Pro golf tour adds stop in Warren County

Staff photo The Chiquita Classic, a Nationwide Tour event, will be played July 12-18 at the TPC at River’s Bend in Maineville

Nationwide Tour will visit TPC at River’s Bend in July, officials say.

By John Boyle, Staff Writer Updated 8:09 AM Monday, February 22, 2010

HAMILTON TWP. — The future stars of the PGA Tour are coming to Warren County this summer.

The Chiquita Classic, a Nationwide Tour event, will be played July 12-18 at the TPC at River’s Bend, the tour announced Friday, Feb. 19, in a news conference at the club.

A field of 156 players will compete in the 72-hole stroke play event for a total purse of $550,000 over the Arnold Palmer-designed par-72 layout. First prize will be $99,000, and all four rounds will be broadcast on Golf Channel.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Nationwide Tour President Bill Calfee said. “It’s a great market. Professional golf at this level hasn’t been here for many years. We think this is a great opportunity.”

The Nationwide Tour had an event in the Dayton area for 10 years — from 1999-2003 at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace in Centerville and from 1993-98 at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro.

The TPC at River’s Bend hosted a Champions Tour event from 2002 to 2004.

The Nationwide Tour calls itself “the proving ground” for the PGA Tour. It’s hard to argue. Two-thirds of the members of the PGA Tour are Nationwide Tour alumni. Tour alumni have won 264 PGA Tour titles, including 13 majors, since 1990.

The top 25 money winners each season on the Nationwide Tour earn PGA Tour cards for the following year.

“This is a really special tour,” Nationwide Tour Director of Communications Jeff Adams said. “We’re not a developmental tour, we’re an extension of the PGA Tour. The only reason a lot of these guys aren’t on the PGA Tour already is that there just isn’t enough room.”