Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree or in jail, would be welcomed home on their return. In October 1971, newspaper columnist Pete Hamill wrote a piece for the "New York Post" called "Going Home". In it, he told a variant of the story, in which college students on a bus trip to the beaches of Fort Lauderdale make friends with an ex-convict who is watching for a yellow handkerchief on a roadside oak in Brunswick, Georgia. Hamill claimed to have heard this story in oral tradition. In June 1972, nine months later, "Reader's Digest" reprinted "Going Home". Also in June 1972, ABC-TV aired a dramatized version
Oak Tree National to numerous other PGA of America championships and one United States Golf Association-sanctioned championship. The first notable tournament to be held at Oak Tree was the 1984 U.S. Amateur which was won by Scott Verplank. In 1988, the PGA Championship came to Oak Tree. Jeff Sluman won with a score of twelve under par 272, clinched with a final round 65. In 2000, the PGA Club Professional Championship was held at Oak Tree; Tim Thelen won it in a playoff. Most recently, in 2006, the Senior PGA Championship was held at Oak Tree. Over the four days, gusty winds kept