"TPC San Francisco Bay at Stonebrae" To Vie For Most Overbranded Golf Course Name In History

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I don't get this one, but I'm sure charity was at the heart of the decision...

PGA TOUR Adds TPC San Francisco Bay at Stonebrae to Its Network of Private Clubs

Course to Host Nationwide Tour Event in 2009 Benefiting Bay Area Children’s Charities

HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The PGA TOUR announced today that it will expand its presence in the San Francisco Bay area through an agreement to manage the David McLay Kidd-designed championship golf course at Stonebrae, a private, gated country club community located in the East Bay hills. The newly renamed TPC San Francisco Bay at Stonebrae will become the host site for the Nationwide Tour’s new Stonebrae Classic, scheduled for March 30 – April 5, 2009, which will assume the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship at Wente Vineyard’s spot on the Tour schedule. The Stonebrae Classic joins two other prestigious PGA TOUR events in the region: The Presidents Cup, scheduled to be held Oct. 5-11, 2009, at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, and the Champions Tour’s pinnacle Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma, CA, Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 2008. The Schwab Cup Championship will be held at Harding Park Golf Course in 2010 and 2011.

The Santa Cruz-based Jordan & Kyra Memorial Foundation (www.jordanandkyra.org) dedicated to pediatric cancer research and family care will serve as the host tournament organization for the Stonebrae Classic. The Foundation was founded by Rob Stuart, father of Jordan Stuart, and David Pillsbury, uncle of Kyra Pillsbury – two Bay Area children who died at a young age from brain tumors. The primary beneficiary of the tournament will be George Mark Children’s House (www.georgemark.org) in San Leandro, established in 2004 to provide the best quality of care for seriously and terminally ill children and their families. The event will also benefit Koret Family House (www.familyhouseinc.org) in San Francisco, a non-profit residence for the families of children undergoing cancer treatment at UCSF Medical Center.

“We are excited to plant the PGA TOUR flag at this prestigious David McLay Kidd design, which will become the new flagship private club on the west coast for the TPC Network,” said Pillsbury, PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties President.

The flagship? I guess TPC Valencia as the mother of all west coast TPC's?

“In addition to providing private club members and Stonebrae residents with a unique PGA TOUR golf experience, TPC San Francisco Bay will bring the future stars of the PGA TOUR to the East Bay during the Stonebrae Classic, as well as serve as an outstanding platform for supporting seriously and terminally ill children throughout Northern California.”

The Stonebrae Classic will feature 144 players competing in 72 holes of stroke play, with a cut after 36 holes. The tournament will be part of the 2009 Nationwide Tour, the official proving ground of the PGA TOUR, which awards TOUR cards at season’s end to its 25 leading money winners. All four rounds of the Stonebrae Classic will be televised on the Golf Channel, the exclusive television home of the Nationwide Tour. With support from the Stonebrae Classic Host Committee, led by John Chen, Chairman & CEO of Sybase, the Stonebrae Classic will work in partnership with The Presidents Cup to develop tournament and sponsorship opportunities that will include TPC San Francisco Bay memberships and other exceptional benefits.

“For the past three years, the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship at Wente Vineyards has done an outstanding job of bringing championship golf to the East Bay and we are excited that the Nationwide Tour will continue to have a presence through the Stonebrae Classic,” said Nationwide Tour President Bill Calfee. “We look forward to the opportunity to work in partnership with the PGA TOUR and The Presidents Cup to generate funding and awareness for children’s charities benefiting families throughout the region.”

Wait, Bill Calfee works for the PGA Tour at PGA Tour offices. Hasn't he already had the opportunity to work with the PGA Tour?

The course at Stonebrae was developed by Stonebrae LP, part of YCS Golf Properties, known for its award-winning Dallas National Golf Club. Opened for member play in 2007, TPC San Francisco Bay’s magnificent par-72, 7,200-yard layout was designed by world-renowned Scottish golf course architect David McLay Kidd of DMK Golf Design, designer of Bandon Dunes in Oregon and currently in the process of completing the new Castle Course at St. Andrews. The Scottish links-influenced layout was etched into the Walpert Ridge hillside on 1,700 pristine acres more than 1,500 feet above the Bay, and features sweeping panoramic vistas, an abundance of rolling grasslands, wind-twisted oaks, and lichen-glazed rock outcroppings, creating a stunning natural backdrop for a challenging but enjoyable test of golf.

Lichen-glazed? You know, I think it's best we don't know what kind of glazing that is.