TOURNEY TIME
DOMINION ENERGY CHARITY CLASSIC
DANIEL SANGJIB/RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH VIA AP
Miguel Angel Jiménez, of Spain, watches his
drive at the 16th hole during the final round
of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic golf
tournament at the Country Club of Virginia.
first four years, the DECC has generated
a charitable impact of $3.5 million in the
Richmond area.
Despite some decisions being made,
uncertainty was still a factor. Waiting and
watching were necessities.
“We will continue to flesh out the plan
for the tournament and observe carefully
as to what is happening at other events and
provide updates to the public accordingly,”
said Laura Vescovi, communications manager
for the PGA Tour Champions.
One of the other changes the PGA Tour
Champions implemented during the time
off was combining the 2020 and 2021
seasons into one. There will be no season-ending
Charles Schwab Cup champion
until November 2021.
“While we won’t have a Charles Schwab
Cup champion in 2020, we feel the combined
schedule for 2020-21is the best
solution for everyone associated with PGA
Tour Champions,” Miller Bradley, PGA
Tour Champions president, said in a press
release. “The wonderful support from
the tournaments, title sponsors, Charles
Schwab and the Player Advisory Council
has helped us address some of the schedule
complications caused by the COVID-19
pandemic, and as a result we have created
solutions that serve our members and our
tournament communities.”
CRAZY BUSY AT CCV
A surprising side story during the pandemic
has been golf’s burst of popularity since
late March when more than half of U.S. golf
courses were closed through April due to
coronavirus shutdowns and anxiety.
The rebound began in May and continued
with a 14 percent growth in rounds
played nationally in June according to the
National Golf Foundation. Play was up in
every state, including at least 20 percent in
hotspot states Arizona, Florida, Georgia,
Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
At CCV, “We have been in a constant
flux with operations as has everyone,”
said Warren West, CCV’s director of golf.
“With everything going on in the world,
no surprise adjustments had to be made
for the [DECC].”
According to Christian Sain, director
of golf course and grounds maintenance,
“The amount of golf being played right
now is crazy. When I say crazy I’m not
being negative about it. It’s just different…
the people who play golf are playing a lot
of it.”
When the players arrive at CCV, they
will find a new state-of-the-art practice
facility on the site of the old Tuckahoe
Creek course range. The new facility
will have multiple short-game areas,
a huge new putting green and a bigger
teeoing area. Eventually there will be a
performance center.
“It’s built for the membership, but it
will benefit Champions Tour players,”
Sain said.
After last year’s tournament, all the
greens were resurfaced.
“We changed grasses to a more up-todate,
better variety and they performed
really well,” Sain said. “We had the hottest
July on record. In the past we have
struggled. Not to say it’s been easy, but we
haven’t had the struggles we’ve had in the
past so that has been a positive.
“Our maintenance procedures and standards
would stay pretty much the same
regardless of if we had a Tour event here or
not… not having fans is not going to change
our approach.”
WHAT: Fifth renewal of tournament that has been
a Schwab Cup playoff fixture but will be played as
a regular-season event in the combined 2020-21
schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHEN: Oct. 14-18
WHERE: Country Club of Virginia James River
Course designed by William Flynn with a renovation
by Lester George in 2003.
FIELD/PURSE: 81 players (age 50 and older); 54
holes no cut; $2 million purse.
PAST CHAMPIONS: 2016: Scott McCarron in a
playoff; 2017: Bernhard Langer by one stroke; 2018:
Woody Austin by one stroke; 2019: Miguel Angel
Jimenez by two strokes.
PLAYERS TO WATCH FROM HOME: Brett Quigley,
Langer, Scott Parel, Ernie Els, Jimenez, Austin,
McCarron, Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen and Tour
“rookies” Jim Furyk, Mike Weir and K.J. Choi.
WINNERS BEFORE AND AFTER: Quigley, Langer,
Parel, Els and Jimenez won the five tournaments
played in 2020 before the PGA Tour Champions
shut down because of the coronavirus. When play
resumed in late July, Furyk, who along with Weir
and Choi became eligible during the shutdown,
won in his Tour debut.
TELEVISION ON GOLF CHANNEL: Friday, Oct. 16,
2-5 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 17 and Sunday, Oct. 18,
2:30-5 p.m.
Woody Austin
vsga.org S EPTEMBER/O CTOBER 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 27