DESIGNER
William Earl Mehlhorn
(December
2,
1898 –
April 5,
1989) was from
Texas. He often wore cowboy hats on the
course and was nicknamed "Wild Bill". He won 20 times on the PGA
Tour, but did not win a
major championship. Only a handful of
golfers have won more often on the PGA Tour without claiming a
major. He finished 14 times in the top-10 at majors. His best
finish was runner-up to
Walter Hagen at the 1925
PGA Championship.
Bobby Shave who spend over 20 years with Bill Mehlhorn says that
Mehlhorn was a fantastic shot maker, a great teacher and to boot
was the longest hitter of his day. Mr. Mehlhorn won more than 47
tournaments in his 10 year playing career and competed on the
first Ryder Cup team in 1927 as well as the inaugural Master's
tournament. He was a gallery favorite because of his uncanny
accuracy.
Mehlhorn taught by associating the golf swing with other things
we do in life that require movement of our arms and legs, like
throwing a ball or hitting one, swinging an ax or a
sledgehammer, beating a rug (hanging on a line) skipping a rock
across the water, cutting grass with a grass whip, etc. To
learn more about how this amazing ball striker taught others to
enjoy the game of golf go to
www.golfwithmehlhorn.com .
1923 (2) Texas Open,
Oklahoma Open
1924 (1)
Western Open
1926 (5) Long Beach Open, South Central Open, South
Florida Open Championship, Santa Clara Valley Open, San Jose
Open
1927 (1) San Jose Open
1928 (6) Long Beach Open (tie with
Leo Diegel), Texas Open, Richmond Open,
Montauk Open,
Westchester Open,
Hawaiian Open
1929 (4) El Paso Open,
Texas Open, South Central Open,
Metropolitan Open
1930 (1) La Gorce Open
1924
Miami International Four-Ball (with
Macdonald Smith)
1926
Miami International Four-Ball (with
Macdonald Smith)
HISTORY
Osceola Golf Course
opened in 1926 here in Pensacola, Florida. It’s old Florida
design with small greens and narrow fairway’s were the
product of one of the best ball strikers and players of the
1920’s. His name was Bill Mehlhorn. This Texas native was
praised by Ben Hogan to be one of the best strikers to play
the game ever. Bill also known as Wild Bill Mehlhorn won 20
PGA tour events and finished in the top 10 in the U. S. Open
five times. In 1925 he finished 2 in the
PGA
Championship to Walter Hagen. In 1926 he designed Osceola
Golf Course. While golf pro at Pensacola Country Club.
In 1929 the
Pensacola Open a PGA Tour event took place and Osceola was
one of the main courses that some of the players would play
when they were not able to play Pensacola Country Club. From
1929-1988 many players and many matches were conducted at
the facility with some of the best local talent
participating. The first Pensacola Open in 1929 was won by
Horton Smith who played a match at Osceola Golf Course the
Monday before the event. Horton went on to win 8 times that
year. Five years later, 1934, Horton Smith would
play with Bill Mehlhorn in the first Masters Championship
of the which Horton Smith would win.
