Stan Leonard
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Stan Leonard (February 2, 1915–December 15, 2005) was a Canadian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s.
Leonard was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He worked as a caddy, and had success in top British Columbia events. He became a professional golfer in 1938, and played exclusively on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour until 1954, while concurrently maintaining a club job at the Marine Drive Golf Club.[1]
Leonard won the Canadian PGA Championship 8 times from 1940–1961, and this is a record. He was the low Canadian in the Canadian Open 9 times from 1945–1961. He won the British Columbia Open 5 times, the Alberta Open 9 times, and the Saskatchewan Open twice. He won a total of six amateur and 40 professional tournaments in Canada over the course of his career – more than any other professional golfer in Canadian history.[2]
Leonard won the individual title at the Canada Cup in 1959.[1]
Leonard joined the PGA Tour in 1954. He won three PGA Tour events between 1957 and 1960. He enjoyed a great deal of success in one major tournament – The Masters. His best finishes at the Augusta National Golf Club were T-4 in 1958 and 1959, T-8 in 1955 and T-9 in 1960. Leonard quit the Tour in the 1960s, and took a club pro job at the Desert Island Golf Club in Palm Springs, California; however, he eventually made his way back home to Vancouver.
He assisted in designing the Redwood Meadows Golf Course, in Bragg Creek, Alberta, near Calgary.[3]
Leonard was one of the best ball strikers of his era despite being a diminutive 5' 6" in height. Part of his powerful swing could be attributed to his massive forearms. The other players noticed this physical feature and gave him the nickname Popeye.
Leonard was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1964, the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1966, and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972. He died of heart failure in Vancouver at the age of 90.[2]
[edit] Amateur wins
- British Columbia Amateur (1932, 1935)
- Vancouver & Dist. Championship (1934, 1936)
[edit] PGA Tour wins
- 1957 Greater Greensboro Open
- 1958 Tournament of Champions
- 1960 Western Open
[edit] Other wins
- Northwest Open (1937 (as an amateur), 1960)
- Alberta Open (1937, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1955)
- Tacoma Jubilee (1938)
- Canadian PGA Championship (1940, 1941, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961)
- British Columbia Open (1947, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1961)
- Vancouver City Match Play Championship (1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1954)
- Saskatchewan Open (1950, 1955)
- Western Canada Open (1950)
- Canadian Match Play Open (1960)
- 1959 Canada Cup (individual event)
[edit] Senior wins
- 1967 Canadian PGA Seniors' Championship
- 1972 Canadian PGA Seniors' Championship
- 1975 Canadian Pro Seniors
[edit] References
- ^ a b Golf in Canada: A History, by James A. Barclay, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1992.
- ^ a b "Leonard, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, dies at 90 in Canada". PGA.com (2005-12-20).
- ^ The Golf Course, by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, 1981.
