Virginia Golfer Sep / Oct 2018 | Page 12

( atc ) Champions Return to RVA THE DOMINION ENERGY CHARITY CLASSIC was already beloved among PGA Tour Champions players. In 2017, the championship—the first of three Charles Schwab Cup playoff events that cap the Tour’s season—was voted as the players’ favorite event in which to play, the second straight year it has earned the honor. The event—which returns to the Coun- try Club of Virginia’s James River Course Oct. 19–21, has made an indelible impres- sion on fans in the Commonwealth as well, especially in 2017, when an iconic legend won the tournament with an iconic putt. 10 Bernhard Langer, who has won more senior majors than anyone in history, pumped his arms and celebrated by pitch- ing his visor to the green after making an 18-foot eagle putt to win last year’s event by a stroke over Scott Verplank. What sort of excitement awaits when the DECC returns to CCV this October? If it’s anything like what happened in 2017, fans should be in for a treat. TWEAKED FORMULA Like the PGA Tour with the FedEx Cup playoffs, the PGA Tour Champions utilizes a V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 18 playoff to determine its season-long champi- on. Last year, the DECC moved up a week in the schedule to lessen travel for players, who previously went from North Carolina to Cal- ifornia and back to Richmond in the span of three weeks. As the first event in the Schwab Cup playoffs, the top 72 money winners from the full season advance to Richmond. After the DECC, the top 54 players con- tinue on to the PowerShares QQQ Champi- onship in California, and the top 36 players remaining after that event advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix Nov. 8–11. vsga.org COUNTRY CLUB OF VIRGINIA’S JAMES RIVER COURSE | OCTOBER 19–21