VYING FOR THE
CHARLES SCHWAB CUP
“ And some guys just
don’t have that drive;
they’ve done it 40
years or whatever
and they’d rather do
other things. . .
That’s
not me.”
On a sun-splashed morning at the Country Club of Virginia, Steve
Schoenfeld looked up the empty 18th fairway of the James River
Course and smiled with the pride of ownership. He heard in his
head the hum of last year’s crowd at the inaugural Dominion
Energy Charity Classic, where Scott McCarron birdied 18 to win
a playoff. And Schoenfeld knew the best PGA Tour Champions
players would again bathe in that excitement at CCV in October.
“These guys still love playing in front of crowds,” said
Schoenfeld of the PGA Tour Championship Management
Division, who is executive director of the tournament. “They’re all
competitors and it drives them. There was a real buzz out here for
the players, for everyone. Richmond and Henrico County really
delivered that, more than we could have expected in year one. It
felt great.”
The tour doesn’t announce attendance figures, but Schoenfeld
said, “Just eyeballing it, we certainly were the best-attended
playoff event.”
This year, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic (Oct. 19–21) is
the first of three tournaments that will decide the Charles Schwab
Cup, which brings a $1 million bonus. The top 72 players on the
regular-season money list will qualify.
Only 54 golfers will advance from Richmond to the
PowerShares QQQ Championship in Los Angeles. The top
36 survivors then compete in the Charles Schwab Cup
Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz. Bernhard Langer is the
defending champion.
“It’s so much fun to have them here,” said Summer Lee, one
of three PGA professionals at CCV. Lee, Warren West and Eric
Layton head up numerous aspects of player and spectator
service during the week, from the Wednesday and Thursday pro-
ams to the practice areas to the daily herding of golf carts.
“It’s exciting when the players appreciate the facility as a whole,
the golf course and the staff,” Lee said. “They are long days, but
it goes fast.”
The James River Course is a 7,010-yard, par-72 layout
Schoenfeld called viewing-friendly whether fans follow groups or
camp strategically to catch action on multiple holes. He noted an
area off the 10th green allows views of the 11th tee, 12th green
and 13th tee.
He considers No. 14, a 218-yard par-3 to an elevated green,
the course’s signature hole. But he said No. 16 through 18—a
par-5, par-3 and another par-5—is a potentially decisive run and
hospitality mecca. Demand was so great at No. 16, Schoenfeld
said, that a second hospitality deck will be added.
At 218 yards, the par-3 14th hole is
a signature hole at the Country Club
of Virginia’s James River Course.
WHAT: The first of three playoff events for the Charles Schwab Cup
WHEN: Oct. 19–22, 2017
WHERE: The Country Club of Virginia, James River Course
SPECS: Par-72, 7,010 yards
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scott McCarron
FIELD: Top 72 players, three-day, no-cut event
PURSE: $2 million, $300,000 to the winner
TICKETS: Daily grounds (Thursday–Sunday), $16-$31. Weekly grounds
(Thursday–Sunday) $77. Youth 18 and under admitted free. Military
(active, reserve, retired) admitted free.
TV: Live, Golf Channel, 2:30–5 p.m. Friday–Sunday
WEBSITE: deccgolf.com
vsga.org
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