Top Orlando area courses, guaranteed purses, and new tour championship highlight tour’s inaugural winter season
Orlando, Fla. – October 3, 2014 – The SwingThought.com Tour announced today information for its inaugural 2014-15 Winter Series to be held primarily in the greater Orlando (Fla.) area. The series will consist of 28 total events held over 14 weeks running from mid-October through mid-February. Each event week will kick off with a special 18-hole one day event where, in addition to a purse, players will compete for a free entry into the week’s main event 36-hole or 54-hole event. The events will be played on some of the premier courses throughout the greater Orlando area including such sites as Orange County National, former host to PGA TOUR Qualifying School Final Stage, and all three Disney championship courses, Lake Buena Vista and former PGA TOUR hosts Magnolia and Palm. The schedule also includes world famous resort courses Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Club and Reunion Resort and Club and PGA Tour Latinoamerica Qualifying School host Sun N’Lake in Seibring. Two other championship facilities and player favorites, Timacuan Golf Club and RedTail Golf Club, also play host to new SwingThought.com Tour winter events including a special 3-day Tour Championship at RedTail February 17-19 for a guaranteed $50,000 purse (limited 60 player field). All other 3 day 54-hole events will carry minimum $40,000 guaranteed purses, the first time a winter tour has ever offered guaranteed purses.
The season kicks off at Orange County National Monday October 20th with a special 18-hole one day event followed by a 2 day 36-hole event Tuesday October 21st and Wednesday October 22nd. The tour then returns to the former PGA TOUR Final Stage Q School host site the following week for another 18-hole event and the first 54-hole event of the season for a guaranteed minimum $40,000 purse. Member entry fees are $600 for 36-hole events and $800 for 54-hole events, however nonmembers and amateurs are welcome to compete at special nonmember and amateur rates. Entry fees into 18-hole events are $225 for all participants, member and nonmember. Membership onto the new 2014-15 SwingThought.com Tour Winter Series can be had for only $500 and is limited to the first 200 players to Sign Up. Players may join by contacting the SwingThought.com Tour offices at 800-992-8748.
For 25 years the SwingThought.com Tour (formerly the NGA, NGA Hooters and Rick TC Jordan Tour), has prided itself in developing more professional golfers to compete at golf’s highest levels than any other developmental tour in the world. Hundreds of SwingThought.com Tour alumni have moved up to golf’s premier tours where they have claimed countless victories, including 16 major championships won by such SwingThought.com Tour alumni as Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, and Keegan Bradley. The success achieved by so many SwingThought.com Tour alumni is a true testament to the model used by the SwingThought.com Tour consisting of week-long 72-hole walking-only events, just like those found on golf’s premier tours. One only needs look at this past season’s Web.com Tour money list and Web.com Tour Finals where SwingThought.com Tour alumni earned 22 of the 50 PGA TOUR cards awarded. Among those earning their cards for the upcoming 2014-2015 season are 2013 SwingThought.com Tour Player of the Year Jon Curran, 2013 SwingThought.com Tour Rookie of the Year Blayne Barber, 2012 SwingThought.com Tour co-Rookie of the Year & 2013 SwingThought.com Tour Golf Achievement Award Winner Jonathan Randolph, fellow 2013 SwingThought.com Tour players Zack Sucher, Tony Finau, and Nick Taylor, 2002 SwingThought.com Tour Rookie of the Year Chad Collins. Former SwingThought.com Tour players that also secured their cards for the upcoming season include Derek Fathauer, John Peterson, Sam Saunders, Jim Herman, Tom Hoge, Tom Gillis, Sean O’Hair, Heath Slocum, Kyle Reifers, Hudson Swafford, Ryan Armour, Byron Smith, Bill Lunde, Carlos Sainz Jr., and Eric Axley.
SwingThought.com Tour alumni include 2012 and 2014 Masters champion Bubba Watson, 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, 2010 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and 2003 US Open Champion Jim Furyk, 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen, British Open and PGA Champion John Daly, and recent PGA Tour winners such as Michael Thompson, Ted Potter Jr, Gary Woodland, Russell Henley, Mark Wilson, George McNeill, Scott Stallings, Scott Piercy and many more.
For more information on the new SwingThought.com Tour visit swingthought.com (new site coming soon), ngatour.com, or call 800-992-8748.
Contact:
SwingThought.com Tour Media Relations
Ryan@SwingThought.com