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12
Richmond Country
Club retains solid grasp
on Va’s only pro golf
tournament
When the LPGA’s
Duramed
FUTURES Tour
returns to Richmond Country
Club August 10-15, local golf
fans should expect to see a
bigger and better event than
in the past. The third outing
of the Greater Richmond Golf
Classic will not only have more
competing professionals but
more events for the fans as
well.
As Goochland County’s
largest homebuilder, Eagle
Construction of Virginia has
signed on as sponsor of the
$100,000 tournament and
hopes to build upon the solid
tournament foundation created
over the past two years.
“I’m just so happy that
we were able to participate
in keeping professional golf
here in Richmond,” said Eagle
Construction president Bud
Ohly.
Thursday
June 24, 2010
SPORTS: Youth, High School, College, Recreational, Professional
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Golf Classic looks to be bigger and better
BY CHARLIE LEFFLER
cleffler@goochlandgazette.com
From a youth, through high
school and college, Ohly has
spent 37 years on the links and
said sponsoring the event was a
natural step considering he and
Bryan Kornblau, Chairman of
Eagle Construction, first met
on a golf course. “Golf and the
community here locally has
been a big part of our lives and
our success.”
Because the Richmond Golf
Classic is now the only remaining
professional golf tournament
in the state of Virginia,
Ohly felt it important that the
Richmond area retains its ties
to the event. “If we don’t keep
one it’s going to be tough to
get them back,” he said. “As
people start to compete for
these events as the economy
improves, you’re going to be
looked at as somebody who
gave it up instead of somebody
who kept it going.
Considering how professional
sports have lately struggled
in the Richmond area,
Ohly wanted to make sure that
golf did not follow suit. “It’s
extremely important to keep
that tradition going,” he said.
“We’ve had professional golf
in Richmond, I guess, gosh, it
started in 1965 with the PGA
File photo by Charlie Leffler
This year’s Richmond Golf Classic will boast a $100,000 purse and bring a record number of competitors to the Richmond Country
Club in August. The improve the fan experience, there will be 17 events throughout the course of the week, capped by the
players drive to attain their LPGA cards in the tournament itself.
at what’s now Belmont, continued
with the Seniors Tour
over at Hermitage, went on to
the Nike Tour at the Dominion
Club and this has got to be
what it is that keeps it going.”
And keeping the event
going is important because
the Duramed Tour utilizes
the tournament as a means to
serve the community.
From last year’s Green
theme, the Richmond Golf
Classic switches colors this
year, taking on the American
Heart Association’s “Go Red
For Women” campaign. All
proceeds from ticket sales will
go to cardiovascular research
for women, an area that
AHA’s Michelle Nostheide
indicated is lacking in fund-
ing. “Unfortunately there’s not
enough,” she said. “A lot of the
research is for men and we
know that the warning signs
are different and the treatment
is different (for women).”
Because heart disease is
the national’s leading killer of
women, Nostheide said there is
a natural synergy between golf
and the campaign. “There’s so
many things with a healthy
lifestyle that you can do to prevent
heat disease and stroke,”
she said. “Obviously a partnership
with the LPGA is perfect
because golf is a lifelong sport
that can keep women active
and really prevent heart disease
from ever coming up.”
And when it comes to the
golf itself, drama will be added
to this year’s tournament as the
Richmond Classic will be the
second to last tour event. So,
much like NASCAR’s “Race for
the Chase” at RIR, the pressure
will be on throughout the week
as the players make a final push
to qualify for the 2011 season.
“That means a lot of players
who are striving to get their
LPGA cards will be playing
pretty hard here at Richmond
Country Club in order to
play well and place well,” said
Michael Vajda, LPGA’s Director
of Tournament Business
Affairs.
The Richmond Classic
has quickly become one of
the players’ favorite stops
on the tour, so much so that
Lisa Meldrum may return to
defend the title she won last
year despite already holding
her LPGA card.
In its third go-round,
Vajda hopes that the event
has now established itself with
Richmond golf fans. “In tournaments
like this, I think the
first couple of years, people are
curious to see what it’s about,”
he said. “I think we’ve gotten
past that stage.”
With 17 planned events this
year, Vajda hopes the fan base
continues to grow. The week of
golf will include a Junior Clinic,
two Pro-Am tournaments and
a Go-Pro Fashion show. This
year’s Meet the Pros party will
be a casino night event where
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