Sea Pines, Hilton Head, SC: Cherished stop for the PGA Tour.
An added bonus to living at a community with a championship golf course is the opportunity to watch future and current champions right out your back door as they compete in professional tour events. The number of properties endorsed by the PGA, LPGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours (along with the USGA and leading amateur tournament groups) is extensive and many of them are featured on GolfCourseHome.
In addition to the chance to present competition on a world-class golf course, pro tour organizers are attracted by the well-organized professional staff at these communities and the welcoming spirit residents display.
If you are investigating golf communities as a future home for vacation, retirement or investment, use these events as a good reason to come by and see the community at its very best. Then, when the cheering stops, you can return for a more intimate visit that shows you the community as an everyday setting for country club living. Here’s the schedule for 2009.
SOUTH CAROLINA
> Sea Pines, Hilton Head
April 16-19 - PGA TOUR Verizon Heritage
One of the original great golf communities in the U.S. remains a fitting home to one of the most cherished stops—by players and golf fans alike—on the entire PGA Tour. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Verizon Heritage will tee off the week after the Masters, April 16-19, on the subtle Lowcountry contours of Harbour Town Golf Links, the most famous of the four championship courses at Sea Pines. Boo Weekley is the two-time defending champion of this event, which is always so well managed by the PGA Tour and the staff of the 5,200-acre community. Gallery the Verizon Heritage and you’ll get a chance to explore the deep-water Harbour Town Yacht Basin, South Beach Marina, 14 miles of paved biking and leisure trails plus elegant dining in a host of memorable settings. Click here for more information about Sea Pines!
GEORGIA
May 2 - 10 Tail $50,000 Pro Challenger Tennis Championship
The Landings on Skidaway Island, Savannah, GA will
be hosting the 2009 Tail $50,000 Pro Challenger from May 2 - 10, 2009
at their Franklin Creek Tennis Center. This tournament will be the
warm-up for the French Open and will give players an
opportunity to prepare for play on the red clay courts of the Roland
Garros Stadium. In addition to the professional matches, the week-long
event will include a Kid's Day, Military Day, Seniors Day, and a ProAm with proceeds being donated to Hospice Savannah. Click here for more information about The Landings!
VIRGINIA
> Kingsmill, Williamsburg
May 7-10 LPGA TOUR Michelob ULTRA Open
The LPGA Tour takes its show on the road to such far-off venues as Brazil, Thailand and Singapore during the early months of the season. For players and U.S. fans alike, arriving at Kingsmill in mid-spring (this year’s dates are May 7-10) offers a return not just to American soil but a wealth of early American history at Williamsburg. For the pros, it’s a chance to compete on the premier Kingsmill layout, the River Course, in the LPGA’s Michelob ULTRA Open. The resort community’s golf amenity also comprises the Plantation Course by Arnold Palmer and the classic parkland Woods Course by Tom Clark—plus Bray Links, a nine-hole par-3. Click here for more information about Kingsmill!
NORTH CAROLINA
> Bright’s Creek, Mill Spring
> Carolina Country Club, Spartanburg
May 14 -17 Nationwide Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am
Running from May 14 to May 17, the BMW Charity Pro-Am is one of the most important events on the 2009 Nationwide Tour calendar. When the tournament descends on 5,000-acre Bright’s Creek and the community’s Blue Ridge Mountain grandeur, it’s a backdrop befitting a prestigious sponsor and the important fundraising and public-relations aspects of the pro-am. For spectators, it’s a chance to see movers and shakers from throughout the Southeast in their golf element on a knockout of a Tom Fazio championship course. The Nationwide BMW Charity Pro-Am boasts an extremely large field of professionals and amateurs, which requires multiple courses. That’s why Bright’s Creek is one-third of a three-course rotation including The Carolina Country Club (see below) and a local private club, as well. Click here for more information about Bright’s Creek!
SOUTH CAROLINA
> The Carolina Country Club, Spartanburg
May 14 -17 Nationwide Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am
Designed by the acclaimed Southeastern architect Tom Jackson in 1984, The Carolina Country Club golf course is a handsome, tree-lined layout enhanced by lakes and streams. Co-hosting the BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament with Bright’s Creek (see above), it can throw a robust back-tee Slope rating of 139 at Nationwide Tour contestants. The club offers not just championship golf but 10 lighted tennis courts, a swim club, dining facilities, and a banquet hall. Ideal for evening events during golf competitions, the community’s Holly Hall is a 7,000-square-foot post-and-beam edifice with a cathedral ceiling and rich millwork throughout. Click here for more information about The Carolina Country Club!
