The South Georgia Classic exemption will be the seventh Nationwide Tour exemption granted to the eGolf Professional Tour in the last calendar year. In 2009, the tour was awarded two exemptions each into the BMW Charity Pro-Am and the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. On December 2, 2009, the tour announced they were once again granted two exemptions into the 2010 Price Cutter Charity Championship. The seven exemptions are the most ever awarded to a developmental tour.
The 2009 South Georgia Classic was won by former eGolf Tour member Garth Mulroy, who used the win as a springboard to the most successful Nationwide Tour season of his career. The South African recorded $263,126 in earnings and finished No. 14 on the season-ending money list, in turn solidifying his PGA TOUR card for 2010.
“We are excited about our relationship with the eGolf Professional Tour. With our 2009 champion Garth Mulroy being an eGolf Tour alumnus, this partnership makes perfect sense,” said South Georgia Classic tournament manager David Fox. “Like Garth, there are many deserving players on the eGolf Tour and we are looking forward to providing the opportunity to play in our Nationwide Tour event.”
The exemption will be set up in the form of a tournament-within-a-tournament qualifier at the tour’s Cabarrus Classic on March 17-20, 2010. Players will have the option to pay a “South Georgia Classic Fee” prior to the event in order to register. The participating player who finishes the highest in the tournament will be granted the exemption. Proceeds generated from the exemption will go to the tournament’s official charity, the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, GA, dba South Georgia Medical Center.
“The South Georgia Classic, while one of the Nationwide Tour’s newer events, has quickly become one of its most cherished,” said eGolf Tour chief operating officer Stewart Moore. “A vast number of our past and present players have participated in the event, and all we hear are rave reviews for Kinderlou Forest and the job done by David and his staff. We are thrilled to be associated with their tournament.”
The 2010 Cabarrus Classic will be contested at Cabarrus Country Club in Concord, NC and River Run Country Club in Davidson, NC. The 72-hole event is expected to include a field of 204 players from multiple countries and over 40 states.
About eGolf Professional Tour
The eGolf Professional Tour is a Charlotte, NC-based professional golf tour that has conducted 54- and 72-hole tournaments in the Southeast since its inception in 2002. The tour features approximately 18 professional tournaments annually with purses ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 and field sizes from 156 to 250 players. In its seven-year history, the tour has seen the likes of Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn, Steve Marino, Tommy Gainey, Matt Bettencourt and others ascend to the PGA Tour, while over 200 past eGolf Professional Tour players have gone on to play on the Nationwide Tour.
About First State Bank & Trust Company
First State Bank & Trust Company, a member of the Synovus Financial Corporation family of companies, has been serving the people of Valdosta and Lowndes County since 1906. As a community bank, deposits are retained locally and all lending decisions are made at a local level. First State Bank & Trust Company have four banking locations throughout Valdosta and Lowndes County, with the main location on Inner Perimeter Road. For more information on First State Bank & Trust Company please visit www.fsbtc.com
About the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County
South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC) is a 335-bed, regional referral hospital located in Valdosta, Georgia. The hospital serves a 15-county area in South Central Georgia and North Florida. It is governed by an eight-member volunteer board known as the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County. The hospital operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week providing general medical services, as well as specialty services, including inpatient and outpatient behavioral health, ambulance and emergency services, comprehensive cancer care, open heart surgery and angioplasty, neurology and neurosurgery, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, surgical services and women and children’s services, to name a few. For more information, go to our website, www.sgmc.org.
