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NATIONWIDE TOUR STORYLINES – Week of March 1st 2010
NATIONWIDE TOUR STORYLINES – Week of March 1st
Pacific Rubiales Bogotá Open presented by Samsung
March 4-7, Country Club of Bogotá
Bogotá, Colombia: Purse: $600,000 First Prize: $108,000
2009 Champion: New event - 4th of 29 events
135 players, including 14 from the Tour de las Americas
NATIONWIDE TOUR MAKES HISTORY IN SOUTH AMERICA – This week’s tournament in South America is a first for the Nationwide Tour. It is also the first time a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event has been played for official money on the continent. Founded in 1538, Bogotá is nestled high in the Andes Mountains at 8,648 feet above sea level and has a population of 8.5 million in its metropolitan area. Sponsor, Pacific Rubiales, is a Canadian-listed producer of oil and natural gas. Pacific Rubiales’ headquarters is in Bogotá. It is the largest company of its kind in Colombia.
FROM PHOENIX TO BOGOTÁ TO PALM BEACH GARDENS – After finishing T8 in the PGA TOUR’s Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday, Camilo Villegas hopped on an airplane for his native Colombia where he will help launch this week’s inaugural Pacific Rubiales Bogotá Open. Villegas will lead a youth event on Tuesday morning, play in the afternoon pro-am, then officially welcome the players at that evening’s pro-am social function. On Wednesday, he travels back to the States and the PGA TOUR to compete in the Honda Classic near his Jupiter, Fla. home. Villegas led the charge in getting the Nationwide Tour to come to Colombia. “It’s great for my country, great for golf in South America,” he told the media in Scottsdale. “I am very honored to be playing in the pro-am and to support the event.”
COLOMBIA CONNECTIONS – Camilo Villegas will be joined at this week’s Pacific Rubiales Bogotá Open by a few other proud Colombians. NASCAR star and Bogotá native Juan Pablo Montoya is the host of Tuesday’s Juan Pablo Montoya Celebrity Pro-Am presented by Helm. Montoya is an avid golfer, friend of Villegas’ and serves on the board of The First Tee of South Florida. Camilo’s brother, Manny Villegas, is in the field by way of a sponsor’s exemption. The 25-year-old enjoyed his best Nationwide Tour finish, a 6th, in last month’s Moonah Classic in Australia. Nationwide Tour members and Colombians Camilo Beneditti and Diego Vanegas are among the 135 competitors who are entered. Beneditti is from Villegas’ hometown of Medellin. Vanegas is from Cali.
COUNTRY CLUB OF BOGOTÁ / FOUNDED IN 1917 – The Country Club of Bogotá was founded in 1917 and had the country’s first golf course. It has more than 1,500 members. World Golf Hall of Fame members Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Lanny Wadkins, Tony Jacklin, Carol Mann and Donna Caponi have all been to the club over the years. It has hosted ten Colombian Opens. Past champions at various venues include Arnold Palmer (1956), Roberto De Vicenzo (1961), Chi Chi Rodriguez (1963), Jerry Pate (1981) and Camilo and Manny Villegas (2001-amateur and 2008, respectively). Current Nationwide Tour member Daniel Barbetti of Argentina is the reigning champion.
GOOD WEEKEND FOR SOUTH CAROLINIANS – South Carolina’s Tommy Gainey (3rd) and Mark Anderson (T4) enjoyed their best Nationwide Tour finishes over the weekend in the Panama CLARO Championship. Gainey was making his 27th start dating back to 2007. Anderson is a Nationwide Tour rookie who was playing in his third tournament. “Two Gloves” Gainey is from Bishopville, while Anderson is a 2008 graduate of the University of South Carolina who now resides in Beaufort.
CATCHING UP WITH “THE DONALD” – Moonah Classic winner Jim Herman got a chance to tell his former boss, Donald Trump, about his recent Australian victory first hand. Two weekends ago, the duo played Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla., near Herman’s Port St. Lucie home. “He was a great teacher and a great assistant, but he also had game,” Trump told John Dell for PGATOUR.COM. “I’ve played in a lot of pro-ams through the years and I’ve seen the pros up close and Jim is as good as they are.” And with his first Nationwide Tour win, “he is no longer an apprentice.”
MATT EVERY’S UNFORTUNATE FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HIS IDOL – Growing up, Mark Calcavecchia was PGA TOUR rookie Matt Every’s favorite player. On Saturday of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, Every got to play with his fellow Florida Gator for the first time. The day, however, did not end well. After making a double-bogey on the last hole, Every hastily signed his scorecard on which his playing partner had recorded an incorrect number, resulting in his disqualification. “It’s 100% my fault, and he felt horrible,” Every said. “In no way was it his fault. He’s still my favorite player and he was a blast to play with.” The Daytona Beach native rebounded nicely last week in Arizona at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with his best PGA TOUR finish ever, a T8.
GOLFERS GONE FASHION MODELS – The March issue of Men’s Journal features an eight-page spread with 2009 Nationwide Tour grads Blake Adams, Matt Every, Derek Lamely, Alex Prugh, Josh Teater and Jerrod Turner, plus Qualifying School graduate Cameron Tringale. With its 720,000 circulation, Men's Journal is the second leading men's magazine (GQ is first). Last year's fashion layout featured NBA rookies.
“BOBBY” GATES – Michael Hill New Zealand Open winner Robert Gates has dropped the more formal Robert in favor of Bobby.
NEXT WEEK – The Nationwide Tour is idle next week, then launches its domestic season at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open near Lafayette (March 25-28).
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