In 1928, the New Year's Invitational went to a 17-year-old named Johnny Revolta. He worked at the club as a course ranger and locker-room attendant. Seven years later he won the 1935 PGA Championship, and he finished his career with 18 PGA Tour wins.
Ninety-eight years later, the 100th playing ended with a high school junior holding the crystal trophy.
That is the main thing to know about the tournament played every January on the course that winds through Lakewood Estates. It began as a small local amateur event, and for most of a century it has been a place where young players get their first serious result. Since 2025 it has also been a direct route to professional golf. The 101st playing runs January 7 through 9, 2027, at St. Petersburg Country Club.
A Club Tournament From the Start
The course came before the tournament. According to St. Petersburg Country Club, Charles Hall developed Lakewood Estates in 1924 and hired Herbert Strong to design a golf course through it. Strong was an English golf professional who came to the United States in 1905. His other designs include Canterbury Country Club in Cleveland and the Ocean Course at the Ponte Vedra Beach Club.
The tournament followed in 1927, when the club was still called Lakewood Country Club. The Tampa Bay Times described it as "a small, local amateur tournament" and reported that A.T. Cooper won the first one with hickory-shafted clubs. The same 2016 article said the event kept going through the Great Depression, World War II, and a fire that destroyed the original clubhouse.
The tournament's own history shows how closely the event has been tied to the club itself:
- The tournament started as match play and switched to stroke play in 1956. That year's winner, Bob Goalby, went on to win the 1968 Masters.
- Buddy Alexander won his first of six Invitational titles in 1972. His father, Skip Alexander, was the club's head professional from 1951 to 1984.
- Pete Arend, a club member, shot a second-round 63 in 1959. It is still the lowest round in tournament history.
- Brandt Snedeker won in 2004 after finishing second twice. The tournament's history says more than 30 of its players have gone on to PGA Tour careers.
The Course Under the Tournament Has Changed More Than Its Routing
The tournament site says the course "closely follows its original routing." Most of what has changed since 1924 is the turf, the greens, and a few individual holes. Each change adjusted Strong's layout to how the game was being played at the time.
| Year | What changed |
|---|---|
| 1924 | Herbert Strong's course opens for play |
| 1960 | Architect Dick Wilson lowers and enlarges several greens |
| 1967 | Architect Joe Lee shortens No. 13 to a par 4 and lengthens No. 18 to a par 5 |
| 1982 | No. 17 is shortened, and water is added on three sides of the green |
| 2009 | Greens resurfaced with ChampionsTurf, and the course is lengthened to just over 6,900 yards |
| 2024 | Full renovation, and the course reopens at more than 7,000 yards |
Length is the clearest measure of the change. When the course hosted the PGA Tour's St. Pete Open, which it did 12 times through 1964, it measured about 6,600 yards, roughly standard for tour courses of that era. Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff and Raymond Floyd all won that event here, and Floyd's 1963 win was his first on tour.
The 2024 renovation pushed the back tees past 7,000 yards. It also replaced the tees, fairways and primary rough with Bimini Bermuda, rebuilt the greens to USGA specifications with TifEagle Bermuda, and rebuilt every bunker. PGA Tour player Gary Koch, who won the Invitational in 1974, consulted throughout the project. The course reopened on November 27, 2024, 100 years after its original opening. The centennial Invitational in January 2026 was the first one played on the renovated layout.
How the 100th Playing Ended on No. 18
The 1967 redesign of No. 18 decided the centennial.
Lucas Gimenez, a high school junior, shared the first-round lead at 66 with University of Richmond sophomore Carson Baez, then shot 68 on day two to lead by one, according to the tournament's wrap-up. He reached the par-5 18th in the final round needing a par for a 205 total. His second shot went wide right and his wedge recovery went long. He made bogey, which left six players tied at 7-under.
The playoff field looked like the tournament's usual mix of players:
- Gimenez, still in high school
- Chase Bauer, a sophomore at Windermere Prep
- Parker Severs, a freshman at the University of Florida
- Jacob Lang of Kentucky
- Calen Sanderson of Notre Dame
- Carson Baez of Richmond
Gimenez and Bauer both made eagle on the first playoff hole, the 18th again, which eliminated the other four. Both parred the second trip down 18. On the third, Bauer missed a six-footer and Gimenez two-putted for birdie and the win. AmateurGolf.com recorded his rounds as 66-68-72 and said the event "once again served as the official launch of the elite amateur golf season."
The top mid-amateur prize stayed close to home. Tampa's Joe Trim shot 3-under 210 and finished three shots ahead of Plant City's Kyle Martin.
Why the Field Got Smaller and the Prize Got Bigger
Comparing two editions ten years apart shows how the tournament has changed.
| 2016, 90th playing | 2027, 101st playing | |
|---|---|---|
| Field size | 128 players | Capped at 92 |
| How players get in | About half first-come, half on past performance, with a few spots held for high school players | Based on WAGR ranking and playing record |
| Format | Four rounds | 54 holes, stroke play, no cut |
| Winner's extra prize | None mentioned | A spot in the Korn Ferry Tour's LECOM Suncoast Classic |
In 2016, Terry Decker, then the club's head professional, told the Tampa Bay Times that the waiting list had grown to about 60 players over the previous three years. He also explained the January timing: most colleges are still on break, so players can get a competitive tournament in before their spring season starts.
Since then the field has shrunk and selection now runs on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The Korn Ferry Tour start, the most significant change, began in 2025. The 2026 wrap-up describes the exemption into the LECOM Suncoast Classic, played at Lakewood National, as the second year of an arrangement between the club and that tournament's management, made possible with help from several members. Gimenez said he planned to use it. The 2027 winner gets the same spot in the April 2027 event.
Revolta went from the locker room to a PGA Championship over several years. Today the winner of the same club tournament gets a professional start within about three months.
January 7 Through 9, Day by Day
The tournament site lists the 2027 week this way:
- Wednesday, January 6: registration and practice
- Thursday, January 7: Round 1
- Friday, January 8: Round 2
- Saturday, January 9: Round 3 and the trophy presentation
Players can arrange limited private housing with member families, so for some players the week also means staying in the neighborhood. For the centennial in 2026, the St. Pete Catalyst listing said the public was welcome to watch on competition days with free admission. For 2027 spectator terms, check the tournament site closer to the date.
The past winners give you a sense of how good the field is. Hayden Buckley, J.B. Holmes, Peter Uihlein and Sam Horsfield all appear on the champions list, along with recent winners Cooper Smith, who won in 2024 as a USF senior, and Cayden Pope, who won in 2025 as an Auburn sophomore. Both shot 13-under 203.
Two December Dates Before Then
Two more events are on the neighborhood's calendar before the first tee time. The Lakewood Estates Civic Association lists its Annual Neighborhood BBQ for Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Boyd Hill's Pioneer Settlement, 3010 31st St. S. A week later, on December 12, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve hosts the Raptor Run 5K and Great Horned Owl Hike, with participation capped at 200.
If you've been thinking about what it's like to live around the course, including the week the Invitational is played, Silver and Welch Collective can tell you how those streets work day to day. Schedule a free consultation.
