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NGA Pro Golf Tour releases 2012 schedule, 32 Events Total, 18 Pro Series, at some of the Top Golf Courses across the country -
Myrlte Beach, S.C. - (December 2, 2011) - The National Golf Association Professional Golf Tour, the No. 3 Men’s Professional Golf Tour in the United States and the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by PGA and Nationwide Tour Professionals, released its 2012 schedule today.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour continues to model itself after the PGA and Nationwide Tours, conducting week-long walking only events held on a single golf course. Events consist of a local qualifier tournament, a free junior clinic conducted by the NGA Pro Golf Tour professionals, sponsors pro-ams and concludes with a four-day, 72-hole professional tournament. Players will once again receive complimentary practice rounds and range use during each Pro Series event. Mirroring the rules of the PGA and Nationwide Tours, players will not be allowed to use riding carts or distance measuring devices during tournament play.
The 2012 schedule features 32 events and includes 18 Pro Series events with GUARANTEED PURSES. The NGA Pro Golf Tour remains the only other men’s tour in the country besides the PGA and Nationwide Tour to guarantee purses.
Fourteen (14) Pro Series events will consist of 156 player fields paying a members entry fee of $925 and competing for their share of a GUARANTEED $150,000 purse. The other four (4) Pro Series events will consist of 168 player fields paying a members entry fee of $1,150 and competing for their share of a GUARANTEED $200,000 Purse.
Members of the NGA Pro Golf Tour, in addition to receiving priority entry into tour events, will also have the opportunity to earn PGA Tour Q-School Reimbursements (minimum top 20 points members), Nationwide Tour event exemptions (with no additional fees required), Major Club Manufacturer Player Discount Programs and priority participation in paid events such as Sponsors’ Pro-Ams, Long Drive Contests, and Shootout Competitions. Members also receive priority for volunteer housing and event specific perks such as tickets to local ball games and discounts at area restaurants and businesses.
The 2012 season will once again kick off with the Members Only Shootout at Black Bear Golf Club in Eustis, Fla. on February 22. The medalist at this year’s Members Only Shootout will again receive free entries into all 18 Pro Series events. The first Pro Series event will be played at Killearn Country Club in Tallahassee, Fla., on February 27 and the Members Club at Woodcreek in Columbia, S.C., in Elgin, S.C., will play host to the final Pro Series event on September 2.
The 2012 season will conclude with the highly popular Q-School Prep Series, featuring three events in late September and early October held at the actual courses used by the PGA Tour for their Qualifying School. NGA Pro Golf Tour members also receive a free Carolina Series membership, enabling them to participate in another 10, 54-hole events throughout the year.
In addition to being able to compete in 32 events, Pro Series members will also have the opportunity to play on some of the best and most challenging golf courses ever seen in developmental tour golf. The 2012 schedule features a plethora of courses that have hosted more combined PGA, LPGA, Nationwide and Champions Tour events and USGA and NCAA Championships than any other tour in the history of developmental golf.
Starting with the opening event at Killearn Country Club, the host site to 21 PGA Tour and four LPGA Tour events, and continuing across the Southeast and Midwest, NGA Pro Golf Tour players will compete at marquee venues each and every week.
Highlighted in the schedule are return trips to Golden Hills Golf & Turf Club, host of the US Women's Mid-Amateur; Rock Barn Golf & Spa, annual host to the Champions Tour Greater Hickory Classic; Cherry Blossom GC, ranked No. 1 by Golfweek in the state of Kentucky for eight years running; Savannah Lakes Village, voted the top event on Tour by members for the fourth year in a row; Cutter Creek Golf Club, a 7300 yard Bob Moore of JMP Golf Design that is home to the 220 yard par 3-3rd hole "Beast of the East", and Scotch Hall Preserve, the 7463 yard Arnold Palmer Signature Design known as the "Jewel of the Inner Banks" with several holes paralleling the majestic Albemarle Sound and scenic Salmon Creek, two of the plushest venues in N.C.; Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club, host to the LPGA Tour’s Asahi Ryokuken International Championship from 2001 to 2004; and The Members Club at Woodcreek in Columbia, S.C., a Tom Fazio design and a favorite amongst the professionals is one of the most touted courses in the Southeasterm United States.
The Tour also returns to Texas for a two-tournament run that includes the extremely popular Texas Honing Open at Golfcrest Country Club in Pearland, a championship design by famed architect Joseph S. Finger later re-designed by golf course architect Jeffrey Blume in 2007, and Sterling Country Club, designed by famed golf course designers Von Hagge, Smelek & Baril, a new championship venue managed by the same group that host the Golfcrest event making for a top-notch Texas Two Step!
Other gems featured in 2012 are a return to the recently renovated Robert Trent Jones design at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga.; Cross Creek Plantation in Seneca, S.C., a superb championship design that acclaimed golf course designer P.B. Dye says "has everything it needs to be the best golf course in South Carolina."; and Three Ridges Golf Course in Knoxville, Tenn., former host to the Nationwide Tour’s Knoxville Open and voted the best public course in East Tennessee. The tour also makes a return to the popular Southern Hills Golf & Country Club in Hawkinsville, Ga. for the Comsouth Classic. Southern Hills has played host to major events for the Georgia PGA and Georgia State Golf Association. The event has been moved to the more ideal month in the area of May. The NGA Pro Golf Tour will also be making a return to it's home base of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the first time since 2007 in August. The venue for the homecoming will be released at a later date.
