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Returning to the desert
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The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic returns to one of its old haunts when the 2007 edition is held Feb. 16-20 in Palm Springs, Calif.
It’ll be the fourth time in the 57-year event that the championships have been held in the popular desert golf mecca, but the first time since 1989. GCSAA tournament officials expect a full field of 580 golfers competing on five high-profile courses for either the association’s National Championship or the Golf Classic’s various gross and net titles.
For the 13th consecutive year, the action will be presented in partnership with The Toro Co.
The tournament format, which was changed last year, will feature the National Championship, a three-day, 54-hole event at Mission Hills Country Club’s Pete Dye Challenge Course, a 6,955-yard stadium-style layout with a formidable 74.4 course rating. Class A superintendent David Johnson, a 19-year member of GCSAA, is the golf course maintenance director at Mission Hills CC, which also annually hosts the LPGA Tour’s Kraft Nabisco Championship on its Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
The Golf Classic, meanwhile, will be played at four other venues in the Rancho Mirage area. Open to the first 480 entrants with handicaps ranging from 0 to 36, the Classic starts with the popular Four-Ball competition and continues with two rounds of play under a quota scoring system to determine winners in gross and net divisions in multiple flights.
Courses hosting the Classic include the Pete Dye Resort Course and the Gary Player Signature Course at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa, where seven-year GCSAA member Jeff Sutherland is director of agronomy. Classic competition will also be held at Golf Club at Terra Lago’s North and South courses. Tom Russell, a nine-year GCSAA member, is the Class A superintendent at Terra Lago.
Golfers in both the National Championship and Golf Classic play can also participate in the chapter team competition.
GCSAA’s defending national champion is Joe Anderson of Center, Texas, a 10-year member of the association who won the crown in his first try in 2006. Anderson is a contract superintendent at Center Country Club and Piney Woods Country Club in East Texas. Last year’s winning chapter teams were Lone Star GCSA No. 2 in gross and California GCSA No. 3 in net.
The week kicks off with practice rounds at the five host courses on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17. On Sunday, the first round of the National Championship is on tap, while the Four-Ball kicks off the Golf
Classic schedule. Monday features the second round of the National Championship and the first round of the Golf Classic competition. The final rounds of both competitions will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The host hotel for the event is the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa, which also will be the site of the social events. A welcoming reception is slated for Saturday night, and on Sunday evening past and present GCSAA champions will be honored at the Hall of Champions Celebration. A 19th Hole reception is on tap for Monday evening.
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