Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Area pros turn attention to Carolina Winter Series

The spring and summer tours that populate the Carolinas are wrapping up.

The eGolf Tour concluded its 2009 season with Thursday's final round of the $300,000 Tour Championship at Pine Needles and Mid Pines resorts.

The Grand Strand-based NGA Hooters Tour concluded its national tournament schedule with the Oct. 1-4 Capitol Chevrolet Classic in Elgin, and the final event of the Hooters Tour Carolina Series was Sept. 16-18 in Statesville, N.C.

Both the Grand Strand Pro Golf Tour and Carolina Coast Tour ended their seasons in September.

There's not going to be an offseason in the area, however.

The inaugural season of the Hooters Tour's Carolina Winter Series will consist of a dozen 54-hole tournaments, beginning Nov. 3-5 at Aberdeen Country Club and concluding Feb. 9-11 at Farmstead Golf Links.

It has given area pros a place to keep their games sharp and a possible source of income in between and/or after PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament stages.

Area players who have said they are playing the Winter Series include Zack Byrd of Murrells Inlet, Patrick Lundy of Little River, Tony Parrish of North Myrtle Beach, Jeremy Pope of Pawleys Island and Derek Watson of Murrells Inlet, if a heal spur improves enough for him to play.

Hooters Tour president Robin Waters said 30 players have already paid membership dues for the series. Tournaments are booked for up to 60 players, and Waters believes events could be pushing that likely flexible cap.

``Originally we were thinking 30- to 40-player fields, but from what we've seen so far it could be as much as 50 or 60 players per week,'' Waters said. ``The response has been pretty good.''

Waters said a Hooters winter series in Florida will sell out again this year with 200 members, and events will have up to 132 players.

The response to the Carolina winter series is a continuation of the increased participation in the second season of the Hooters Carolina Summer Series. ``We've increased our field from the teens to 45 to 55 players, and that's with three or four tours going on in the same area,'' Waters said. ``We're just playing off the success of our Carolinas series this year. It exceeded our expectations twofold.''

The winter membership fee is $600, and entry fees are $500 for members and $700 for non-members. Tournaments at Tidewater Plantation & Golf and Barefoot Golf Resort are $50 more per player because of the quality of the courses.

``It's almost like a [golfer] population boom in Florida has grown north to the Carolinas and Georgia,'' Waters said. ``There seem to be more players in the Carolinas. It used to be a standard rule in the industry that if you want to play competitively in the winter you have to go to Florida. In the last few years there have been more players wanting us to start a tournament in this area.''

The national NGA Hooters Tour will maintain $200,000 purses for all 18 events in 2010. The cut will be extended to the top 70 and ties from 60 and ties to give players opportunities to play more and earn more. The schedule is largely set and Waters expects up to five tournament site changes. The tour has guaranteed to pay 2010 Q-School fees to the top 10 points leaders at season's end.

The Carolinas Summer Series will be reduced from 14 to 12 events that will begin in March and end in September. Events will be held from Wednesday through Friday after being contested from Tuesday through Thursday this year, and rates will remain comparable to 2009 with a $600 membership fee and tournament entry fees of $600 for members and $800 for non-members. Top five money leaders each event gain entry into the next national Hooters Tour event, and the top 10 on the money list at season's end gain membership on the 2011 national Hooters Tour.

Tour cards on line

Some lives will change dramatically next weekend in the Charleston area.

The top-25 money winners on the Nationwide Tour at the conclusion of the Nationwide Tour Championship on the Ralston Creek Course at Daniel Island Club will be awarded PGA Tour cards for 2010.

Only the top 60 players on the money list after this weekend's Miccosukee Championship in Miami get into the season-ending tournament, and every player who makes it to Daniel Island will have a mathematical chance of playing his way into the top 25. The event has a $1 million purse and $180,000 first prize.

Former Coastal Carolina University player Tom Gillis of Michigan has already secured his return to the PGA Tour. Gillis has won a Nationwide event this year and is fifth on the money list with $335,429 earned.

Players finishing between 26 and 60 on the final money list are fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.

A weekly pass for the Nationwide Tour Championship is $30, a weekly group rate for 10 spectators is $200, and daily tickets are available for $10 at the club. Spectators interested in a Tickets Fore Charity program can participate at the Family Circle Tennis Center ticket office on Daniel Island and at www.NationwideTourChampionship.com, where a list of participating charities can be found.

BC player cards created

Only residents of Brunswick County can purchase a newly-created Player Card for $100 being sold by The First Tee of Brunswick County.

The card is valid from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, 2010, and from May 15 to Sept. 15, 2010. With the card, golfers can play once at each of 23 Brunswick County courses for an all inclusive $25 fee.

Player Cards are available at www.thefirstteebrunswickcounty.org or by calling 910-754-5288. The First Tee will also be selling cards at a booth this weekend at the Oyster Festival in Ocean Isle Beach today and Sunday.

Know Your Score benefits

Twenty-six Myrtle Beach area courses will participate in closest-to-the-pin contests on four consecutive Saturdays, running today through Nov. 7 to benefit the Know Your Score: Fight Prostate Cancer campaign.

With a $20 contribution to Know Your Score, golfers can participate in the contest, receive a sleeve of balls and have a chance to win a Caribbean cruise, a 42-inch HDTV or a $250 Myrtle Beach Golf Shop gift certificate in a drawing to be held November 20.

The person who hits the closest shot of the day at each course will win a Nike or Wilson putter, valued at $120, or a Wilson driver, valued at $150, from the pro shop. If a golfer records a hole-in-one, he or she will win $1,000 cash.

Participating Myrtle Beach area golf courses include some or all managed by Myrtle Beach National, Classic Golf Group, the Glens Group, Burroughs & Chapin and Signature Golf.

More than $65,000 was raised during the second annual Know Your Score: Fight Prostate Cancer Celebrity Golf Tournament and Gala on Aug. 29. The event included entertainment and sports personalities including honorary spokesperson Syracuse University head basketball coach Jim Boeheim and actor Craig T. Nelson. About $4,500 was raised for the cause through activities and donations during the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship.