LIVERMORE, CA (January 30, 2007) – Golfers from throughout the Bay Area are fine-tuning their skills for one of the region’s top season-opening championships, The Amateur at Wente Vineyards, scheduled for February 23-24, 2008.
The 36-hole tournament is to consist of three divisions — Championship Flight, Net Flight and Senior Flight. A new champion is expected to be crowned, since 2007 winner Jack Paton of Hillsborough is now at the University of Oregon.
Paton captured the inaugural title as a senior in high school, with a 1-over-par 145 on the Greg Norman-designed course that this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. Paton was two shots ahead of George Gandranata of Indonesia, now a junior on the University of California golf team, and three shots ahead of Michael Wilson of Pacific Grove, a Cal senior now playing pro tour golf.
An exemption into the open qualifying tournament for the Nationwide Tours’ Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship again will be an added incentive in The Amateur. The player with a 2.0 index or lower who posts the best 36-hole total in The Amateur is exempt for the open qualifying tournament March 31, 2007, at the Stonebrae and Castlewood golf clubs.
Competition in The Amateur begins each day at 9:30 a.m. Besides golf, each participant receives lunch each day and a competitor’s package that includes wine and tickets to the Nationwide Tour event March 31-April 6.
Entry fee is $240. Downloadable registration forms are available at www.wentegolf.com. For more information about The Amateur at Wente Vineyards, call Mark Wiese, tournament director, (925) 456-2480, FAX (925) 456-2490, or e-mail mark.wiese@wentegolf.com.
About Wente Vineyards
2008 marks Wente Vineyards’ 125th Anniversary. As the country’s oldest continuously operated family-owned winery, Wente Vineyards maintains its leadership role in California winegrowing under the ownership and management by the fourth and fifth generations of the Wente family. Blending traditional and innovative winemaking practices, the winery draws from 3,000 acres of sustainably farmed estate vineyards to create an outstanding portfolio of wines. Located just east of San Francisco in the historic Livermore Valley, Wente Vineyards is recognized as one of California’s premier wine country destinations, featuring wine tasting, fine dining and championship golf.
About The Course at Wente Vineyards
The Course at Wente Vineyards opened in July 1998. Designed by golfing great Greg Norman, the 18-hole championship course is a picturesque 7,181-yard, par-72, upscale, daily-fee golf course tucked away in the scenic, rural Livermore Valley, 50 minutes east of San Francisco. With three distinct topographies-native woodlands, mature vineyard and rolling hills of natural grasslands-The Course at Wente Vineyards offers extraordinary visual panoramas and a diversity of play unmatched in the Bay Area. Designed for both novice and pro, The Course is host of the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship, part of the PGA Tour’s Nationwide Tour. For tee times call (925) 456-2425 or visit online at www.wentegolf.com. The Course is located at 5040 Arroyo Road in Livermore, CA.
Contact:
Ed Vyeda
Hunter Public Relations ? West
(831) 375-1747
evyeda@hunter-pr.com
www.hunter-pr.com
