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Posted online: February 24, 2004 11:22 PM Local
amateur tour gets new name, loses spot in JDC
There
are going to be two major changes to the Quad-Cities amateur golf circuit this summer. The first is that it will now be The National City Amateur Tour instead of the First
Tee of the Quad-Cities Amateur
Tour. The players also will no longer be playing for a sponsor's exemption into
the annual PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, learning this month that the JDC
will no longer offer the top player from the summer circuit a spot in the pro
field. JDC Tournament director Clair Peterson was chagrined that the tournament
would no longer be offering the exemption to the area's top amateur golfer. ``I know we're disappointed, and they're disappointed that we couldn't
keep that going,'' said Peterson. ``Philosophically, I like the idea of
recognizing the amateur's accomplishments.'' The second-year JDC tournament director said there were two major factors
that went into the decision to no longer offer the exemption. The first, he
said, was a change by the PGA Tour
to lower handicap standards for all players in a Tour event from 2 to zero. The second was the
JDC's return to July playing dates. ``Those things together really made it tough for us to continue the exemption
the way we reformatted it last year,'' said Peterson, adding that the JDC now
serving as a qualifier for The British Open the week after the QC event had
no bearing on the local exemption. Chris Wilkins, board member for the National City Am Tour, said that the
handicap specifications should not have been a concern either. ``There are only a limited number of guys on our tour who have a chance to
win Player of the Year, and there's not a chance a guy with a 2 handicap is
going to win,'' he said. ``All of the (local) guys who have played in the
(JDC via the sponsor's exemption) have had a zero handicap.'' After years of giving the exemption to the winner of the three- or
four-round Quad-City Amateur
tournament, the exemption last year went to the First Tee Tour's Player of
the Year -- that being Clinton's Tyler Swanson. That change worked out
particularly well on the calendar because it allowed for a full summer of amateur play before the
September JDC. With the JDC back to summer dates through 2006, Peterson said that created
concerns he wasn't comfortable with in offering the exemption. ``We know that we have the same date for the next thee years, following
the Western Open in 2004-05-06,'' said Peterson. ``As long as we have the
summer date, we will not award an exemption to the ( Peterson didn't want to revert back to giving the winner of a single
tournament the spot in the field. He said he was also not comfortable
allowing the 2004 National City Player of the Year a spot in the 2005 JDC
because of the time lapse. The National City Am Tour
schedule was being set up this year to be front-end loaded so a Player of the
Year could be named by early July. Wilkins said that without the exemption,
the schedule -- which this year includes an event at Hawthorn Ridge and no
longer includes one at Highland Springs -- will be modified and stretched out
over the whole summer to become more player-friendly. ``We talked last year and we don't feel it's the best or fairest way to
award an exemption,'' said Peterson of reverting back to honor the QC Am
champ. ``The ideal situation was what we did last year.'' That was when Swanson won the First Tee Player of the Year title and
parlayed that into becoming the first QC amateur player to make the JDC cut in the nine
years the exemption was offered. The 19-year-old Because of the change in the exemption offering, National City Am Tour officials fear that
some of the younger players who took part in the Tour last year because of the enticement of
playing for the JDC exemption may not participate this year. ``Because we don't have to answer to the John Deere Classic, we can run
more independently now,'' said Wilkins, a three-time JDC qualifier as winner
of the QC Amateur
tournament. ``That doesn't change the fact that we don't have (the exemption)
and we will lose some players because of that. ``We're all disappointed to lose the exemption, but we have to move on. We
were all privileged to have had it.'' Wilkins admitted that hinders hopes of the local am tour growing in numbers.
After having about 90 players last year, hopes are for over 100 participants
this summer. The circuit has been played under a series of banners the last few years
and once again changed its name for one simple reason. ``It's more to benefit the title sponsor,'' said Wilkins. ``We will still
be a beneficiary to the First Tee program, that part doesn't change.'' Tom Johnston welcomes your comments at 757-4969 or tbone@qconline.com |