HOUSTON (November 30, 2005) — Officials from the PGA TOUR, Houston Golf Association (HGA) and The Redstone Companies jointly announced today that the 2006 Nationwide Tour Championship will be played November 6-12 at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Fort Bend County. The 72-hole tournament, featuring the Nationwide Tour’s top 60 money winners, will be nationally televised by The Golf Channel. The total purse for the event will be $700,000.
As the season-ending tournament, the Nationwide Tour Championship is perhaps the most dramatic event of the year for the tour. The top 20 players on the final money list earn their PGA TOUR cards for the following year. With a first place prize of $126,000, virtually every player in the tournament will have a shot at reaching the PGA TOUR. It took just over $200,000 to finish in that elite group in 2005.
Founded in 1990, the Nationwide Tour is owned and operated by the PGA TOUR. The Nationwide Tour has since become one of the top three tours in the world and alumni comprise nearly 60% of current PGA TOUR players. Former Nationwide Tour players have collected 175 PGA TOUR titles, including 10 major championships. Current PGA TOUR stars, including Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, David Toms, John Daly, Tom Lehman, Chris DiMarco and Stuart Appleby, all competed on the Nationwide Tour earlier in their careers. Former Nationwide Tour players won 16 times on the PGA TOUR in 2005.
"The Nationwide Tour is excited to be coming to Houston and working with the Houston Golf Association," said Bill Calfee, Chief of Operations for the Nationwide Tour. "Playing a quality course like The Houstonian will add further prestige to the tour and will provide our players with a fitting challenge to end the 2006 season."
"We built The Houstonian Golf & Country Club with the vision that it would attract this caliber of an event," said David Shindeldecker, President and Co-CEO of The Redstone Companies. "We have enjoyed our relationship with the HGA, the TOUR, and Shell as hosts of Houston’s PGA TOUR stop at Redstone Golf Club. We look forward to expanding those partnerships and our future with Nationwide as well."
The Redstone Companies has made a major commitment to golf in the Greater Houston area. Redstone Golf Club is in the fourth year of a 10-year contract to serve as the host venue for the PGA TOUR’s Shell Houston Open. It also donated the land for a learning center and three-hole short course that is a part of The First Tee ® Houston/Redstone Chapter to which the Houston Golf Association holds the charter.
"Clearly this event gives us a superb opportunity to build relationships with players who will play in the Shell Houston Open in the future," said Steve Timms, President and CEO of the Houston Golf Association. "It will also financially benefit The First Tee ® of Houston/Redstone program which will positively impact the lives of thousands of youngsters in our community."
The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, owned and operated by The Redstone Companies, opened in 1999. It was designed by renowned golf course architect Rees Jones. Known for his classic approach to course design, Jones has crafted three distinct courses in Houston, all of them projects for Redstone Golf Management.
The other venues include:
A 7,100-yard, par-72 layout, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club is uniquely free of housing developments, a trait shared by the Jones-designed Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course.
Featuring rolling 419 Tifway Bermuda grass fairways and tees with Tif-Eagle greens, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club has 45 bunkers, which were recently renovated. There is an expansive driving range, two putting greens, an 8,000-square-foot short game practice area and a teaching facility — the Dick Harmon School of Golf.
Houston Golf Association has been promoting PGA TOUR golf tournaments since 1946. A 501c (3) non-profit organization, the HGA donates the net proceeds of its tournaments to local youth-oriented charities. Since 1974 the HGA has generated more than $40 million for charity.
HGA’s volunteers and staff are well versed in assisting in championship events. Previously the HGA supplied operational support for the season-ending PGA TOUR Championship when it was played in Houston on the Cypress Creek Course at Champions Golf Club in 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.
Contact:
Burt Darden
HGA Director of Communications
281-454-7000
bdarden@hga.org
