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Columbia, SC – The EGOLF Tarheel Tour will be returning to Columbia Country Club for a third straight year on September 30th – October 2nd with an expected 144-player field competing for a share of the guaranteed $130,000 purse.
The EGOLF Tarheel Tour, which was founded in 2002, plays roughly 20 tournaments a year at courses all over the Southeast, but hosts the majority of its events in the Carolinas. In the Palmetto State, the tour has visited cities such as Bluffton, Mount Pleasant and Clinton, to name a few, but the Columbia Open at Columbia Country Club is an event that players and staff look forward to each year.
“We have been fortunate that the members and staff at Columbia Country Club have been so gracious over the past few years,” said Tarheel Tour president David Siegel. “A club of that stature with the facilities and golf course to host an event of this magnitude can be hard to come by, so we are thrilled to be returning for a third year.”
In 2006, the first-place prize at the Columbia Open was $10,500. Last year, the winner managed to collect $15,000. On the afternoon of October 2nd, the winner of the 2008 Columbia Open will take home an impressive check for $22,000, and according to Siegel, that is a number that is sure to turn heads.
“We have partnered with EGOLF in Charlotte to create a season-ending points race and in turn add money to the purses of our final four tournaments this year. At the end of the day, these players want to know what is at stake in terms of prize money at the top of the leaderboard, and $22,000 is sure to grab their attention.”
The EGOLF Points Race was designed to reward players for their performance down the stretch of the Tarheel Tour season and heading into this fall’s PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. Players will accumulate points based on finishes and participation over the final six tournaments, with $50,000 in prize money being distributed amongst the top 10 at season’s end and the winner receiving $20,000.
The star of the 2008 Tarheel Tour season has been David Robinson of Sandersville, GA. The soft-spoken Southerner collected two wins early in the year at the Rivertowne Open and the NorthStone Open and has not missed a single cut in 12 starts. In fact, Robinson is in the midst of quite a streak on any level of professional golf as he has made 36 cuts in a row (through the Lake Hickory Classic). With just over $100,000 in earnings this year, Robinson has a sizeable lead on the money list over Ted Brown (No. 2) and Andy Bare (No. 3), but the EGOLF Points Race and the added purse money is sure to make the fall tournaments and season-ending money list as volatile as ever.
Local players of note include former Clemson standouts Tommy Biershenk, Gregg Jones, Stephen Poole and Brian Duncan. Aiken, SC is sure to be well represented with the likes of Scott Brown, Dane Burkhart and former USC Gamecock Alex Hamilton.
One player that fans will miss at this year’s event is Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey of nearby Bishopville, SC. Gainey, who notched top-10 finishes at the 2006 and 2007 Columbia Open, successfully earned his PGA Tour card at last year’s Qualifying Tournament and will be at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, NY during this year’s tournament.
The Columbia Open and all Tarheel Tour events are open to the public and free of charge.
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