The epic Walt Disney PGA Tournament, launched in 1971, has since enjoyed incredible success, becoming one of the most sought-after targets for professional golfers. Rising from the ashes of the Disney Golf Resort, this leg of the PGA Tour is as much a part of Walt Disney World as the Christmas Parade.

All that remains of the now legendary Walt Disney World Golf Resort is a small golf course known today as “Oak Trail Golf Course.” However, Disney still operates several full-size courses, opened between 1975 and 1995, including Magnolia, Palm, Osprey Ridge, and Lake Buena Vista. The Magnolia golf course is the longest and most difficult of all, with numerous fountains and bunkers to challenge even the most experienced golfers.

These days, most people know that Walt Disney World is a huge and wildly varied attraction with points of interest for children of all ages. However, when it opened in 1971, there was some skepticism about how different it really could be from its predecessor in Anaheim. Walt Disney saw the inclusion of a variety of options for avid golfers as one way to solidify the Florida park as a vacation destination in the minds of Americans.

Sandy Quinn, Disney’s then president of marketing, took it upon himself to organize a PGA golf tournament to herald the opening of Walt Disney World. Fortunately for him, his path crossed that of Arnold Palmer, and the conversation quickly turned to hosting a PGA tournament. Between November 29 and December 5, 1971, the Disney Golf Championship took its first round, with a purse of $150,000.00! Jack Nicklaus won the first three meets, which took place in 1971, 1972 and then 1973. Since then, the meet has become a component of the PGA tour and is currently the oldest in Florida. Each year, one hundred twenty-eight golfers competed over four days in extremely spirited competition. Vijay Singh, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Payne Stewart boast of having won the purse in this highly anticipated event.

1971 marked not only the first PGA tournament at Disney and the opening of the Disney Golf Resort, which would later close, but also saw the first Disney Christmas Parade, which continues to this day. The first Candlelight Procession took place on the nights of December 18 and 19 at six in the evening. More than a thousand Florida carol singers paraded down the main street of Disney World to Cinderella’s Castle. There, on the esplanade, the festivities would take place, including a narration of Rock Hudson’s Christmas Story, a performance by a Frederick Fennell-style orchestra, and a human Christmas tree to which the Orlando and St. Petersburg boys’ choirs they came to life. Many of these traditions endure today, more than 40 years after that kickoff.