!? PGA Tour And Westchester Back In The Saddle Again

I guess this is a contractual obligation deal related to Westchester and the Barclays as well (according to the release), the necessity to find a new venue to replace Baltimore Five Farms, which was not obligated to host in August. Still, considering some of the past feuding between Ponte Vedra and Westchester and the club's concerns with hosting an event in August, this is a bit of a surprise.

HARRISON, N.Y. – The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship announced today that the event will move to historic Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y., for 2011.  The final major championship of the Champions Tour season is scheduled for August 15-21, 2011, marking the first time a major championship from any tour is conducted at the club.  Westchester Country Club hosted the PGA TOUR for 41 years from 1967 until 2007.

“It is with great pride that Westchester Country Club welcomes championship golf back to the club and to the Westchester area,” said Club President Nick Cammarano Jr.  “We are excited to host the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship and to welcome back many of the same players who enjoyed playing the past PGA TOUR events staged at our club.  We are also pleased that local charities will benefit from what we know will be a very well-received major golf tournament for the entire region.”

The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship typically attracts one of the best fields of the Champions Tour season, including such names as defending champion Mark O’Meara, 2010 Champions Tour Player of the Year Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Tom Watson and Corey Pavin.  Six current Champions Tour players are former champions of PGA TOUR events staged at Westchester Country Club, including Curtis Strange (1980), Bob Gilder (1982), Scott Simpson (1984), Bob Tway (1986), Hale Irwin (1990) and David Frost (1992.)  Eight players who competed in the 2010 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship competed more than 20 times in PGA TOUR events hosted at Westchester.  This list includes Jay Haas (competed at Westchester 27 times), Bob Tway (23), Tom Kite (23), Bob Gilder (22), Loren Roberts (21), Fred Couples (20), Don Pooley (20) and Craig Stadler (20).  The total number of times that players from the 2010 Senior Players field played in the PGA TOUR event at Westchester is 856.

“A return to Westchester Country Club will stir good memories from my days on the PGA TOUR,” said Mark O’Meara, the 2010 Constellation Energy Senior Players Champion.  “It is a wonderful and classic golf course, and guys like me and Jay Haas cannot wait to return.  I know both of us will hope to do one better than our runner-up finish to Scott Simpson at Westchester in 1984.”

“Westchester is a fantastic course in an area that loves golf as much as any region in the country,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.  “The Champions Tour players will be thrilled to have a course with as much history as Westchester Country Club host one of their major championships.  The PGA TOUR enjoyed great success at Westchester Country Club and we know the Champions Tour will as well.  The opportunity exists for the Senior Players event to remain in the area in the future, perhaps rotating to multiple venues, as there are many outstanding golf courses in the region.  We look forward to continuing our relationship with Westchester Country Club in the future, as well as establishing new relationships with other clubs in the area.”

“We’re extremely grateful to the Baltimore Country Club for the incredible job they have done staging the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, and for the support we have received from our many partners and volunteers who have made this such a successful event both for the Champions Tour and Maryland,” said Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Constellation Energy. “We look forward to hosting a premier tournament at Westchester Country Club and for the New York-New Jersey region, where we serve many communities and leading public institutions, as well as a large and growing base of commercial and residential customers.  Proceeds from this event will benefit the communities we serve in the region and we’re confident the tournament will be embraced by customers, supporters and fans eager to see championship golf return to this historic course.”

The venue change occurred following adjustments to the Champions Tour schedule and to find a date that was better suited for the event, which has been played in the late September/early October timeframe the past four years.  Baltimore Country Club hosted the Senior Players from 2007-09 at its Five Farms East Course, and the Championship was to return there for one more play in 2011.  However, the scheduling change to August fell outside the timeframe originally included in the Baltimore Country Club site agreement.  Thus, both the TOUR and Baltimore Country Club agreed that it was in the best interest of both parties to secure an alternative site.  The event was played at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, Md., in 2010.

“We want to express our genuine thanks to the membership and staff at Baltimore Country Club for their enthusiasm and hospitality as a great host of this event since 2007,” said Steve Schoenfeld, executive tournament director of the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship and a native of White Plains, N.Y.  “That being said, we look forward to bringing this Champions Tour major to Westchester Country Club.  My career in the golf industry started at the former Westchester Classic 25 years ago when I was a volunteer standard bearer, so returning to the area as the tournament director of the Senior Players Championship has a special meaning for me.  I believe the Westchester area will embrace the Champions Tour, as our players were regulars for many years in PGA TOUR events staged at this great venue.”

Westchester Country Club was scheduled to host The Barclays PGA TOUR event in August 2012.  However, with the agreement to host this Champions Tour major in 2011 and potentially acting as a future host on a rotational basis, the PGA TOUR and Westchester Country Club mutually agreed that The Barclays 2012 will be staged at a different venue.  The Barclays moved to The Ridgewood Country Club in 2008 and has enjoyed success as it rotated from Ridgewood to Liberty National in 2009, back to Ridgewood in 2010 and now to Plainfield Country Club in 2011.  An announcement of the host venues for The Barclays in 2012 and 2013 is expected early next year.