The forerunner of the Honda Classic once was one of the most highly regarded, highest-paying gigs on the PGA Tour schedule.
Jackie Gleason did not bring the PGA Tour to South Florida, but he certainly brought it to prominence. From 1972 to 1984, the Tour made a stop at Inverrary Country Club, Gleason's South Florida home in Lauderhill in western Broward County. The tournament, which became the Honda Classic in 1984, had several iterations, including the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic (1972, 1974-80), Jackie Gleason Inverrary-National Airlines Classic (1973), American Motors Inverrary Classic and eventually the Honda Inverrary Classic. In the tournament's early days, Gleason was known to subsidize the winnings out of his own pocket to boost the prominence of the event.
Home to a pair of Robert Trent Jones, Sr.-designed courses, historic Inverrary will close its doors forever next spring, according to its owners.
Inverrary's East Course was the site of several professional championships, including the Inverrary Classic, the 1976 Tournament Players Championship and several LPGA events.
Winners of the PGA Tour event at Inverrary include Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Larry Nelson, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Kite and Hale Irwin.
News of the closing, scheduled for June 1, 2020, came via a Sept. 20 email from Victorville West Limited Partnership, which has owned Inverrary since 2006. Owners cited an overbuilt South Florida market and years of financial setbacks as driving factors behind the decision.
Gleason, who produced a TV variety show in the 1960s from Miami Beach, lived in a 14-room estate at Inverrary. The entertainer's third wife, Marilyn continued to live on the golf course after Gleason died in 1987 until she passed away earlier this year.