Left to right: Jerry Hoffberger (listed on the reverse of the photograph as the TV sponsor. Mr. Hoffberger, in 1956, was the owner of the National Brewing Company and part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Which company he represented in sponsorship is not known. Probably the Natty Boh company.); Mayor Tommy D'Alesandro; Tom O'Donnell, tournament chairman; Arnold Palmer.

Editor's Notes: In 2004, Bill Johnson wrote to Arnold Palmer, asking for recollections he'd care to share of the times he played at Mt. Pleasant in the Eastern Open. Doc Giffen, Mr. Palmer's long-time assistant, sent Palmer's response to Bill:

“There was a very unique situation involved when I won the Eastern Open there in 1956. I hit my very first shot in the tournament out of bounds. I kinda flipped my driver up in the air in disgust when that happened. Doug Ford was playing with me that day and I said rather quietly to him: 'I think I'll just go home. I'm tired.' I remember Doug's response so well: 'Come on. You can spot the field two shots and still win the tournament.' Which I did. Although I wound up winning by two over Dow Finsterwald, I led by 12 strokes at one point in the tournament."

It is written elsewhere [and the error is repeated on many other websites] that Palmer knocked his first two drives of the tournament out of bounds, and that his fellow competitor at the time was Billy Casper. Casper didn't compete in the 1956 tournament. He did play in the 1955 event [T25], in the 1957 tournament [T2], and last played in the Eastern Open in 1958 [T15]. Doug Ford did play in the 1956 Eastern Open, and finished tied 15th.

It's also written that Palmer's win at the 1956 Eastern Open was his second PGA Tour victory. In fact it was his third. Palmer won the Canadian Open in 1955, then won the Insurance City Open on July 1, 1956 for his second PGA Tour victory.

Palmer's claim that he led the tournament by 12 strokes at some point probably takes Ben Hogan-like liberties with facts (like "I hit a 1-iron on the 18th at Merion in the final round of the 1950 National Open") when the tale told bolsters the legend more so than the reality. The Golf World article on the 1956 Eastern Open indicates it was a wide-open contest until the final holes.

Blue Rows Indicate Maryland Golfers
Green Rows Rows Indicate African-American Golfers
Golfer	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Total	Winnings
Arnold Palmer	70	66	69	72	277	3,800
Dow Finsterwald	69	71	69	70	279	2,150
Bob Rosburg	71	70	70	70	281	1,400
Jerry Kesselring	68	71	72	70	281	1,400
Bud Holscher	70	71	73	68	282	975
Jay Hebert	69	72	71	70	282	975
George Bayer	73	73	68	69	283	700
Art Wall, Jr.	70	72	69	72	283	700
Dick Mayer	69	73	68	73	283	700
George Fazio	76	70	70	68	284	533.33
Bill Nary	73	72	69	70	284	533.33
John Knight	67	73	72	72	284	533.33
Mike Souchak	74	72	70	69	285	462.50
Jackson Bradley	70	71	74	70	285	462.50
Ernie Vossler	73	67	77	69	286	363.75
Doug Ford	70	71	72	73	286	363.75
Ken Towns	71	70	72	73	286	363.75
Don Addington	69	72	72	73	286	363.75
Henry Ransom	74	71	71	71	287	260
Paul Harney	72	72	72	71	287	260
Babe Lichardus	69	70	76	72	287	260
Harold Williams	74	75	66	72	287	260
John O'Donnell	76	73	70	69	288	180
Hans Merrell	75	71	73	69	288	180
Paul McGuire	72	73	72	71	288	180
Dave Douglas	70	74	73	71	288	180
Art Doering	72	74	73	70	289	115
Frank Stranahan	75	76	67	71	289	115
Al Besselink	74	71	72	72	289	115
Jim Turnesa	72	72	72	73	289	115
Ralph Blomquist	69	75	72	74	290
Marty Furgol	71	71	76	72	290
Jack Fleck	74	71	72	74	291
Mike Fetchick	71	72	72	76	291
Fred Bolton	76	73	72	71	292
George Bernardin	76	74	70	72	292
Fred Wampler	75	72	74	73	294
Bill Cole A	73	72	76	73	294
Joe Zakarian	78	74	70	72	294
Dick Turner	74	74	74	72	294
Carroll Armstrong. Jr. A	73	75	73	73	294
Bob Toski	75	73	74	73	294
Don Whitt	72	74	76	73	295
Rod Munday	76	72	74	73	295
Jimmy Ferree	74	75	73	73	295
Walter Romans	76	73	72	74	295
Kirk Smith	70	72	75	79	296
John Musser	74	74	76	73	297
Bill Gehring	75	74	73	75	297
Bill Moran	70	76	76	75	297
Ansel Snow	70	74	76	77	297
Richard Thomas	72	79	72	75	298
Charles Farlow	75	76	73	74	298
J. Tracy Mehr A	78	73	74	74	299
Jack Robinson	75	73	72	79	299
Roger Horton A	78	72	77	73	300
Rick McHale	77	71	76	76	300
Don Alexander	76	76	72	76	300
Art Jones	75	74	75	76	300
Steve Tobash	74	74	76	77	301
Dick Hendrickson A	74	75	75	78	302
Robert Smith A	75	79	76	78	308
Ellis Taylor A	77	75	82	74	308
David Bohannon	76	75	86	75	312
Ted Gwin	70	75	76	WD
Out of Final 18 Holes
Edward Rubis	79	74	72			225
Frank Tenney	74	76	75			225
Gay Brewer	74	73	78			225
Andy Gibson	80	73	73			226
Eldon Briggs	78	74	74			226
Don Stough	80	72	74			226
Clint Kennedy	75	75	76			226
Cosmo Tiso	79	71	76			226
Charles Sifford	73	77	76			226
William Haviland	79	76	73			228
Walter Stewart	71	80	77			228
Skip Alexander	76	78	74			228
Ray Heins	76	78	75			229
Wesley Gilbert	79	76	74			229
Jack Lowe	79	76	74			229
Jim Bellizi	74	76	79			229
R. W. Smith	75	79	76			230
Lee Armstrong	75	77	78			230
William Bassler	76	78	76			230
Bill Clarke	70	75	86			231
Aubrey Apple	79	77	76			232
John Bass	76	76	80			232
Ed Miller	78	78	78			234
Larry Hogan	78	77	80			235
Richard Tyson	77	72	78			237
Robert Zbikowski	77	76				WD
Vic Ghezzi	74	78				WD
William Goggin	79	75				WD
Bob Jones A	77	80				WD
Ed Creasy	78	78				WD
Bernard Fateux	74	75				WD
Thomas Pritchard A	72	78				WD
Failed to Qualify for Final 36
John Jendrasak	78	79				157
Bob Jones A	77	80				157
Jim Flattery	78	79				157
Allie Russo	80	78				158
George Bigham	80	79				159
Hord Hardin A	78	81				159
John Hughes, Jr.	81	78				159
Tommy Roberts	84	75				159
Ed Finnessy A	84	76				160
Jack Matthews A	84	76				160
Milton Logan	84	77				161
Walter Potter	81	81				162
Stan Graff	83	79				162
Leo Steinbrecher	82	80				162
Jimmy Duke	81	81				162
Woodie Pitman	84	80				164
George Pigott	83	81				164
Mike Bowers	82	85				167
Billy Tarr	84	83				167
Ronnie Stanbury	84	88				172
Bob Duden	76					WD
Paul O'Leary	78					WD
Dick Mullen	80					WD
Charles Herling	82					WD
Dave Wallace	78					WD
Elroy Marti	77					WD
George Griffin, Jr.	75					WD