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The National Invitational

The Professional Putters Association has had many major tournaments
in its past. One noteworthy contest has been the Invitational. During

the historical ride of the PPA, this year will be The National

th
Invitational’s 9 appearance on the PPA Tour, which first appeared 51
years ago. Two of the Invitationals were in a match-play format, the

remaining were in two-day events – both formats were grueling… for

some.

This year, the beautiful course at

Burlington, NC will host “The
th
th
Invitational” on June 5 and 6 .
Brian Patterson, the owner of the

course, said, “We are super
excited to host another national

Putt-Putt event and looking

forward to seeing everyone!” The
players should be just as excited. The Burlington venue is one of the

most attractive stops on the PPA tour and always produces a worthy

champion.

Most of the players of recent years recognize the National Invitational

as a major championship; however, the veteran players will remember
the invitational as just that – by invitation only. For this special

tournament, one could not compete unless invited. In 1970, when the

Invitational first began, the membership in the PPA and APA easily
exceeded 500 members. Don Clayton sent formal, classy invitations to

some of these players. How these were chosen is not readily known.

The number of invites per PPA and APA division was only 47. It is also a