing to a surging Billy Casper at Olympic.
(1966)

Charlie Sifford, by winning the Greater Hartford Open, becomes the first African-American to win a PGA TOUR event.
(1967)

Catherine Lacoste becomes the first amateur to win the U.S. Women's Open.
(1967)

The Canada Cup changes its name to the World Cup.
(1967)

Arnold Palmer passes the $1 million mark in career PGA earnings.
(1968)

The PGA of America and the PGA TOUR officially split, with the professionals forming a breakaway group known as the Association of Professional Golfers. The breach is eventually healed, and a Tournament Players Division of the PGA is formed. Joe Dey is elected the next year as the first PGA TOUR commissioner.
(1968)

Tommy Moore, age 6 years 1 month, 1 week, becomes the youngest player to score a hole-in-one. Moore also becomes, in 1975, the youngest player ever to score a double-eagle.
(1968)

Roberto DeVicenzo ties Bob Goalby after regulation play in the Masters, but signs an incorrect scorecard and loses the event.
(1968)

Ollie Bowers of Gaffney, S.C. completes a record 542 rounds (9,756 holes) in one calendar year.
(1969)

Jack Nicklaus concedes Tony Jacklin's final putt and England ties the U.S. in the Ryder Cup matches, after five consecutive defeats. The gesture is often hailed as "the greatest act of sportsmanship in history."
(1969)

The trendsetting Harbour Town Golf Links opens on Hilton Head Island, S.C., designed by Pete Dye with assistance from Jack Nicklaus.
(1969)

Bill Burke, with a 57 at Normandie C.C., sets the all-time official record for low 18-hole score.
(1970)

Thad Doker of Durham, N.C., records a record two-under par 70 in the World One Club Championship at Lochmere CC.
(1970)

Laura Baugh wins the US Amateur at 16 years 2 months of age.
(1971)

Alan Shepard hits a six-iron at "Fra Mauro Country Club" on the moon.
(1971)

Carolyn Gidone wins the US Senior Women's Amateur for a record fifth consecutive time.
(1972)

Kimbrough completes 364 holes in 24 hours at the 6,068 North Platte CC in Nebraska.
(1972)

Tom Doty records 10-under-par in four holes at Brookwood CC, Illinois. His streak includes a double-eagle, two holes-in-one, and an eagle. Spalding introduces the first two-piece ball, the Top-Flite. Jack Nicklaus completes the first two legs of the modern Grand Slam winning the Masters and the US Open (at Pebble Beach), but like Arnold Palmer in 1960, falters in the British Open by finishing second (to Lee Trevino).
(1972)

Ben Crenshaw wins the NCAA title for a record 3rd consecutive time. Later in the year, after earning his PGA TOUR card, he wins the first event he plays as a PGA TOUR member, the San Antonio Open.
(1973)

Johnny Miller fires a record 63 in the final round to win the US Open at Oakmont.
(1973)

The graphite shaft is invented.
(1973)

The classic golf book Golf in the Kingdom, by Michael Murphy, is published.
(1973)

Jack Nicklaus wins the PGA Championship and breaks Bobby Jones' record for most major victories with his 14th.
(1973)

Deane Beman is elected as the second PGA TOUR commissioner.
(1974)

Roberto DeVicenzo scores six birdies, an eagle, and three more birdies for a record 11-under par for ten holes, at Valla Allende GC, Argentina.
(1974)

The World Golf Hall of Fame is opened in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
(1974)

Mike Austin hits a 515-yard drive at the 1974 National Seniors Open in Las Vegas, Nev., the longest drive ever recorded in competition.
(1974)

Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way is published.
(1974)

Tom Weiskopf strikes a 420-yard drive in the greenside bunker on the 10th hole at Augusta National-the longest drive in Masters history.
(1974)

Muirfield Village Golf Club opens from a Desmond Muirhead/Jack Nicklaus design.
(1974)

The Tournament Players Championship is inaugurated.
(1974)

Lee Elder becomes the first black golfer to play in the Masters.
(1975)

Lee Trevino, Jerry Heard and Bobby Nichols are struck by lightning during the 1975 Western Open. The incident prompts new safety standards in weather preparedness at PGA events, but four spectators are killed when struck by lightning during the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National.
(1975)