VALDOSTA —
When the South Georgia Classic returns to Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta next April, the tour that will be competing will have a different name than in years past.
Formerly known as the Nationwide Tour, golf’s “official proving ground of the PGA TOUR” has a new title sponsor. Web.com, the leading provider of internet services and online marketing solutions for small to medium sized businesses, announced Wednesday a 10-year agreement where the company becomes the umbrella sponsor for the newly named Web.com Tour.
Web.com’s sponsorship of the tour takes effect immediately with this week’s United Leasing Championship at Victoria National Golf Club in Evansville, Ind. The deal expires following the 2021 season.
The announcement of Web.com’s takeover was made jointly by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem; David L. Brown, Web.com’s Chairman, President and CEO; and Bill Calfee, President of the Web.com Tour.
“This sponsorship is a perfect fit for us – Web.com is committed to helping small and medium-sized businesses compete and succeed online, just as the Web.com Tour helps talented, dedicated athletes maximize their potential and fulfill their dreams,” Brown said in the release. “The Web.com brand will gain exceptional visibility as a result of our sponsorship of the Web.com Tour. In addition, we believe that the professionalism and competition of PGA TOUR golf resonates strongly with small- and medium-sized business owners, making the national and international exposure we achieve with this sponsorship an unparalleled opportunity to reach more of our target market.”
The Web.com Tour, formerly the Nationwide Tour, identifies and transitions players who are ready to compete and win on the PGA TOUR. It currently awards PGA TOUR membership to the 25 leading money winners at the end of the season.
Currently, three out of four PGA TOUR members have played on the Web.com Tour and alumni have accounted for more than 330 TOUR victories.
With structural changes to PGA TOUR qualifying in 2013 that were first announced in March, the Web.com Tour will become even more important to the TOUR. Starting next year, all 50 new PGA TOUR membership cards will be awarded through the Web.com Tour, with the three final tournaments on the Web.com Tour combining PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour players to determine who earns those 50 cards.
The fields for the three final Web.com Tour events, which will be held around the FedExCup Playoffs, will include the top 75 players on the Web.com Tour’s money list, the players ranked 126-200 on the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup points list and non-members who meet certain eligibility standards. The annual Qualifying Tournament now will become the eligibility avenue to the Web.com Tour.
As the umbrella sponsor of the Tour, Web.com will receive media coverage throughout the year and international television exposure through Golf Channel’s live telecasts of Web.com Tour tournaments and ancillary programming.
The success of the Web.com Tour is reflected in the success of its alumni since the Tour was introduced in 1990.
Nationwide Insurance sponsored the Tour since 2003. As previously announced, the Columbus, Ohio-based company decided to assume presenting sponsorship of its hometown PGA TOUR event, the Memorial Tournament, when that opportunity opened for the 2011 season. It was prepared to fulfill its umbrella sponsorship of the Tour through this year before Web.com expressed interest in assuming the sponsorship immediately.
Local Sports
Web.com takes over Nationwide Tour
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VSU eliminated
Valdosta State softball’s bid for a national title repeat came up short this season.
The Blazers were eliminated from the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament Saturday with a 7-5 loss in nine innings to Armstrong Atlantic University, a school based off the Georgia coast in Savannah. -
Win or go home
The Valdosta State softball team faces Armstrong Atlantic University in an elimination game for the 2013 Division II Softball Championship Tournament today at noon.
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HOOPER: An early look at the 2013 football season
I haven’t written a column in quite some time, largely because there has been so much going on and we haven’t always had the space, nor have I felt up to it after writing so many other stories.
But today, I am writing this column and taking up the inches in the daily sports section and giving a little love to the upcoming football season. -
Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
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Golfers take course for Wounded Warriors
Local patrons participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Golf Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Valdosta on Thursday.
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Valwood football hosting 4-man scramble golf tourney
Head coach Ashley Henderson and the Valwood football team will be hosting a 4-man scramble golf tournament at Valdosta Country Club Friday, June 14.
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VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp
The Valdosta High School football cheerleaders will be hosting a Junior Cheer Camp June 5 through June 7 at the W.G. Nunn Elementary School gymnasium.
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Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices
Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson both think their football teams got better during the recent 10 days of spring practice.
Then again, both coaches know their teams have a ways to go before the start of the football season. -
Signing day at VHS
It was signing day galore at Valdosta High School Wednesday.
Six student-athletes signed national letter of intents to compete at the next level, while two VHS athletes both signed academic scholarships to Division I universities. - More Local Sports Headlines
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