Three of the top courses the NGA Pro Golf Tour will play in 2012 are also three of the top courses used by the PGA Tour annually. The NGA Pro Golf Tour will be making return trips to Auburn University Club, home to the Auburn University golf teams and 1st stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School; Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla., the 2nd stage host site for the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School; and the Wanamaker Course at the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla., host to 1st stage PGA Tour Qualifying School. A Tom Fazio design, Wanamaker was the first golf course named in honor of Rodman Wanamaker, who in 1916 inspired the birth of The PGA of America.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour puts an emphasis on selecting golf courses that will challenge and prepare professionals for taking that next step to the Nationwide and PGA Tours as evidenced by the hundreds of alumni that advanced thru their ranks. The 2012 NGA Pro Golf Tour scheduled courses have hosted more combined PGA, LPGA, Nationwide and Champions Tour events, and USGA and NCAA Championships than any other tour in the history of developmental golf and ensure that the 2012 season will be its best to date!
The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the only Tour in the country, besides the PGA & Nationwide Tours, to offer a full week of activities and benefits that include:
32 EVENTS TOTAL RUNNING FEBRUARY THROUGH OCTOBER
18-72 Hole "GUARANTEED" PURSE EVENTS ($150,000-$200,000)
(More than any other developmental tour in the U.S.)
14-54 Hole 3 Day Events
MEMBERS ONLY SHOOTOUT (FOR FREE PRO SERIES ENTRIES FOR THE YEAR! - 18 EVENTS)
3 Q-SCHOOL PREP EVENTS HELD AT "ACTUAL" PGA TOUR 1ST & 2ND STAGE Q-SCHOOL HOST COURSE SITES
14 EVENTS, "GUARANTEED" $150,000 PURSE
156 PLAYER MAX FIELD SIZE, CUT TO LOW 55 & TIES
$925 MEMBER ENTRY FEE
$1,250 NONMEMBER ENTRY FEE
4 EVENTS, "GUARANTEED" $200,000 PURSE
168 PLAYER MAX FIELD SIZE, CUT TO LOW 65 & TIES
$1,150 MEMBER ENTRY FEE
$1,400 NONMEMBER ENTRY FEE
PGA TOUR Q-SCHOOL REIMBURSEMENTS (MINIMUM TOP 20 POINTS MEMBERS)
NATIONWIDE TOUR EVENT EXEMPTIONS
MINIMUM 105%-110% "WEEKLY" PAYBACK
TOP 55-65 AND TIES PAID WEEKLY AT 72-HOLE EVENTS
ALL PRO SERIES Events Are 72-HOLE WALKING EVENTS (36-HOLE CUT)
COMPLIMENTARY BEVERAGES, FRUIT, AND FIRST AND TENTH TEE NUTRITION BARS WEEKLY DURING PRO SERIES TOURNAMENT PLAY
COMPLIMENTARY PRACTICE ROUNDS AND RANGE BALLS WEEKLY DURING PRO SERIES EVENTS
PAID PRO AM APPEARANCE FEES, SHOOTOUT/LONG DRIVE CONTESTS AT SELECTED EVENTS
2012 NGA PRO GOLF TOUR SCHEDULE
February 22-24 Black Bear Golf Club - Eustis, FL (Members Only SO)
February 27-Mar 4 Killearn Country Club - Tallahassee, FL
March 5-11 Golden Hills Golf & Turf Club - Ocala, FL
March 12-18 Chattahoochee Golf Course - Gainesville, GA
March 20-22 Carolina Series - Columbia/Myrtle Beach
March 25-31 Cutter Creek Golf Club – Greenville, NC
April 1-7 Scotch Hall Preserve - Windsor, NC
April 10-12 Carolina Series - Columbia
April 16-22 Cross Creek Plantation - Seneca, SC
April 23-29 Savannah Lakes Village-Monticello - McCormick, SC
April 30-May 6 Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club - North Augusta, SC
May 8-10 Carolina Series - Columbia
May 15-17 Carolina Series - Columbia
May 14-20 Cherry Blossom Golf Club - Georgetown, KY
May 21-27 Three Ridges Golf Course - Knoxville, TN
May 28-June 3 Southern Hills Golf Club - Hawkinsville, GA
June 5-7 Carolina Series - Myrtle Beach
June 12-14 Carolina Series - Myrtle Beach
June 18-24 Sterling Country Club - Houston, TX
June 19-21 Carolina Series - Myrtle Beach
June 25-July 1 Golfcrest Country Club - Pearland, TX
July 2-3 Carolina Series (special 2 day event)
July 5-6 Carolina Series (special 2 day event)
July 9-10 Carolina Series (special 2 day event)
July 12-13 Carolina Series (special 2 day event)
July 16-22 TBA - TBA
July 23-29 TimberCreek - Mobile, AL
August 7-9 Carolina Series - Myrtle Beach
August 13-19 Rock Barn Golf & Spa - Conover, NC
August 20-26 TBA - Myrtle Beach, SC
August 27-Sept-2 The Members Club at Woodcreek - Columbia, SC
September 26-28 Q-School Prep – Auburn University Club - Auburn, AL
(PGA TOUR 1ST STAGE Q SCHOOL HOST)
October 3-5 Q-School Prep – Hombre Golf Club - Panama City, FL
(PGA TOUR 2ND STAGE Q-SCHOOL HOST)
October 10-12 Q-School Prep – PGA Village-Wanamaker - Port St. Lucie, FL
(PGA TOUR 1ST STAGE Q-SCHOOL HOST)
