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 softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
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Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
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Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
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Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
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Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
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