West End Classic

Tournament information
Location	West End, Bahamas
Established	1967
Course(s)	Grand Bahama Hotel and Country Club
Par	72
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$25,000
Month played	December
Final year	1969
Tournament record score
Aggregate	274 Jim Wiechers (1969)
To par	−14 as above
Final champion
Jim Wiechers
Location map
Grand Bahama Hotel and CC Location in The Bahamas

The West End Classic was PGA Tour satellite event that was played at the Grand Bahama Hotel and Country Club in West End on Grand Bahama Island from 1967 to 1969. In 1970 it was replaced by a new PGA Tour event, the Bahamas National Open, which was contested in 1970 and 1971. ^[1]

Summary

In 1967, Butch Baird won by one stroke over Bert Weaver, winning $4,000 from a $20,000 purse. ^[2] In 1968, Bruce Crampton won by two strokes, winning $4,000 from a $20,000 purse. ^[3] The 1969 tournament was won by Jim Wiechers, a 25-year-old Californian, ^[4] by five strokes over Al Besselink and Johnny Pott. The purse was $25,000 with $5,000 going to the winner. ^[5] The 1969 tournament was played in December opposite the Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic, which was won by Arnold Palmer. The field, however, was better than a normal satellite field because it was the last tournament of the year, and the players were jockeying for position on the top-60 money list.

Players were allowed to use the regular-sized American ball and/or the smaller English ball. This may have been the only time that this was ever allowed during a PGA-sanctioned event. The competitors would play the bigger ball down wind, and the small ball into the wind.

Winners

Year	Tour [a]	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Ref.
1969	PGAT	Jim Wiechers	274	−14	5 strokes	Al Besselink Johnny Pott	[6] [5]
1968		Bruce Crampton	276	−12	2 strokes	Gene Borek Bob Watson	[7] [3]
1967		Butch Baird	279	−9	1 stroke	Bert Weaver	[8] [2]

Notes

References