News >> NGA Hooters Tour Heads To Pearland, TX Next Week
Texas-Sized Rewards on the line at Golfcrest Country Club
Pearland, TX—In addition to a healthy payday, the winner of the NGA Hooters Tour’s Texas Honing Open at Golfcrest Country Club will receive a Belt Buckle Trophy that would make Anthony Kim a bit envious. However, if the paths of past champions are any indication, the biggest reward for taming the Texas course could be a fast track up the golfing ladder. Last year, Keegan Bradley posted an 18-under par 270 total to win the Texas Honing Open, giving him his first victory on the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour. Bolstered by the win, Bradley, a former St. John’s golfer, went on to gain fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour through Q-School. Bradley will be playing in the Nationwide Tour’s Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic next week and unable to defend his title.
Matt Harmon, who won the Texas Honing Open in 2008, will be joining Bradley on the Nationwide Tour for the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, thanks to receiving an exemption for being the money leader on the NGA Hooters Tour this season.
Though Bradley and Harmon will not be in the field, there are plenty of willing and capable golfers looking to become the third champion of the uber-popular event. NGA Hooters Tour regular Jeff Corr is a player many will have their eyes on as a likely successor.
Corr, of Longwood, Fla., has posted top-3 finishes in the previous two tournaments at the tough, 7,044-yard course. In 2008, Corr shot a 7-under 281 to tie for third. Last year, Corr bettered his four-day total by six strokes, shooting a 13-under par 275 that included a course-record 64, to finish second. A win by Corr would not only bring a bucket of cash and the coveted belt buckle, but it would likely send him down the same path as Bradley and Harmon.
Corr currently sits 23rd in the “Race for the PHS Wichita Open Exemption” and a victory would vault him near the top of the standings for one of the six Nationwide Tour exemptions dolled out by the NGA Hooters Tour this season.
In addition to being one of the most popular events on the NGA Hooters Tour, the Texas Honing Open will also feature the richest purse for Pro-Am players and an increasingly popular long-drive contest by the pros. The third annual Texas Honing Open will be played July 5-11. As with all NGA Hooters Tour tournaments, admission is free to the public.
The NGA Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours and boasts an impressive list of alumni.
Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open Champion; Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion; Shaun Micheel, the 2003 British Open Champion; Ben Curtis, winner of the 2003 British Open; Jim Furyk, winner of the 2003 US Open; Lee Janzen, a two-time US Open winner; John Daly, a British Open and PGA Champion; Tom Lehman, winner of the British Open; David Toms, a past PGA Champion; Chad Campbell, the 2003 Tour Championship winner; Vaughn Taylor, a two-time Reno Tahoe Open winner; and Craig Perks, winner of the TPC, tested their mettle on the NGA Hooters Tour before tasting success on golf’s grandest stage.
All told, the NGA Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 11 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA Hooters Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 48% of the players that earned their 2010 PGA Tour card and 53% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA Hooters Tour.
For more information, please visit our website at www.ngahooterstour.com
