Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
News
|
||||
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: SOBOBA GOLF CLASSIC The Country Club at Soboba Springs should provide plenty of challenge and beauty for Nationwide Tour players. The Nationwide Tour is no stranger to Southern California — the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit has roots more than 15 years deep in the region’s soil — but the tour’s second annual Soboba Golf Classic is its biggest Southern California party to date. The tournament, which will be held September 27-October 3 at the Country Club at Soboba Springs in San Jacinto, is considered by many to be one of the Nationwide Tour’s biggest. Its $1 million purse is the largest of any event on the calendar (only the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship matches it), and since only three events separate it from the championship, almost all of the Nationwide Tour’s best should be competing. “Everyone on the Tour wants to play this event,” said tournament director Ed Winiecki. “The guys higher up the money list want to do well in order to take some time off before the season-ending championship, while the guys scrambling for position or who need a big finish obviously want to play.” The top 25 players on the Nationwide Tour’s season-ending money list earn PGA Tour cards for next season; players ranked 26th through 60th on the money list are exempt for the Nationwide Tour in 2011; and those between 61st and 100th are partially exempt on the Nationwide Tour next season. While the field won’t officially be known until a week before the event, look for every player either in the top 25 on the money list or within striking distance of that mark to compete. Young stars such as Chris Kirk, Jamie Lovemark, Martin Piller, Kevin Chappell and Peter Tomasulo should be in the field. Each player is in his 20s and has been near the top of the money list for most of 2010 thanks to winning at least one event. The Soboba Golf Classic also figures to attract former PGA Tour regulars that still have plenty of game, such as Frank Lickliter II, Tag Ridings, and John Riegger. Don’t be surprised to see some PGA Tour winners as well — Jason Gore, Jonathan Kaye, Mark Hensby and Robert Gamez have each made a significant number of Nationwide Tour starts in 2010. While competitive golf is the main selling point, organizers also are focusing on turning the Classic into a major social event for the greater San Jacinto area. Last year, some 15,000 people watched Jerod Turner claim the $180,000 first-place prize. This year, thanks to an array of non-golf attractions and features, tournament officials expect the attendance to double. Each of the four days will include a theme saluting some aspect of the region, from military members and college students to health and cancer awareness organizations. There also will be a host of events designed for kids, from a junior golf clinic to a special fun zone that will include everything from clowns to a petting zoo. Though the Soboba Golf Classic is only in its second year, it’s part of a long history for the Nationwide Tour in Southern California. After launching in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour, the circuit staged its first Southern California event in 1994 in Moreno Valley. In 2001, it began a seven-year stay at Rancho Cucamonga’s Empire Lakes Golf Course before moving to the Country Club at Soboba Springs last year. The event’s sponsor is the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians, whose culture has permeated the greater San Jacinto area for hundreds of years. Owners of the Soboba Casino, located down the road from the golf course, the tribe bought the golf course, which opened in 1966 as the Soboba Royal Vista Golf Club, in 2004. It spent nearly $6 million on a host of renovations, including lengthening the layout by more than 250 yards from the tips, adding white Augusta sand to reconfigured bunkers, and creating dramatic water features. The tribe also spent approximately $11 million on building a new 32,000-square-foot clubhouse. The goal from the start was to lure the biggest professional golf event possible. “Absolutely, that was the idea from the day the tribe purchased the course,” said Bryan Addis, general manager of the Country Club at Soboba Springs. “The tribe has spent a great deal of money and worked very hard on getting this course into the kind of shape that could attract some of the world’s best players. It has done a great job ensuring that.” ALSO SEE: Local youngsters Chappell, Tomasulo, Lovemark flying high on Nationwide Tour Tickets now on sale for Soboba Golf Classic Become a volunteer for the Soboba Golf Classic |
||||
RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
Heres that event that you don't want to go to
| Comment at 9/24/2010 |
