Nearly 400 GCSAA members will compete for top honors at four world-class Gulf Shores, Ala., golf courses, while staying at the Perdido Beach Resort in early February.
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic are held in conjunction with the GCSAA Education Conference (Feb. 2-7) and Golf Industry Show (Feb. 5-7), at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.
Accomplished golfers will test themselves against GCSAA’s finest in the National Championship, Feb. 1-3 at Kiva Dunes Golf Club. The National Championship is limited to the first 100 players with a 5.0 handicap index or lower. It is a three-day, 54-hole, stroke-play event. The 2009 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 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 players of all abilities. It takes place Feb. 2-3. Golf Classic participants will compete in both gross and net competition within their respective flights using the point quota scoring system. Flights in the Golf Classic will rotate between Cotton Creek at Craft Farms, Cypress Bend at Craft Farms and Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club. The Golf Classic also includes a fun Four-Ball Mixer on Feb. 1. 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 commemorative tee prize package will be awarded to each participant that includes a GPS system, shirt, sleeve of golf balls, money clip and tee pack. There will also be door prizes at each of the 19th Hole receptions. A hole-in-one contest at each par-3 hole of all Four-Ball Mixer and Golf Classic courses has been added with closest-to-the-pin, straight-drive, long-drive and putting contests. Prizes include a set of golf clubs, a premium electronics package, airline tickets, cruise tickets and more. One hole at each course will be specially designated for a chance at a prize worth $10,000.
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic returns to the Yellowhammer State in 2009 for only the second time in its history – the first being 2000 in Mobile. Seth Strickland, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Miami (Fla.) Shores Country Club is the defending champion and the Carolinas GCSA was the 2008 chapter team winner.
The Toro Co. is partnering with the association to present the annual GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic.