Regions Financial Corporation and the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour announced the 2016 Regions Tradition, a major championship on the Champions Tour, will take place May 18th through 22nd. This will be the first year that the tournament will be played at Greystone Golf & Country Club. Shoal Creek Club has hosted the championship for the last five years.
The Regions Tradition began in 1989 in Arizona and first came to Alabama in 2011. The tournament has had an exceptional run at Shoal Creek with the Jack Nicklaus-designed course hosting the tournament through 2015. After that period, Shoal Creek expressed a desire to do significant course renovations, including rebuilding its greens, and subsequently Regions and the Champions Tour worked together to find a suitable venue to keep the tournament in Alabama.
“The Regions Tradition elevates the reputation of the state of Alabama, the Birmingham area, and most certainly the Champions Tour,” stated Greg McLaughlin, President of the Champions Tour. “We are excited about the move to Greystone and the opportunity to keep this world-class sporting event in the state of Alabama.”
Greystone Golf & Country Club, which will be the sixth venue to host the Tradition, previously held the Champions Tour’s Bruno’s Memorial Classic from 1992 – 2005 where past winners included World Golf Hall of Fame members Hale Irwin (2001), Larry Nelson (1999) and Hubert Green (1998).
Greystone underwent significant changes to prepare the course for the upcoming major championship. Nine greens were reshaped or significantly modified to offer a wider variety of hole locations. Of the nine greens, four were completely rebuilt to accommodate multiple hole locations and five were modified to better utilize the entire putting surface. All 39 existing bunkers were renovated and several fairway bunkers were added. New tees were also added on Hole Nos. 1,6 and 14.
“Our members are thrilled to partner with the Champions Tour and are excited to have a major championship come to the club,” said Greystone Golf & Country Club President Roy Sewell. “We look forward to hosting some of the greatest names in golf at Greystone, and hope that the fans and professionals will enjoy all of the course updates we have made to enhance the fan experience, along with the quality of competition.”
Regions’ association with the Champions Tour in Birmingham has benefitted Children’s of Alabama and local area charities significantly, donating more than $14 million in total since the first Champions Tour event was held in Birmingham in 1992. Of that $14 million, more than $2.6 million has been donated to local charitable organizations since the Regions Tradition came to Birmingham in 2011.
Each of the four rounds of the Regions Tradition will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel, the exclusive cable provider of the Champions Tour, reaching in excess of 205 countries and territories and more than 145 million households. Since 2011, when the Regions Tradition began at Shoal Creek, the economic impact is estimated at more than $54 million. All Tours under the PGA TOUR umbrella have donated more than $2 billion to help more than 2,000 charities and countless individuals around the world.
Enclosed in this release is the new Regions Tradition event logo, which reflects the new course change to Greystone Golf & Country Club. For more information on the Regions Tradition and the move to Greystone Golf & Country Club, please visit www.regionstradition.com.
About the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour: Collectively, the Champions Tour has the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game, with many of its 32 World Golf Hall of Fame members regularly competing. The Tour also counts numerous other major championship winners among its members. The Champions Tour is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The ChampionsTour primary purpose is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays. Points earned in official Charles Schwab Cup events in 2014 determined Bernhard Langer as the Charles Schwab Cup champion, the season-long competition designed to recognize the PGA TOUR Champions’ leading player. The Commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Greg McLaughlin is President of the PGA TOUR Champions. The PGA TOUR’s website is pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Follow the PGA TOUR Champions at facebook.com/ChampionsTour and on Twitter @ChampionsTour.
About Regions Financial Corporation: Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $120 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation's largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, mortgage, and insurance products and services. Regions serves customers in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,650 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
About Greystone: Greystone Golf & Country Club is an active and vibrant private club that is nestled in the Valley of Double Oak Mountain, located in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area. The Club is the cornerstone of the 1,400 home gated community which offers two world-class championship golf courses: Founders and Legacy. The Founders Course was designed by renowned architect Bob Cupp, and was established in 1991. The Legacy Course, located approximately three miles from the Founders Course, was designed by world-famous architect Rees Jones, and was established in 2000. Greystone Golf & Country Club is the fabled home of the Bruno’s Memorial Classic, which was played at the Founders Course 1992-2005, and will again host Champions Tour players for the Regions Tradition in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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