Following a beautiful week at the Masters, several accomplished golfers are heading up the road to Duluth to compete on the Champions Tour. In the inaugural Greater Gwinnett Championship, past major tournament winners, senior PGA tour golfers and others will compete over 54 holes. Teeing off today, the TPC Sugarloaf will be covered in legends throughout the weekend with the likes of, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson and many others.
THE SETTING …
TPC Sugarloaf is best known for hosting the AT&T Classic before it was cancelled in 2008. The AT&T Classic was always held the week before the Masters to give players a tournament to warm-up under the Georgia pines. This new event will be a part of the Champiions Tour through the 2016 season to see how it performs and, if it passes the test, it could become a new tradition on the tour. If you see players getting misty eyed on the course, it’s from all of the fond memories they had playing here during their years on the PGA Tour. TPC Sugarloaf gave Duffy Waldorf fits through the years, but he still returns as a course record holder with a low round of 63, a mark also held by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ben Crane. Others return to try and grab that elusive win after finishing runner-up to some of the other great golfers.
Kenny Perry is looking forward to going back even if it brings back memories of what could have been. In a playoff with Ryuji Imada in the 2008 AT&T Classic, Perry was looking to find the green while avoiding the lake on the front side. He found the only tree on the hole and his ball ricocheted across the green and into the lake anyway. He would finish second that year, his best finish at the course.
There are 81 professionals who will be competing for the first victory in the inaugural tournament. There will be no cut in place, so it will be an exciting Sunday following the turn. While it’s still early in the season, there are many golfers looking to take the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup. Langer comes into the weekend atop the standings, and he will look to maintain the momentum from his Masters performance to keep him there.
There will also be a rookie looking to move up the board in the Champions Cup. Rocco Mediate will be looking for his second victory on the senior circuit and looks to be the top challenger to Langer for the top spot in senior golf. Last season’s Cup winner, Tom Lehman, is sitting back in 15th place and will be looking to make his presence felt and springboard the rest of his season by having a strong showing in Duluth this weekend.
GIVING BACK …
While the stop by the Champions Tour will generate lots of revenue for local businesses, it will also generate funding for lots of local charities that need the help. The charities benefitting will be Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation, Gwinnett Children’s Shelter, Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation and Gwinnett Tech Foundation. These are all local organizations that will be able to maintain operations with the money they receive this weekend during the tournament.
The course and area have been garnering praise since the players arrived Monday and some have even gone as far as saying that TPC Sugarloaf is their favorite TPC course to play on tour. It is a course that doesn’t favor anyone’s particular playing style because it is long, but also has the rolling hills of the north Georgia landscape. It will be interesting to see what types of shots players hit when they don’t have the greatest lie on the par fours and fives. While these are still some of the best golfers in the world, they have lost a little length on their game, and reaching the greens in two with be a difficult task for some. The winner will likely be the player who uses his irons to best get him in position to make the shots he needs.
TPC Sugarloaf is a private club so this may be the only chance many patrons have to walk the course. It is known for being a beautiful course to walk, and that is exemplified by what makes golf in Georgia so grand. The hills will present a challenge for some just on the conditioning front since it is such a long hilly course with long walks between the greens and the next tee box.
This reemergence of professional golf back into Gwinnett may cause some to wonder if the PGA Tour is on its way back as well. While a successful tournament could pave the PGA’s return, people should just appreciate the legends out on the course playing the game they love at a high level. If the Tour does decide to come back to Duluth, the Gwinnett Sports Commission would welcome them back with open arms.
For now, the Tour members will walk the pine-shaded fairways making the difficult hills look easy and taking the patrons back to younger days when they watched the likes of Watson while he was winning his eight majors. While few believe Watson will be in contention on Sunday, he will still have a large following because of his stature in the history of golf. He will be starting his tournament on the 10th tee and teeing off with Langer and David Frost at 12:30. The tournament also featured a pro-am portion Wednesday and Thursday that was open to the public. With a new twist, this year’s pro-am will allow local businessmen to participate for a fee and play alongside their heroes. This is a weeklong event that will continue to evolve and grow while it remains on the Champions Tour.
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