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 Water comes into play on 11 holes at the Country Club at Soboba Springs. After a one-year hiatus from Southern California, the Nationwide Tour returns to the region with the inaugural Soboba Classic at the Country Club at Soboba Springs in San Jacinto from October 1-4. Though it’s a new event, the Classic has two great things going for it: • It’s the only regular-season event on the Nationwide Tour that offers players a $1 million purse. • It’s the 26th of 29 Nationwide Tour events this year, adding a level of excitement for fans to watch players jockey for position as the race to finish in the top 25 on the money list and earn a PGA Tour card for 2010 heads down the stretch. The combination of the purse and schedule placement should bring the “strongest field of any regular Tour event,” said Tournament Director Doug Hoffort. Hoffort thinks the location of the course, which is about an hour from San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties, should generate daily galleries of about 30,000 spectators. He also expects ratings to be high on the Golf Channel because the event is being held the week between two important events for PGA Tour stars — the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup. That means elite players such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will likely skip the Turning Stone Resort Championship, the PGA Tour event being held the week of the Soboba Classic. “There’s kind of a lull in the schedule,” Hoffort said about the PGA Tour. The Soboba Classic has several other positives going for it. Its host organization is the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, one of the few entities in California that isn’t reeling from the turbulent economy. The association with the tribe, which owns the golf course, allows for the higher purse, Hoffort said, and a four-year agreement with the Nationwide Tour. “Four years is unusual, since most agreements are three years,” Hoffort said. “I think that speaks to how strongly the tribe is behind this event.” Although the Soboba Classic is not affiliated with previous Nationwide Tour stops in Southern California, it should benefit from those ties and others that have been formed at popular PGA Tour events such as the Buick Invitational and Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Much of the volunteer base has experience in those events, and the Soboba Classic also will be able to utilize the skills of Matt Landon, operations manager for the Bob Hope. “We lucked out to get him,” Hoffort said. “From dealing with parking to gallery ropes, we’ll have someone on hand who knows how to put on a tournament without it adversely affecting the spectators or players.” The event is a huge step in the tribe’s desire to bring a major tournament to the Country Club at Soboba Springs. The course will measure about 7,100 yards from the tips and feature water on 11 holes, placing a premium on accuracy and distance off the tee. It was purchased roughly five years ago by the tribe, which had “the intention of renovating the course and the clubhouse with the long-term dream of capturing an LPGA or PGA Tour event,” Hoffort said. “That’s still down the road,” he added, “but five years ago, who would have thought it would be hosting a Nationwide Tour event?” For ticket sales and more information, visit sobobaclassic.net. |
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RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
An excellent project for the region - both the Inland Empire and tribal areas. Being an amateur golfer myself (18 handicapper) I am all for it...put me in the list of prospective volunteers, I have done this at the Pacific Palisades' Riviera Country Club as a 'scorer' walking with the senior PGA/USGA Pro Tour Players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Hale Irwin, and others. ---Numer Manalo
| Comment at 9/3/2009 |
Good point. I hadn't thoghut about it quite that way. :)
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