2011 Am Tour season kicks off this week at eighth annual Duel in the Desert; Am Tour brought in $4.5M in revenue for lcoal business during 2010 season
ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2011) – Golf Channel Am Tour (GCAT), the largest amateur golf tour in North America, kicks off its 2011 season this week with the eighth annual Duel in the Desert in Mesquite, Nev. The 54-hole tournament will feature 220 players representing 37 U.S. states and Canada competing for the opportunity to qualify for the 2011 Golf Channel Am Tour National Championships in September.
Tournament players will compete in two-person teams at some of Mesquite’s leading golf courses, including CasaBlanca Golf Club, Oasis Golf Club – Palmer Course, and the Falcon Ridge Golf Club, while staying at host resort CasaBlanca Resort Hotel and Casino. The eighth annual tournament will consist of scramble, modified-alternate-shot and best-ball formats. The top-three teams in each handicapped flight will earn an automatic invitation to the 2011 National Championships.
Over the past four years, the Golf Channel Am Tour has experienced remarkable growth. Membership has increased from 3,500 members in 2007 to more than 5,500 members currently. Local Golf Channel Am Tour chapters have increased from 39 to more than 60 throughout North America, and the number of local tournaments increased from 550 to more than 800. During the 2010 season, Golf Channel helped to inject $4.5 million in revenue for golf course operators and the surrounding businesses that rely on golf travel and tourism through the Am Tour’s 21 “Major Championships” and the 2010 National Championships.
“Tournaments like Duel in the Desert are prime examples of the experiences Golf Channel Am Tour members receive that can’t be replicated anywhere else,” said Gene Pizzolato, chief operating officer, Golf Channel New Media Ventures. “The Am Tour’s tremendous growth over the past four years is a great testament to the Tour’s popularity throughout North America, and we will look to continue that momentum heading into 2011.”
The Duel in the Desert is the first of 21 Major Championships on the 2011 Golf Channel Am Tour schedule, where Am Tour members will have the opportunity to compete on some of the country’s elite courses and resort destinations, including PGA West (site of the Bob Hope Classic and the 2011 GCAT National Championships), TPC Deere Run (site of the John Deere Classic), PGA National (site of the Honda Classic) and TPC Scottsdale (site of this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open), to name a few. Each of the GCAT Major Championships will serve as automatic qualifiers for the national championships.
The Golf Channel Am Tour is open to the public and provides the most professional tournament experience for players of all ages and abilities, as well as offering unparalleled access to some of the most renowned and challenging golf courses across the country. Each year, thousands of amateur golfers are able to compete at a wide range of elite courses through the Golf Channel Am Tour. A record breaking 920 players competed at the 2010 National Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., headlined by TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course, home of THE PLAYERS Championship.
The 2011 National Championships, a 72-hole stroke-play competition that determines the National Champion in each of six flights in senior and open divisions, will be hosted in September 2011 by the famed PGA West Golf Club in La Quinta, Calif. PGA WEST’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, Greg Norman Course and TPC Stadium Course joins La Quinta Resort & Club’s Mountain Course as hosts for the four day event. The courses have a combined resume boasting the Bob Hope Classic, the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, The PGA Grand Slam of Golf and The Skins Game.
For additional information about the Golf Channel Am Tour, visit www.GolfChannel.com/amtour.
About Golf Channel
Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer and a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is available in more than 140 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf. For more information on the Golf Channel Am Tour, visit: http://www.golfchannel.com/amtour.
Contact:
Jeremy Friedman
Golf Channel Public Relations
407-355-4058
jfriedman@golfchannel.com
Matt Clark
Dan Klores Communications
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matt_clark@dkcnews.com