He’ll be there alright. You can count on it. The King may have crossed the border into a more ethereal realm, but his reign lives on.

The E-Z-GO chariot that hurtled round the vantage points at Bay Hill will sit driverless beneath the giant scoreboard overlooking the 16th tee. Like a throne of games, its regal repose will remind all who pass by that a benevolent eye is watching over proceedings.

A statue, matching the one at his beloved alma mater Wake Forest and crafted by sculptor Bruce Wolfe, will be unveiled between the 1st and 10th tees.

PGA Tour players, from major champions to humble journeymen, will hit ceremonial tee shots from that special position on the driving range bearing his nameplate. They have also been invited to display the iconic umbrella, perhaps on their golf bag, a head cover or an item of clothing.

Five of the great man’s closest allies will share the hosting responsibilities he traditionally undertook in his stride—not just as an annual duty, but as an enduring pleasure.

In return, the love that modern golf has had nigh on six decades for its founding father will never have felt deeper or stronger than at the forthcoming Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

To be in Orlando the week of March 13-19, 2017 will be both a joy and a pilgrimage. Not only is the show going on, but it’s going from strength to strength. Galleries in excess of last year’s record of 135,000 are expected, a legion of 1,400 volunteers is assembling, and the purse for the players has rocketed from $6.3m in 2016 to $8.7 million.

“Most of the volunteers will have some connection with the hospitals—either having received treatment themselves or someone close to them. They work long hours during the week and most of them take vacation from work to be with us. A lot of them actually come from out of state.

 “Ticket sales are going well—we’re up on previous years so we’re expecting large galleries and we’ve allocated more parking positions, more general public bleachers and more concessions.

“We also have a host of supporting sponsors and partners, including, as usual, such stalwarts as Waste Management, Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch and Arizona Tea.” 

So the table has been laid and the feast prepared, for a 39th consecutive year at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. The Invitational’s future is assured and its March slot on the PGA Tour’s schedule, a precious few weeks before the Masters, appears sacrosanct.

Citrus tones

Of course, Doyle and her cohorts are relative newcomers to the whole enterprise. Those longer in the tooth can recall the first time Bay Hill played host, in 1979. In fact, the seeds for what would become the Arnold Palmer Invitational were sown as far back as 1965, when Palmer first encountered Bay Hill in an exhibition fourball with Jack Nicklaus, Dave Ragan and Don Cherry. It was love at first sight for Palmer, particularly after posting a winning 66 that day.

Back then Bay Hill, designed four years earlier by Dick Wilson, was raw. Apart from the course, there was a tiny pro shop, a small guest lodge and a handful of bungalows carved out of orange groves and razor brush. It was a canvas of rural Floridian ambience surrounded by freshwater lakes. 

“I loved Bay Hill from the first time I saw it,” Palmer later reminisced. “It was near perfect, a golfer’s paradise.”

He was so smitten he told his wife Winnie: “Babe, I’ve just played the best course in Florida, and I want to own it.”

That bit was easier said than done. Negotiating with the initial investors took the best part of a decade before, in 1976, he and Bay Hill were formally betrothed. “The price we paid was a bit higher than we had hoped but at least Bay Hill was finally ours,” he said. 

Next up was the PGA Tour, though the introduction was accidental. The Florida Citrus tournament (won by Mr. Palmer in 1971) had been a fixture on the schedule since 1966. It was held at Rio Pinar Country Club yet by 1978 the tournament’s best days were behind it. Palmer took up the story: “I got a phone call from a prominent Orlando businessman who was concerned that the event was dying on the vine. He wondered if moving it to Bay Hill and attaching my name to it might somehow revive what had been a popular and prosperous stop.

“When I thought about it I realized this was a way I could give something back to the PGA. A year later, with me playing host, the new Bay Hill tournament debuted with a strong field. 

“I don’t remember much about the 70 I shot in the first round; what I do recall is being incredibly nervous about having the entire golf world, my old friends and several million network television viewers come to Bay Hill. I needn’t have worried. We got rave reviews and that event was won in a playoff by a Wake Forest graduate, Bob Byman.” 

The tournament was an overnight success, and to this day the objective is to present a stiff test for tour pros while, for the rest of the year, offering an enjoyable experience to club members and handicap golfers.

Since 1979, the tournament has witnessed a kaleidoscope of feats. The winners’ roll call includes Fuzzy Zoeller, Loren Roberts, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, Paul Azinger, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and, most recently, Jason Day. But the standout has been Tiger Woods, winner eight times between 2000 and 2013.

There have been catastrophes along the way, too. Take the 558-yard 6th hole that bends boomerang-style around a massive pond. John Daly hit six consecutive
shots into the water for an 18 in 1998. It was Bay Hill’s Tin Cup moment.

Presiding over all the triumphs and disasters for almost four decades, from the first drive at the crack of dawn on day one to the Sunday awards ceremony beside the 18th green, was Palmer.

In the fullness of time, it seemed appropriate to name the tournament for him. After all, to the players it was always “Arnie’s Tournament” anyway. And it always will be.