Sports - Golf

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Coast lands senior golf tour stop

Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic will be played at Fallen Oak

The Champions Golf Tour is coming to the Coast.

The Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, featuring some of the top golfers on the Champions Tour, will be played at Fallen Oak Golf Course on April 28-May 2, 2010.

The Champions Tour, for golfers 50 and over, is currently playing for the Charles Schwab Cup in Sonoma, Calif.

The tournament will be played here for three years with a $1.6 million purse. It is a 54-hole tournament, with no cuts. It will be televised nationally by the Golf Channel.

The tour includes golfers such as Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Loren Roberts, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jay Haas, Fred Funk, Hal Sutton, Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

Fred Couples, Paul Azinger, and Corey Pavin turn 50 next year and would be eligible for the tour.

There will be a press conference Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi to formally announce the tournament. Roberts, who is in contention to finish first or second for the Schwab Cup, and Hal Sutton will be here for the press conference.

Bruno’s Event Team will manage the event. It has handled many PGA, LPGA and Champions events, including the 1999 Women’s Open at Old Waverly in Tupelo.

The economic impact is expected to be $20 million to $25 million each year, and the event should promote tourism and economic development on the Gulf Coast.

The tournament will need 800 volunteers.

Habitat for Humanity will be the Classic’s charity beneficiary.