What Is Golf’s “Silly Season”?

What is Golf’s “Silly Season”?

In the days before the PGA TOUR wraparound season, October through December was known as the “Silly Season” (with the end of the wraparound season in 2024, we may see it return).

With no scheduled official money PGAT tournaments,The Silly Season was punctuated by several unofficial, made-for-television events (I hesitate to call them “tournaments”). All featured alternate formats and limited fields.

Perhaps the best known of the Silly Season events was the “Skins Game,” usually played around Thanksgiving. The Skins Game was on tv from 1983 to 2008. The PGA TOUR actually recognized the event, but winnings did not count on the official money list.

The Skins Game was exactly what it implies: four golfers in a match play format playing skins on the different holes. Fred Couples got the nicknames “Mr. Skins” and “King of the Silly Season” because he won more than $4 million and 77 skins in eleven appearances.

The Shark Shootout, hosted by Greg Norman was another. Now known as the QBE Shootout, it features teams of two playing scramble, greensomes and better ball rounds.

The Wendy’s Three Tour Challenge, held from 1992 to 2013, featured three teams composed of PGA TOUR, LGPA and Champions Tour players. It was a stroke play event, with players teeing off from the appropriate tees. The LPGA team of Natalie Gulbis, Christie Kerr and Stacy Lewis won the final event.

The JC Penny Classic featured mixed PGA TOUR and LPGA playersfrom 1960 to 1999. The final pairing that won was the team of John Daly and Laura Davies.

Other classic Silly Season events were the Tommy Bahama Challenge, the SDT Skills Challenge, the Bard Capital Challenge, the Showdown at Sherwood, and the Battle of Bighorn.

Currently, Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, which began in 2000 as the Williams World Challenge, probably qualifies as a silly season event, even though it gets Official World Golf Ranking points. That event has a sixteen man field of top players.

The Grant Thornton Invitational, which plays its inaugural event December 8 – 10, 2023, is another current event that falls in this rather nebulous category. The Grant Thornton has sixteen LPGA and sixteen PGA TOUR players in sixteen mixed teams, competing for $4 million. The three-day event features a round of scramble, foursomes and modified four-ball.

The various versions of “The Match” absolutely qualify as Silly Season events.

The most recent “Silly Season” event was held at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas. It featured mixed pairs Gerina Mendoza and Nick Watney versus Angela Stanford and Bob Estes. The story follows:

Gerina Mendoza, Nick Watney Win 2023 Shootout at Horseshoe Bay Resort By One Stroke Over Angela Stanford, Bob Estes

HORSESHOE BAY, TX – Horseshoe Bay Resort’s acclaimed private Summit Rock golf course played host to a friendly clash of PGA Tour and LPGA stars Saturday (October 28) in the scenic Texas Hill Country. Former LPGA star and Solheim Cup hero Gerina Mendoza made four birdies over the one-round, 10-hole stroke play match to lead her partner – Austinite and five-time winner on the PGA Tour Nick Watney – to victory in the fifth-annual Shootout at Horseshoe Bay Resort.

The duo outlasted their opponents LPGA major winner Angela Stanford and PGA Tour winner and former University of Texas American Bob Estes by a single stroke to claim the Shootout Champions’ Belt Buckles and bragging rights until next year. Stanford holed a birdie putt on the last hole of the 10-hole match to bring her and Estes within a stroke of Mendoza and Watney but Mendoza’s sharp play and a clutch birdie on the par-4 seventh hole by Watney helped them finish at five-under and claim victory by one stroke.

Mendoza birdied holes 2, 3, 4 and 8 and also narrowly missed a birdie try on the first hole and nearly holed out a would-be birdie pitch the par-five 5^th hole. Of her stellar play, Mendoza said, “It was fun to play well out here with some inspiration from the crowd and getting to enjoy the beautiful conditions on this outstanding Summit Rock golf course.” Watney joked that he felt like he won the match on the first tee by choosing the dialed-in Mendoza as his partner.

2002 PGA Championship winner Rich Beem, a former Shootout at Horseshoe Bay Resort winner himself, was on hand providing commentary for a TV taping of the event which will air in November on Golf Life TV. 

Gallery members enjoyed the tournament action up close while taking a scenic walk on the dramatic, towering Jack Nicklaus-designed Summit Rock course. Playing along towering ridges overlooking Lake LBJ and plummeting through lush valleys and primitive limestone beds, this quintessential Texas Hill Country golf course was unquestionably the fifth star of the event.

LOOKING BACK
Previous Shootout at Horseshoe Bay Resort matches have featured some of the world’s finest golfers from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR Champions Tours. Past contestants include 2004 British Open Champion Todd Hamilton, PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel, 2002 PGA Championship winner Rich Beem, winners on the PGA Tour Jason Kokrak, Stuart Appleby, J.J. Henry, and Austinite and longtime PGA TOUR player Omar Uresti. Australian star John Senden, Zimbabwean bomber Brendon de Jonge, Grayson Murray PGA and PGA TOUR Champions winner Wes Short Jr., and LPGA pros Ryan O’Toole, Kristy McPherson, Katie Burnett and Kathleen Ekey have also competed in tight matches at the Shootout at Horseshoe Bay Resort.

Learn more HSBResort.com.

About Horseshoe Bay Resort
Horseshoe Bay Resort is one of America’s largest golf resorts and is the original Texas lakeside resort destination. It is located 45 minutes from Austin on more than 7,000 picturesque acres of the Texas Hill Country and along the spectacular shores of constant-level Lake LBJ. The AAA Four Diamond resort is the only waterfront resort in Texas and is part of the Crescent Hotels & Resorts management company’s distinguished Latitudes lifestyle hotels and resorts division. It features four championship golf courses designed by World Golf Hall of Fame members Robert Trent Jones Sr, and Jack Nicklaus, as well as the exciting 18-hole natural grass Whitewater Putting Course.

Horseshoe Bay Resort has invested $100+ million in a property-wide renovation and new construction. The work included new guest rooms, suites, and multi-room units, as well as renovation of the golf courses and facilities, dining experiences, meeting spaces, and more. The resort also features a world-class spa and health club, tennis facilities with 14 courts, bike rentals, hiking trails, lake activities with a full-service lake marina and boat valet service, nearby wineries, and a private airport. For more information and reservations visit  www.hsbresort.com or call 877-611-0112.