To win a complete appreciation of the decanters created to promote the Greater Greensboro Open it is necessary to first gain an understanding of the tournament itself. This sporting event held since 1938 in Greensboro, North Carolina has held many special memories for the community it calls home. Like most traditions celebrated over many generations, the true origin is often lost over the decades. The Greater Greensboro Open, currently known as the Wyndham Championship, is no different. Its origin has been reduced to a paragraph of history copied and pasted across the Internet.
A large portion of this “cut and paste” history is the myth of the Ford Motor Company and how a failed economic stimulus package was turned into a successful PGA TOUR event. While details about the automobile manufacturer remain unclear, what it not unclear is the fact that his beloved tournament began as a project of the Greensboro Junior Chamber of Commerce and that a review of this history will undoubtedly increase the decanter collector’s understanding and appreciation of these treasured collectibles.
The Greensboro Junior Chamber of Commerce received its state charter on September 24, 1936 at a formal presentation held at the King Cotton hotel. This event took place two years before the first Greater Greensboro Golf Tournament was held. The legend is that the Junior Chamber was put together by a group of young men that wanted to bring the Ford Motor Company to Greensboro.
According to Carol Whittaker, Reference Archivist, from the Benson Ford Research Center, Ford never had a branch or plant in Greensboro. “It is possible that they could have considered a location there at some point: it would probably be very difficult to find documentation to confirm that.”
The topic of the Ford Motor Company is mentioned in an article entitled “Jaycee Founders Had Uphill Battle to Win Back in 1936”. John (Duck) Neal wrote the article and it appeared in the April 24, 1957 issue of The Jaycee Projector.
It was a bright day in many ways for the city of Greensboro back in the spring of 1936 when several young men met together to form a new Greensboro club. However, it was a dark one in other ways because many people of the city were not for the proposed new organization.
Although the exact date is uncertain, the occasion is well remembered by some few of the old-time Jaycees that participated in this original gathering.
The group composed of D.D. McDade, Dr. Dick Erwin, Francis Brooks, Dr. Alex Stanford, plus several others met to make plans and devise some method of bringing a new Ford Motor Company plant to Greensboro.
It had been rumored that Ford Motors was interested in placing a plant in the South; however, it was also rumored that many of the big business interests in Greensboro were very much against this proposal. The group met in Dr. Alex Stanford’s office to devise some means of overruling the big business interests of the city and bringing the Ford plant here.
Although they were unsuccessful in securing this new industry for Greensboro, the group formally banded together to set up an organization sincerely interested in working for the betterment of Greensboro.
John Neal’s article seems to raise more questions than answers. Who where the “big business interests” and why would they not want an automotive manufacturer to set up shop in Greensboro? While that part of the story remains a mystery it is the second part of the tale that may require a second look. The attempt to bring the automobile manufacturer to the Gate City failed. It is at this point in the story where we are usually told that these young men picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and went with plan B. It is a tale in which young men change gears from promoting economic development by bringing an automobile manufacturer to the city’s doorstep to bringing the city its first professional sports franchise.
Plan B of course is the notion that this group of young enterprising businessmen decided to hold a golf tournament instead of building a plant. It is a great story, one that has been told at many Greensboro Jaycee new member orientations for a number of decades. Unfortunately this tale may not be all together true. The following excerpt from Smith Barrier’s GGO 50th Anniversary 1938-1988 explains the newly formed club’s path to becoming part of the PGA TOUR.
Archie Joyner, an advertising director at the Greensboro Daily News, was the first GGO chairman in 1938. Dr. Alex Stanford, a dentist, was the first Jaycee president in 1936, and Ed Kuykendall Jr., an attorney, succeeded him in January 1937, Joyner being vice president.
Joyner recalls the calendar of events: “As a young, gung-ho organization, we were trying to find everything possible which would be good civic projects. The FBI had promoted a finger-printing program for school children, but it came to dismal failure all over the country. Mothers said, my child is no criminal, you’re not going to treat him like one.
“We were constantly looking for worth-while programs that would help the city, advertise Greensboro, put Greensboro on the map. We sponsored a state semipro baseball tournament, made several thousand a year on that. We began paper drives.”
In the spring-summer of 1937 the project of a PGA Tour golf tournament came alive.
While the Ford Motor Company tale is a good story, it is plain to see that the Greater Greensboro Golf Tournament was in fact not plan B. It was not even plan C or plan D. The truth is the first project the Greensboro Jaycees attempted was on a much smaller scale. According to a report in the Daily News, entitled “Junior Chamber Gets State Charter; Graham is Speaker”, the Junior Chamber’s first project was the “personal distribution, by members, of some 10,000 pamphlets on safe highway driving. ”
Less than a month later, the newly formed Junior Chamber was raising money for the local milk fund by selling tickets to the Greensboro Fair. This second Jaycee project is detailed in an article the appeared in the Friday, October 2, 1936 Daily News entitled “Junior Chamber is Made Fair Sponsor”. The following excerpt details the purpose of the fundraiser and the club’s role.
M.S Younts, resident manager of the Greensboro fair, announced yesterday that the Greensboro Junior chamber of commerce, which was recently chartered, has been selected sponsor of the fair to be held here the week of October 19.
As sponsor of the event, he said, the Junior chamber will have full charge of the advance sale of tickets. For this work the organization will receive 10 per cent of the advance sale proceeds. This amount, officials of the Junior chamber said, will be used for charitable purposes.
Dr. Alex R. Stanford, president of the Junior chamber, said all funds derived from the sale of tickets for the fair will be given to the Daily News milk fund. This decision was arrived at yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the organization’s board of directors.
Dr. C.C. Hudson, city health officer, will speak at a meeting of the Junior chamber tonight at 7:30 at the King cotton hotel. His talk will deal with the serious need for milk in the homes of unfortunate children whose parents are not in position to supply them with milk. Dr. Hudson said Thursday more milk is needed in many homes and that the lack of this nourishment is one reason for the increase in the number of deaths of babies this year. He said the nourishment derived from milk was missing in several babies who died recently.
It is obvious the Greensboro Jaycee’s seven decades of charitable giving began right from the start. With the Greensboro Jaycee’s commitment to serving the community and the tournament’s 70 years of success, it is surprising that the local community and even members of the Greensboro Jaycees had doubts about the continued success of the event. In an April 24, 1957 issue of The Jaycee Projector John Neal wrote the following.
At first (and in fact it was once vetoed by the board of directors of the Jaycees), many people of the city, including Jaycees, said that it was humanly impossible to put on a tournament of this nature. It was far too big a job to be accomplished by a young and yet unproven organization.
The fact that the Greensboro Junior Chamber’s Board of Directors voted against the idea of a golf tournament is true. Smith Barrier reports:
Kuykendall, Jaycee president, told this story several years before his death: “We knew we had to raise $5,000, so we first went to see Mr. Benjamin at Starmount. He told us if we would play part of the tournament at Starmount, he’d contribute. If we raised the first $4,000, he’d give the last thousand. I called a meeting of the Jaycee board, and they voted it down 4-3.
“When everybody left, Archie, Laurence and I stayed around. It was suggested we call the Jaycee members and see how many of them would underwrite $25.00. We got on the phone and raised $750.00 or $800.00. I don’t think any of us had 25 bucks but we pledged it anyway. I convened the board again the next day, and it was voted to hold the golf tournament.”
(March 27, 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the Greater Greensboro Open decanters. To celebrate this anniversary "A GGO Thing" is now on sale on Amazon.com for only $9.00.)
