CHARLOTTE, N.C.
— The eGolf Tarheel Tour announced that they have been granted an unrestricted exemption by South Carolina Charities, Inc. for the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, contested annually at three courses in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. The tour, which was formed in 2002 to create more playing opportunities for players working towards earning their PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour cards, has produced the last two winners of the BMW Charity Pro-Am and in turn seemed like a logical relationship to pursue for Tournament Director Darin MacDonald. “We have long been aware of the success of the Egolf Tarheel Tour and that was punctuated by our past two champions, David Mathis (2008) and Nick Flanagan (2007), who enjoyed success out there before parlaying their BMW wins on the Nationwide Tour into a PGA Tour card the ensuing year,” said MacDonald. Mathis, who used last year’s win at the event to finish 14th on the Nationwide Tour money list and in turn earn his PGA Tour card for 2009, played the eGolf Tarheel Tour from 2002-2007 and collected three wins during that span – with the last coming in May of 2007 at the River Run Classic. For Flanagan, the eGolf Tarheel Tour was his first stop in the United States after winning the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship and turning professional in his native Australia. The exemption into the event will go to the tour member who accrues the most earnings in the tour’s first four 54-hole events of the 2009 season: the Fairway Styles Open on March 11-13, the Pine Needles Classic on March 18-20, the Sandhills Championship on April 8-10 and the Snap Fitness Open on April 29-May 1. “Our goal since day one has been to position ourselves as the third-best tour in the United States, and this relationship and exemption with the BMW Charity Pro-Am certainly helps us to do that,” said eGolf Tarheel Tour president David Siegel. The tour has been a proving ground for hundreds of current and past Nationwide Tour players, so the relationship seemed to make sense, but for Siegel, it was the event’s stature that was most attractive.
“The BMW Charity Pro-Am is widely viewed as one of the best events on the Nationwide Tour schedule. The celebrities, the courses and the charitable contributions pair well with the $700,000 purse to create a PGA Tour-like atmosphere and experience for players and fans. We are thrilled to offer a spot to one of our members.”