A tradition continues for the 14th year when the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) joins forces with The Toro Co. to bring the GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic to Orlando Jan. 27-29. Nearly 500 GCSAA members will compete for top honors at five world-class Orlando golf courses, while staying at the The Caribe Royale Orlando.
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic are held in conjunction with the GCSAA Education Conference (Jan. 28-Feb. 2) and Golf Industry Show (Jan. 31-Feb. 2), at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
Accomplished golfers will test themselves against GCSAA’s finest in the National Championship, Jan. 27-29 at Ginn Reunion Resort's Independence Course. 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. Practice rounds will be held at Ginn Reunion Resort's Independence Course Jan. 25-26. The 2008 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 players of all abilities. It will be played Jan. 28-29. The Golf Classic is limited to the first 480 entries with handicap indexes from 0-36, participating in 10 flights. 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 Orange County National's Panther Lake and Crooked Cat courses, Grand Pines Golf Club, and Hawk's Landing Golf Club. The Golf Classic also includes a fun Four-Ball on Jan. 27 before the competition tees up. 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.
The Toro Co. is partnering with the association to present the annual GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic. Toro, a global leader in providing maintenance equipment and irrigation systems to golf courses, has been the sole partner of this event since 1995, and recently signed on through 2013.
The 2008 GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic marks the 11th time the tournament has been hosted in the Sunshine State during the 57-year history of the event. It will also be making a fifth trip to Orlando this year, after visits in 1982, 1990, 1996 and 2005.