LAKE MARY, FL – For the second time in seven years, the International Network of Golf will conduct its ING Spring Conference in Atlantic City, NJ, next June, and three outstanding facilities will host the golf events.
Resorts Casino Hotel will serve as headquarters for the 24th Annual ING Spring Conference, set for June 1-4, 2014. The non-profit International Network of Golf is the industry’s only media-based networking organization. ING is “where the media and golf industry connect.” Anyone in the golf industry and media is invited to join and attend.
Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club, Atlantic City Country Club and Ron Jaworski’s Blue Heron Pines will host the golf functions of this annual gathering of golf media and industry leaders.
Blue Heron, owned by former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and now NFL analyst Ron Jaworski, will host the Monday tournaments, consisting of the WGAT National Qualifier and the Four-Player Team Scramble.
Blue Heron opened in 1993 and has become one of the more popular layouts in the region. Designed by Stephen Kay, it takes full advantage of the natural beauty of the pinelands and majestic trees.
The WGAT qualifiers will determine the five players from ING who will qualify for the WGAT National Finals next September at Mission Inn Resort in Florida. The field will be divided into five flights, with the lowest scorers in each flight advancing to the nationals.
The Durland Cup Scramble will be conducted on the Pines Course at Seaview, home to the LPGA ShopRite Classic, which concludes Sunday, the opening day of the conference. The event is named in honor of former ING Golf Committee chairman Larry Durland.
Seaview is a quintessential seaside resort located on over 670 wooded acres along Reed’s Bay in Galloway, NJ, just eight miles from Atlantic City. This elegant, turn-of-the century New Jersey resort provides a peaceful, pristine, retreat-like setting for both business and leisure travelers.
The resort is home to two of the oldest and most acclaimed golf courses in New Jersey, the Bay and the Pines, both managed by Troon Golf. The Pines Course is lesser known, but some locals would argue that it is the more challenging layout of the two. The aptly named course has a location that is only a few hundred yards from the bay, but due to the abundant trees, feels as though it was miles inland. The traditional layout features gently undulating greens and narrow fairways tightly framed by towering oaks and pines.
Atlantic City Country Club is one of the most historic golf facilities on the east coast. It will host the Committees Lunch and Demo Lab on Tuesday, June 3. ING members will enjoy spending time perusing the history-filled clubhouse, where some of golf’s greatest names have lockers.
Atlantic City hosted the successful 2008 ING Spring Conference, and local golf executives were excited to bring the ING meeting back to the area.
“Atlantic City has quickly become one of the premier golf destinations in the nation, boasting more than 20 pristine golf courses, including ours, the famed Atlantic City Country Club,” said Charles Fahy, General Manager for the Atlantic City Country Club, which is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. ACCC will host one of the three days of golf activity during the conference.
“Hosting a high-profile group such as the ING Spring Conference for the second time is an honor and we look forward to showing them why the golf experience in-and-around our resort destination is one of the finest in the nation,” added Fahy.
Resorts Casino Hotel will serve as the official headquarters of the conference, hosting all of the educational sessions and most of the meal and networking elements of the meeting. It was the first casino hotel to open in Atlantic City, back in 1978. It has since undergone a major renovation, including the addition of the spectacular Margaritaville entertainment complex, which opened over Memorial Day Weekend.
Resorts Casino Hotel is situated on 11 acres of land with approximately 310 feet of Boardwalk frontage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Resorts offers guests 942 hotel rooms and suites in two hotel towers: the oceanfront 15-story Ocean Tower, and the magnificent showpiece, the new $125 million, 27-story luxury Rendezvous Tower, which will provide the ING accommodations.
The 99,951-square foot casino at Resorts Casino Hotel features non-stop excitement and action 24 hours a day at more than 80 table games and more than 2,500 slot machines.
In addition to the casino and hotel facilities, Resorts includes a 1,350-seat showroom, a 300-seat theater, six restaurants, two VIP slot and table player lounges, an indoor-outdoor swimming pool, Boogie Nights dance club, two lounges, a salon, a health club and spa and retail shops. Resorts also offers approximately 39,000 square feet of convention facilities, including seven meeting rooms and a 13,000 square foot ballroom.
“Our attendees are going to love the exciting atmosphere of Resorts,” said ING Executive Director Mike Jamison. “The meeting space is spacious and beautiful, and the new Margaritaville will provide the perfect space for our nightly activities in ClubING.”
The golf course rotation is yet to be determined but included will be the aforementioned Atlantic City Country Club and Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club, host to the LPGA Tour’s ShopRite Classic, which, if the LPGA Tour schedule doesn’t change for 2014, will end on the Sunday that ING begins.
“That is one of the reasons that we moved the dates into June,” said Jamison. “If the LPGA schedule remains the same, ING media members will be able to secure credentials to cover the final round, and we hope to play the Donald Ross-designed Bay Course in the days following the LPGA tournament.”
The ING schedule is being tweaked by the ING Conference Assistance Committee, headed by Tiss Dahan of Ariat International. The ever-popular One-On-One Appointment Show will stick with its expansion to a two-day event. The schedule will also include the Demo Lab, several educational sessions that can be customized to the various attendees, golf competitions and the popular networking sessions.
For more information about ING, visit www.inggolf.com. For more information regarding Resorts Casino Hotel, visit www.resortsac.com.
Contact:
Mike Jamison
407-328-0500, ext. 1
mike@jamisongolf.com
