They don't call Palm Springs the "golf capital of the world" for nothing, and the upcoming Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) National Championship and Golf Classic is just one more event to come to Southern California.
Few golf competitions can match the sheer number of participants attracted by this members-only golf event, as nearly 600 GCSAA members will compete for top honors at five Palm Springs golf courses Feb. 18-20.
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic are held in conjunction with the GCSAA Education Conference (Feb. 19-24) and Golf Industry Show (Feb. 22-24), in Anaheim, Calif. The format of events allows players to select the competition that best suits their game. Accomplished golfers will test themselves against GCSAA’s finest in the National Championship, Feb. 18-20 at Mission Hills Country Club Pete Dye Challenge Course.
For a more relaxed competition, the popular Golf Classic welcomes players of all abilities. It will be played Feb. 19-20. The Golf Classic also includes a fun Four-Ball on Feb. 18 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.
For the 13th consecutive year, The Toro Co. will partner 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.
The National Championship is limited to the first 100 players with a 5.0 handicap index or less. It is a three-day, 54-hole, stroke-play event. Practice rounds will be held at Mission Hills Country Club Feb. 16-17. The GCSAA Champion, along with past 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.
The Golf Classic is limited to the first 480 players 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 courses on Monday and Tuesday between the Gary Player Signature Course at The Westin Mission HiIls Resort & Spa, the Pete Dye Resort Course at The Westin Mission HiIls Resort & Spa, the North Course at The Golf Club at Terra Lago and the South Course at The Golf Club at Terra Lago.
The 2007 GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic marks the 13th time the tournament has been hosted in the Golden State during the 56-year history of the event. It will also be making a fourth trip to Palm Springs this year, after the event visited in 1963, 1986 and 1989.