The Iconic PGA Tour Logo Turns 40 And We Get To See What Might Have Been (They Made The Right Call!)
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Deane Beman posing with mock-ups of possible PGA Tour logos
We have our branding fun in these parts but we all know there is something to a timeless logo. So as the PGA Tour’s turns 40, Laury Livsey posted a few stories at PGATour.com about its origin, timelessness and golfer mystery.
The best part of the package? The many other logos considered. I see some great ironic trucker hat options for The Players merch tent, but it’s also apparent the shield with the most permanence and class—after some small tweaks—was selected.
Outside of minor tweaking here and there through the years—but nothing along the lines of a facelift—the iconic symbol of professional golf remains largely unchanged from its original 1979 design that replaced the TOUR’s “shield” logo. Four decades later, it has stood the test of time. With companies changing logos and color schemes and brand imaging all the time, the TOUR has not budged.
As for the mystery of who the golfer is, well, Livsey tries to answer that question. I won’t spoil it but will paste this from Deane Beman, who signed off on the final version.
About the logo’s design, Beman remembered, “There is no question in my mind as to what I said was that I want the name on it—PGA TOUR—and I want an active golf figure in it.” So what would the silhouette be doing? “I didn’t want him to be at address. That doesn’t denote motion. It has to be during the course of the swing or at the finish of the swing,” Beman added.
And don’t forget to check out what could have been…
