Well, let me tell you, this Byron Nelson golf tournament, it’s been around longer than I have, I reckon. It all started way back, long time ago. They used to call it something else, the Dallas Open, way back in 1926. That’s what I heard, anyways.
Then they stopped it for a while, just like when we don’t have no rain and the crops dry up. But it came back in ’44, like a good rain after a long drought. That year they called it the Texas Victory Open. And guess who won it? That Byron Nelson himself! He won by a whole lot, 10 strokes, I heard. That’s like winning a pie-eating contest by ten pies!
Now, this Byron Nelson fella, he was a good one, I tell ya. Born in 1912, that would have been February 4th, Died in 2006, September 26th. He played golf from, well, long as I can remember. From 1935 to 1946, that’s when he was swinging that club. A professional golfer, they called him.
He won all sorts of things, that Byron. They say he won 54 times! Can you believe that? That’s more wins than there are chickens in my coop! He won the Masters two times, in ’37 and ’42. Fancy name, the Masters. And he won something called the PGA Championships two times too, in 1940 and 1945. Must be important, with a name like that.
- He won so many games!
- He won the Masters, twice!
- He won the PGA Championships, twice, too!
He joined something called the PGA Tour in 1935, and he did good, right from the start. He was a good golfer, that’s for sure. They say he won 52 times total. That’s a lot of winning! It’s like picking 52 buckets of berries. My back hurts just thinking about it!
They didn’t have it one year, 2020, because of that sickness going around, that COVID-19. You remember that, right? Everyone was staying inside, like chickens in a coop during a hailstorm. Then they moved it up north, to someplace called TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney in 2021. Don’t know where that is, but it sounds far.
They changed the name, too. This year, 2024, some company called CJ Group took over. Before it was AT&T. They call it the CJ Cup Byron Nelson now. Sounds kinda funny, but I guess that’s what they like. They say they got a deal for ten years. Ten years is a long time. A lot can happen in ten years. You can plant a whole lot of corn in ten years.
You know, they say this golf tournament, the Open, it’s the oldest one there is. Older than dirt, almost! They say it’s been around for more than 170 years. That’s longer than I’ve been around, and I’ve been around a while! They are having the 152nd one now, at someplace called Royal Troon. Sounds like a king’s place, don’t it? This championship, it’s a big deal, I guess.
Byron Nelson, he was a good golfer, no doubt about it. He was one of the best, I reckon. This tournament named after him, it’s a big deal. All the best golfers go there to play. It’s like the county fair of golf, but fancier.
So, that’s the story of this Byron Nelson golf tournament, as far as I know. It’s been around a long time, had some different names, and that Byron Nelson fella, he sure could play golf. It’s a big deal, this tournament. A real big deal.
That Byron, he was good, real good. Not many like him these days. They don’t make ’em like that anymore, I tell ya.
- 1926, it was called Dallas Open.
- 1944, it came back as Texas Victory Open.
- 2021, it moved to TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney.
- 2024, CJ Group took over, now it’s called CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
I hope you learned somethin’ about that Byron Nelson golf tournament history. It’s a long one, full of winning and name changing. Just like life, I guess. Full of changes.