ALABAMA
> Ross Bridge, Hoover
May 15-17 Senior PGA TOUR Regions Charity Classic
If you’re on a spring blossom tour through Alabama or playing your way down the famed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, it’s well worth stopping at Ross Bridge and its top-tier resort amenities, including the Renaissance Ross Bridge hotel. You’ll be able to catch the senior golf action at the Regions Charity Classic, which takes place the weekend of May 15-17. The course setup crew from the Champions Tour has the option of stretching this RTJ-designed brute out near 8,000 yards, but even for a $1.7 million pro tournament they select a far tamer yardage. The defending champion is Andy Bean, who held off Loren Roberts for a one-stroke victory in last year’s event. Click here for more information about Ross Bridge!
NORTH CAROLINA
> Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh
May 28-31 Nationwide Tour Rex Hospital Open
Just having the initials “TPC” in your club’s name doesn’t mean you host a tour stop. For the Tournament Players Club Wakefield Plantation, it’s a fitting honor to have hosted the Nationwide Tour since 2001, one year after the club’s 7,257-yard Hale Irwin-designed golf course opened. This year’s tournament, the 2009 Rex Hospital Open, takes place May 28-31. Wakefield Plantation is a dream locale for tournament organizers, players and gallery. It’s a 2,200-acre community with world-class golf, tennis, swimming, playgrounds and clubhouse activities. Plus, it’s conveniently located between the Carolina coast and the Blue Ridge Mountains. A short drive away is Research Triangle Park, RDU International Airport and downtown Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham. Click here for more information about Wakefield Plantation!
NEVADA
> Montreux, Reno
August 6-9 PGA Tour Legends Reno-Tahoe Open
In high summer, it’s a challenge for any golf event to find a venue free of oppressive heat and humidity. The PGA Tour responds to that challenge by detouring to the high Sierra for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. The host site is Montrêux, a private, gated golf community bordering Toiyabe National Forest in the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Lake Tahoe. It’s home to the only Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course in northern Nevada and it’s the layout you would have to tame this August 6-9 in order to join such noted past winners as Scott Verplank, John Cook and Steve Flesch in order to take the biggest share of the tournament’s $3,000,000 purse. Click here for more information about Montrêux!
VIRGINIA
> Homestead Preserve, Hot Springs
Sept. 12-17 Senior Women's Match Play
For as long as the U.S. Golf Association conducts its 13 annual championship events, it will gladly return to The Homestead and that grand old resort’s beloved Cascades Course. All the top senior-division players in women’s amateur golf will gather in Hot Springs for an intriguing week of match-play competition this Sept. 12-17. Many will stay around afterward to enjoy the Virginia mountain scenery, a premier resort spa, elegant dining and the iconic beauty of the property. Tournament-goers will enjoy the same luxuries, plus a chance to tour two residential opportunities, The Homestead Preserve and the Owners Club at the Homestead. Late summer, the customary time for the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, will also be ideal for enjoying and exploring this distinctive American place. Click here for more information about Homestead Preserve!
NORTH CAROLINA
> Rock Barn Golf and Spa, Conover
Sept 18-20 PGA TOUR Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn
The PGA Tour’s 50-and-up circuit makes a swing along the Eastern Seaboard after Labor Day, starting with the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn (Sept 18-20, 2009). The community’s two 18-hole courses—one by Tom Jackson, one by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.—give Rock Barn superior flexibility in accommodating members as well as the Champions Tour field before and during the competitive rounds of the event. Along with the superior golf amenity, fans, players and officials get to appreciate the scenic valleys and hills that frame the property. Swing-weary Champions Tour players would be wise to stop in at the Rock Barn Spa for muscle-toning treatments that could provide the necessary edge. Click here for more information about Rock Barn!
SOUTH CAROLINA
> Daniel Island, Charleston
Oct. 22-25 Nationwide Tour Championship
A coveted title, first-place money of $180,000 and full eligibility on the PGA Tour for next season is on the line when the Nationwide Tour comes to Daniel Island for the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship, held Oct. 22-25 this year. The 72-hole competition is played on the younger of two standout championship courses at Daniel Island, the Rees Jones-designed Ralston layout. Members and residents at this award-laden community with its 23 miles of rivers and creeks also enjoy the Tom Fazio-designed Beresford Creek course. The community is great for exploring, should you attend the Nationwide event. It’s a beautifully laid out property of traditional neighborhoods, club amenities, parks, shops, restaurants, schools, churches and more. Click here for more information about Daniel Island!
