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Utah
Classic Will Return Next Year
Thursday,
October 31, 2002
By Kurt Kragthorpe
The Salt Lake Tribune
The two pro golf tours -- operated by the PGA Tour -- that have
played in Utah have new names, as Wednesday. And one of them is
definitely coming back to the state next year.
The Utah Classic, now part of the Nationwide Tour (formerly the
Buy.corn Tour), will return to Willow Creek Country Club in Sandy
in September, tournament director Evan Byers confirmed.
The former Senior PGA Tour is now the Champions Tour. The future
of Park City's event, the Uniting Fore Care Classic, is in doubt
after 21 years because of sponsorship issues. PGA commissioner Tim
Finchem said Wednesday that the PGA Tour, including the Nationwide
Tour, will have a fully sponsored schedule for 2003, although it
might lose one opposite-field event in the fall. In recent years,
the event in Park City has required some PGA Tour subsidies.
Hired by the PGA Tour in 2000 to run the Utah Classic, Byers has
succeeded in stabilizing the event and securing a further commitment
of support. "They're happy with the job we have done. My satisfaction
is that the PGA Tour wants to stay in our community," Byers
said. The Nationwide Tour "has momentum unlike anything in
professional sports right now."
The Nationwide group of insurance companies signed a five-year contract
as the tour's umbrella sponsor. Nationwide officials supported keeping
the Salt Lake Valley as one of the tour stops.
The tour sends 15 graduates to the PGA Tour each year and is ranked
the second-most competitive tour in the world.
"It's a healthy asset for our community," Byers said.
As for the Champions Tour, tournament director Bryan Naugle is continuing
his 11th-hour effort to find a title sponsor and keep the Park City
event going.
Golfers Mourn
Jeannie Goddard, a longtime Utah golf figure, died Wednesday of
cancer. A Salt Lake City resident, Goddard was the Utah Golf Association's
first female board member and spent 12 years working for Utah's
Senior PGA Tour event. Under Naugle, she was the tournament's volunteer
coordinator the past five years.
"She was a wonderful asset to the tournament and the Utah golf
community", Naugle said. "But more than that, Jeannie
was a great friend. She touched many lives."
Goddard is survived by her husband, Richard, and five children.
Funeral services are scheduled Saturday at noon at the LDS chapel
at 4077 S. Fortuna Way.
UGA Awards
Annie Thurman was named the UGA Player of the Year and Jetff Beaudry
received the annual Gold Club Award.
Thurman, an Oklahoma State sophomore from Highland, won the U.S.
Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and the Women's State
Amateur. Beaudry, a Sandy resident who works as a career services
consultant for the PGA of America, was honored for his service to
the game.
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