The National Team Championship Golf Tournament (Former PGA Tour Event)
First played: 1965
Last played: 1972
This event should not be confused with the Disney Classic, which, from 1974-81, was a team event known as the Walt Disney World National Team Championship.
The format was fourball, which, in stroke play, can be called better ball or 2-man best ball. Each golfer played his own ball throughout, and the lower of the two scores on each hole counted as the team score.
The 1965 and 1966 tournaments were counted as unoffical money events by the PGA Tour, but the National Team Championship was an official tour event in 1968 and 1970-72.
The superstar Nicklaus/Palmer pairing won half the events in tournament history. They set the scoring record of 256 and, among the six winning teams, they carded the lowest 18-hole score of 61. Their 1966 pairing was their first time playing as partners. They later partnered one another in both the World Cup of Golf and the Ryder Cup.
Also known as: PGA National Four-Ball Championship, PGA Team Championship, PGA National Team Championship, National Four-Ball Team Championship
Winners of the National Team Championship Tournament
1965 — Butch Baird/Gay Brewer, 2591966 — Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer, 256
1967 — not played
1968 — George Archer/Bobby Nichols, 265
1969 — not played
1970 — Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer, 259
1971 — Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer, 257
1972 — Babe Hiskey/Kermit Zarley, 262
Golf courses: The tournament debuted in Florida at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens. In 1968 it moved to Oklahoma and was played at both Quail Creek Golf & Country Club and Twin Hills Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City. The final three years, it was played at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.
