Famous Sawgrass Residents

Pat Summerall

A native of Lake City, George Allen "Pat" Summerall is best known for his television work although he was an outstanding football player. Pat spent time in Jacksonville — and at Sawgrass — as his daughter, Susie Wiles, is a resident here. He holds the record for announcing the most Super Bowls — 16 — and also was a color analyst on 26 Masters Tournaments, and 21 U.S Opens.

He was an outstanding placekicker for the Arkansas Razorbacks and in the National Football League from 1952 through 1961. After retiring as a player, he joined CBS as a color commentator the next year. He worked with Tom Brookshier and then John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox. Though he retired in 2002, Summerall continued to announce games on occasion. Summerall was named the National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 1977, and inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1994. He also is in the EWorld Golf Hall of Fame.

Deane Beman

Sawgrass members known Deane R. Beman as a past commissioner of the PGA Tour but he also was a top-ranker player in his own right. Deane moved to sawgrass when the PGA Tour heaquarters relocated at Ponte Vedra in 1974 from Washington, D.C. He was the force behind the TPC Stadium Course and bright the Tournament Players Championship (now the PLAYERS) here permanently.

Born in Washington, D.C., he was a two-time All-American on the University of Maryland golf team. He originally decided again professional golf and started a career in the insurance business while playing major amateur golf events. He won the U.S. Amateur twice and the British Amateur once and changed his mind about the PGA Tour. He won four times as a pro.

Beman was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. He introduced The Players Championship concept during this time, and developed a network of Tournament Players Club courses around the U.S., along with Tour-logoed clothing, expanding the Tour's financial clout. He converted the Tour into a 501-C6 organization, one of several moves that would transform the Tour's financial fortunes.

He introduced pension plans for Tour players. Under his watch, the Tour's board passed a policy requiring all tournaments to support a charitable initiative. Tour charitable contributions grew from less than $1 million a year in 1974 to more than $30 million in 1994.

He is the architect of the Tour's successful television model, which still exists today. He formed the Senior PGA Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, for players 50 and older in 1980 and the Ben Hogan Tour (now known as the Web.com Tour) as golf's developmental circuit in 1990. In 1983, the Tour expanded the number of exempt players from the top-60 on the season money list to the top-125.

After stepping down as Commissioner in June 1994, Beman resumed his playing career, and competed in 69 Senior PGA Tour events through the 2005 Constellation Energy Classic. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Tony Trabert

Marion Anthony (Tony) Trabert was the Director of Tennis at Sawgrass.Now retired, he was a former World No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Trabert in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.

Trabert was a stand-out athlete in tennis and basketball at the University of Cincinnati, and won the 1951vNCAA Championship Singles title. Trabert's record in 1955 was one of the greatest ever by an American tennis player. He won the three most prestigious tournaments in amateur tennis—the French, Wimbledon, and American Championships—en route to being ranked world no. 1 among the amateurs for that year.

Only Grand Slam winners Don Budge and Rod Laver, and in 2010 Rafael Nadal, have ever achieved the same feat. Trabert's own chance at a Grand Slam was stopped with a loss to Ken Rosewall in the semifinals at the Australian Championships. Trabert won 18 tournaments in 1955, compiling a match record of 106 wins to 7 losses.

He won the French Championships in 1954 and 1955, the U.S. Championships in 1953 and 1955 and the Wimbledon title in 1955 without losing a set (a record shared with Don Budge, Chuck McKinley, and Björn Borg). He was an American Davis Cup team mainstay during the early 1950s, during which time the Americans reached the finals 5 times, winning the cup in 1954. It was one of only two victories over the dominant Australian teams during the decade (the other being in 1958).

In 1971, he began a 33-year career as a tennis and golf analyst for CBS covering such events as the U.S. Open. During many of these years he teamed with Pat Summerall and was the lead expert commentator at the U.S. Open. mbledon Championships in London.He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1970.

Dan Jenkins

Dan Jenkins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Tex., where he attended Texas Christian University. His long journalism career started at the Fort Worth Press and he then went to The Dallas Times Herald. He then moved to the magazine industry and is best known for his work in Sports Illustrated.

In 1985 he retired from Sports Illustrated and began writing books full-time, although he maintains a monthly column in Golf Digest magazine.Jenkins has written numerous works and over 500 articles for Sports Illustrated. In 1972, Jenkins wrote his first novel, "Semi-Tough." he has followed with a steady stream, including "Dead Solid Perfect" and "Baja Oklahoma." Jenkins now lives in Fort Worth with his family. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

J.C. Snead

Although he may be best-known as Sam Snead's nephew, J.C. was a top PGA Tour player in his own right. Jesse Carlyle Snead was born in 1940 in Hot Springs, Va., and attended East Tennessee State University. He played pro baseball in the Washington Senators farm system, and then became a professional golfer in 1964. He joined the PGA Tour in 1968.

Snead won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour, four on the Champions Tour, and one in international competition. He was a member of the 1971, 1973 and 1975 Ryder Cup teams. Snead's biggest career disappointment is that he never won a major championship; he came close twice, 2nd at the 1973 Masters and in a tie for 2nd at the 1978 U.S. Open.

Snead made his career mark as one of the tour's most consistent players with more than $7 million in career earnings. Snead recorded two runner-up finishes in majors. He and his wife Susie lived in Sawgrass for a number of years and she was once the women's club champion.They currently reside in Hobe Sound in Jupiter, Florida.