Page 10 - National Championship Flip

The PPA has had a history of family names: Stricklands, Taylors, Connors,
Claytons, Lloyds, Garrisons and the list goes on; however, one family name is very
important to today’s PPA. Maybe just as significant as the Clayton name. It is the

Aboids. Most current players are familiar with Joe Aboid. He is the Commissioner
of the Professional Putters Association. He has been the reason for the PPA
stretching beyond the past decade. He is the son of Phil Aboid, but the way Joe
explains it…Phil is the father of Joe Aboid. More about that later.

Phil Aboid, starting at the age of 13, was a shoe cobbler. A family tradition of
work of which he just naturally
followed. However, he was his

own person and would break from
the traditional vocation. He
would later start a delicatessen to

provide a bit more financial
security to a growing family.
However, in 1959, he discovered
Putt-Putt Golf. He liked the

philosophy of the franchise that Don Clayton developed, he purchased a franchise
and built a course in North Olmstead, Ohio – a sleepy little town outside of

Cleveland, just a few miles from Lake Erie. Today, the population of North
Olmstead is around 35,000 – in 1959 it was considerably less – 13,000. However,
Phil Aboid liked the response that his Putt-Putt received and saw what it provided
to families. He went on to build or purchase 4 additional courses. He became a

leading figure with the development and modernization of Putt-Putt Golf courses.
He was the first course owner to build the larger clubhouse, constructed in 1963 -
in Euclid, Ohio. He was an innovator in the Professional Putters Association (PPA)

as well. He is the person responsible for the development of the World Putting
Championship (WPC) concept. It was created during a time when the Putt-Putt
Board of Directors were struggling with a strategy to help with the enhancement
of the Putt-Putt Golf franchise. The WPC concept became one of the most

successful programs in Putt-Putt and created a draft of PPA and APA