Tom Watson Designed Conservatory Golf Club To Host Inaugural Event To Be Held March 26-april 1, 2007 At Hammock Beach In Palm Coast, Fla.
HAMMOCK BEACH, Fla., June 21, 2006 – Ginn Sports Entertainment LLC announced today that Ginn Clubs & Resorts will sponsor and stage one of the richest events on the Champions Tour in 2007, the inaugural Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, Fla. The announcement was made by Ginn Clubs & Resorts President Bobby Ginn and Champions Tour president Rick George.
The inaugural Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach will be played March 26-April 1, 2007 and will feature a $2.5 million purse, with $375,000 awarded to the winner. The event will take place the week before the Masters, and two weeks before the LPGA Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open in Reunion, Fla.
In 2006, only the U.S. Senior Open has a larger purse at $2.6 million than the Ginn Championship.
"The growth of our golf resort and real estate communities is certainly linked to the growth and popularity of the game of golf and the PGA TOUR," said Bobby Ginn, President and CEO of Ginn Clubs & Resorts. "Hosting the world’s best golfers in high-profile tournament competition at Ginn Clubs & Resorts properties is consistent with our goal of creating a unique, family environment and special memories for our members and guests."
"Ginn Sports Entertainment is extremely pleased to announce its expanded sponsorship of professional golf tournaments and our new relationship with the PGA TOUR," said Kent Atherton, President & COO of Ginn Sports Entertainment LLC. "The Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open at Reunion Resort & Club established a new standard of excellence on the LPGA Tour and we are excited to create the same production values and event experience for fans of the Champions Tour."
"The Ginn Company has quickly become a major player in the golf development business and we are looking forward to partnering with them on the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach Golf Club," said Champions Tour president Rick George. "The players will enjoy playing the Tom Watson-designed golf course as well as the Hammock Beach area, which offers beaches, resorts, great golf courses and a number of other amenities. We’ll have a great field. The Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach Golf Club is a terrific addition to the 2007 Champions Tour schedule."
The Golf Channel will air all three rounds of the Championship.
The Champions Tour continues to grow in popularity and the class of 2007 will see the addition of Mark O’Meara and Nick Price to the great fields that include Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Curtis Strange, Jay Haas, Loren Roberts, Hale Irwin, Greg Norman, Peter Jacobsen, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Larry Nelson, Fuzzy Zoeller and the recently turned 50 Fred Funk to name a few.
Located in Palm Coast, a few miles south of St. Augustine, Fla., the Conservatory at Hammock Beach features Tom Watson’s second golf course design in Florida. His first is at another Ginn community, Reunion Resort & Club of Orlando.
In addition to The Conservatory, Hammock Beach features The Club at Hammock Beach, a 12-story, $150 million resort that is situated on more than two miles of oceanfront.
The five-year agreement between Ginn Clubs & Resorts and the Champions Tour ensures that a first-class professional championship to highlight the game’s greatest players will be located at Hammock Beach in Northeast Florida for years to come.
In May, Ginn Clubs & Resorts and the Champions Tour announced that another Ginn property, Quail West in Naples, FL, would be the new host venue of the 2007 ACE Group Classic.
About Ginn Clubs & Resorts
Ginn Clubs & Resorts is a privately-held resort development and management firm which specializes in exclusive leisure lifestyle and vacation destination communities across the U.S. From private residential communities to resort destinations offering unparalleled ownership and vacation opportunities, the common denominator throughout Ginn Club & Resorts communities is service. The company’s principals have more than three decades of experience in creating extraordinary large-scale, recreation-oriented communities. Current Ginn Clubs & Resorts communities include Cobblestone Park in Columbia, S.C. as well as Belvidere Club & Resort, which encompasses RiverTowne Country Club, The Cottages on Charleston Harbor and Patriot’s Point Golf Course in the Charleston area. The company also owns and operates Hammock Beach, The Conservatory at Hammock Beach and Yacht Harbor Village near St. Augustine, Fla., Reunion Resort & Club of Orlando, Bella Collina north of Orlando and Tesoro and Tesoro Preserve in Port St. Lucie on Florida’s historic "Treasure Coast." The company also owns and operates Mahogany Run Golf Course in St. Thomas and has several projects under development in North Carolina, Vermont, Colorado and in the Bahamas. www.ginnclubsandresorts.com
About The Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour now has 29 official events offering a minimum of $52.55 million in prize money in 2006 and its highest average purse ever of $1.82 million. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. On October 30th, 2005 the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour and their tournaments announced they had reached the $1 billion milestone in charitable donations dating back to the first recorded donation in 1938. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Rick George is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Our web site address is www.PGATOUR.com.
Contact:
Ryan Julison
Ginn Clubs & Resorts
321-939-4705
Steve Brener
Brener Zwikel & Associates
818-344-6195 ext. 103
Jeff Adams
Champions Tour
904-273-3397
