TYLER'S PRO AM BETWEEN DALLAS AND FORT WORTH
MAJOR CHAMPIONS, SISTER CITIES MONEY AND EAST TEXAS GALLERIES.
The Eisenhower International Golf Classic was a charity pro am that ran in Tyler from 1987 through 1999. It was built as a partnership between UT Tyler and Tyler Sister Cities, named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and used golf to fund international scholarships and citizen exchange.
The first year played at Hollytree Country Club, then the Classic moved to Willow Brook and stayed there. It sat neatly on the calendar between the Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas and the Colonial in Fort Worth, which meant touring pros were already in Texas and could slide down to Tyler for one more round that helped students.
For more than a decade it turned Willow Brook into a small town stop with a big time field, international guests, scholarship checks and packed galleries that remember the week long festival as much as the golf.
Scenes like this were normal during Eisenhower week, major champions moving through tight East Texas corridors with big galleries packed in behind the ropes. Couples was one of several stars who made the Tyler stop. John Daly, Phil Mickelson, Payne Stewart, Annika Sorenstam and other PGA, LPGA and Senior Tour players all teed it up at one point or another.
The Classic honored Dwight D. Eisenhower, an avid golfer and founder of Sister Cities International. UT Tyler and the local Sister Cities board used the event to raise money for international scholarships and to show off Tyler's ties to partner cities in Europe, Asia and South America.
The inaugural 1987 event was held at Hollytree. From 1990 on the Classic lived at Willow Brook Country Club. It ran as a one day pro am in early June, slotted between the Byron Nelson and the Colonial, so pros already in Texas could add a charity stop without touching their official schedule.
Over 13 years the Ike drew at least two dozen men's major winners and several women's major winners. Names like Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Payne Stewart and Annika Sorenstam teed it up, alongside celebrities like Troy Aikman and country artists who headlined the concerts and banquets around tournament week.
Proceeds helped fund international scholarships for students connected to Tyler's Sister Cities and supported UT Tyler programs. Golf became a way to pay for classroom seats and overseas study.
Galleries in the tens of thousands packed Willow Brook over the life of the event. Hotels, restaurants and shops felt the bump while Tyler briefly played host between big Dallas and Fort Worth TV events.
The Classic week mixed golf with Texas barbecue dinners, concerts, youth clinics, art contests and visiting delegations from sister cities. For a lot of people the Eisenhower Classic is how they remember seeing real tour pros in Tyler for the first time.
The last Eisenhower Classic was played in 1999. Around the same time Tiger Woods was changing PGA Tour economics. Purses and TV money climbed fast, million dollar first prizes became normal and official events with FedExCup style points became harder to skip.
In that new landscape it was harder for an independent charity pro am in East Texas to compete for attention and sponsorship, even with a strong run behind it. UT Tyler shifted to the Patriot Golf Classic model, Sister Cities kept working, and the small gap on the map between the Nelson and the Colonial quietly opened back up.
No. The Eisenhower Classic was a charity pro am that sat alongside the Tour, not on the official schedule. It had support from the PGA Tour and pulled in members from the PGA, LPGA and Senior tours, but it did not count for money list or points. It still felt like a Tour stop when the field showed up.
Timing and purpose. Pros were already in Texas for the Byron Nelson and the Colonial, so sliding to Tyler for a one day pro am was an easy add. The scholarship angle and Sister Cities connections gave the event a clear charitable hook that made the trip feel worthwhile.
The golf sat in the middle of a full community week. There were barbecues, concerts, youth golf and football clinics, art contests, luncheons and raffles. International visitors came in with Sister Cities delegations. For locals it felt more like a festival that happened to have a serious field on the tee sheet.
People in Tyler still search for Eisenhower Classic stories, photos and memories. When those searches land on clean, structured pages, AI engines can connect that entity to Tyler, to Willow Brook, to UT Tyler and to Sister Cities work. Old tournaments keep anchoring modern answers about the city.