"A GGO Thing" Exclusive Book Excerpt Part 6

1974 ”Where Spring Means More… GGO ‘74”

The Old North State is the muse for the 1974 Greater Greensboro Open commemorative decanter. The stopper is a molded golf ball, slightly larger than regulation, complete with dimples. Its raised, mustard colored letters spell out “GGO”. The yellow matches the top and the base of this decanter that originally sold for $15.90 and went on sale in Greensboro State Liquor stores on April 1, 1974.

The GGO golf ball sits upon a bright red golf tee that highlights the details in the golf ball’s dimples. The words, “Greater Greensboro Open” appear in a decal just below the tee. North Carolina's state lines are well defined and the state is painted green. This provides a fitting background for the golf course map at the center of the state. A decal reads, “Greensboro, N.C.”, but upon close inspection, the collector will notice the golf course depicted on the bottle is left unidentified.

Of course the setting was the Sedgefield Country Club, but again this fact was omitted from this bottle. Red pin flags are placed across the course map and match the red of the golf tee above. This use of color helps to pull the decanter’s elements together.

In the left-hand corner of the decanter, another decal reveals the slogan, “Where Spring Means More…GGO ‘74”. This decanter’s design is a departure from the marketing efforts of the previous bottles. The state shaped design seems to claim the tournament to be a statewide event, not just something to be enjoyed within the local Greensboro community.

This design shows true vision and is perhaps a precursor to the regionalism that is currently being promoted by Greensboro’s leadership and the leadership of the Wyndham Championship. Paul Fulton, Jr. of Winston-Salem was named the 2007
Honorary Chairman for the Wyndham Championship-the tournament formerly known as the Greater Greensboro Open. According to a press release from the tournament’s media relation department, Fulton is the first honorary chairman selected from outside of Guilford County.

“The Wyndham Championship is the Piedmont Triad’s PGA TOUR event,” Bobby Long Chair of the Greensboro Jaycees Charitable Foundation said. “That means our tournament leadership should reflect the diverse nature of our entire region. This tournament needs to touch all of the communities that comprise the Piedmont Triad.”

Fulton expressed the value of reaching out to the region. “This appointment is truly a great honor,” Fulton said. “The Wyndham Championship is the Piedmont Triad’s crown jewel of professional sports, and it’s gratifying to me to see our tournament reach out and grow throughout the entire region. I am humbled and proud to be associated with the rich history of this PGA TOUR event and look forward to the bright future that lies ahead.” As he accepted the appointment on March 27, 2007 Fulton admitted to the crowd that he still called the event the GGO.

In the same press release, Bobby Long continued to explain the tournament’s view of regionalism by saying, “Paul Fulton is a leader in the Winston-Salem community, and his selection as this year’s (2007) Honorary Chairman is one of the many ways that we are reaching out to the entire region. The Honorary Chairman is more important than ever before as we become a regional event Last year’s honorary chairman, Mike Haley, was instrumental in many of the positive changes we made with the tournament. Mike and Paul are the kind of people that understand what it takes for our tournament to grow and compete nationally.”

In much the same way the 1979 caddie decanter would later predict the rain that would come to the 1979 GGO Pro-Am, perhaps the 1974 GGO decanter predicted the tournament’s desire to reach out on a much larger scale. This transition was realized in 2007 when for the time in the tournament’s 69-year history the name Greensboro did not appear in its title. The Wyndham Championship held its inaugural event of the first time. The Wyndham’s program books even listed the place the event was held as “Forest Oaks Country Club-Piedmont Triad, North Carolina."

(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.)