The 60th Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) National Championship and Golf Classic presented in partnership with The Toro Co., will be held Feb. 5-7 in Palm Springs, Calif.
Few golf competitions can match the number of participants attracted by this golf event for GCSAA members. Nearly 600 GCSAA members will compete for top honors at five world-class Palm Springs golf courses, while staying at the iconic Waldorf Astoria property, La Quinta Resort.
"We are very excited about the changes to the GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic this year and the caliber of golf facilities hosting the event," GCSAA President Mark D. Kuhns, CGCS, said. "The tournament will be held Friday-Sunday this year instead of Sunday-Tuesday, it will be a 36-hole championship instead of 54 holes, and we've added a senior division in the championship this year as well. We received an excellent rate on rooms at La Quinta Resort and thanks in large part to the support of The Toro Co., we expect this to be a wonderful experience for every participant. I would encourage all GCSAA members to register early to secure a spot in what is sure to be our best tournament yet."
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic is held in conjunction with the GCSAA Education Conference (Feb. 8-12) and Golf Industry Show (Feb. 10-11), at the San Diego Convention Center.
Accomplished golfers will test themselves against GCSAA’s finest Feb. 6-7 in the National Championship at PGA West's Norman Course, the same course that co-hosted the 2006 and 2007 PGA Tour's Pre-Qualifying Tournament. The National Championship is limited to 100 players with a 5.0 handicap index or lower, including a new senior flight of players 50 and older with a 5.0 handicap or lower. It is a two-day, 36-hole, stroke-play event. The 2010 GCSAA Champion, along with champions from the last five years, will receive an annual invitation to participate in the renowned Trans-Mississippi Golf Championship, where the likes of PGA Tour professionals such as Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Dean Beman and Bob Tway, among others, have carried home the championship trophy.
For a more relaxed competition, the popular Golf Classic welcomes 480 players of all abilities. Golf Classic participants will compete in both gross and net competition within their respective flights using the point quota scoring system Feb. 6-7. Flights in the Golf Classic will rotate between La Quinta Resort's Mountain Course, which is ranked among Golf Magazine's "Top 100 Courses You Can Play;" Desert Willow Golf Resort's Mountain View Course, which earned a four and a half stars rating as "places to play" by Golf Digest; and the Players and Celebrity courses at Indian Wells Golf Resort, home of the LG Skins Game.
A chapter team competition also will be held in which scores from the National Championship and Golf Classic are compiled to see which GCSAA-affiliated chapter holds the best golfers. A fun four-ball mixer will be held Feb. 5 at the same five courses used for the Golf Classic. It is open for both Golf Classic and National Championship participants. More information about the tournament is available online at www.gcsaa.org/conference/tournament.
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic returns to the Golden State in 2010 for the 14th time in its history and the fifth time to Palm Springs - the most recent being 2007. Three-time champion Seth Strickland, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Miami (Fla.) Shores Country Club won his second straight National Championship in 2009. A team from the Northern California GCSA was the 2009 chapter team net winner and a team from the Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents was the 2009 chapter team gross winner.