Golf notebook, July 31: Hilton Head Island lands eGolf Tour Championship
The eGolf Tour is returning to Hilton Head Island before the end of the year, bringing a huge purse with a substantial winner's share.
The tour's season-ending Tour Championship will be held at Palmetto Hall Plantation starting Dec. 3. The event boasts a $300,000 purse and is the final tournament in eGolf's inaugural Million Dollar Championship Series, which will consist of four tournaments with guaranteed purses totaling $1 million dollars.
The purse will be the largest in developmental golf since the 2009 eGolf Tour Championship, and the third-largest in the state of South Carolina, trailing only the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage and the Web.com Tour's BMW Charity Pro-AM.
The inaugural Million Dollar Championship Series will feature guaranteed purses of $225,000, $225,000, $250,000 and $300,000, with the winner of the Tour Championship receiving a $50,000 first-place prize.
The eGolf Tour Championship will mark the eGolf Tour's sixth trip to Palmetto Hall Plantation. The club has hosted the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship each of the past five years.
The tournament's champions includes current PGA Tour member Russell Knox (2010), former PGA TOUR member Brent Delahoussaye (2012), current Web.com Tour members Matt Hendrix (2013) and Corey Nagy (2011), as well as 2011 Western Amateur champion Ethan Tracy (2014).
"We are thrilled to be returning to Palmetto Hall for our Tour Championship this December," eGolf president David Siegel said in a release. "The club members and the Heritage Golf staff have helped us deliver a first-class tournament each of the last five years, and this lucrative season-ending event will continue that tradition. It is nothing short of a win-win for all parties involved, especially our players."
The series begins with the River Hills Championship in Lake Wylie on August 27-30 and will continue two weeks later with the inaugural Island View Casino Championship in Gulfport, Miss., on September 10-13. The third of the four events has not been announced.
The 156-player fields for each event will include the top 60 members from the Charlotte-based eGolf Tour, the top 30 members from eGolf Tour West and the top 30 members from eGolf Tour Florida. The remaining spots in each event will be filled by top players from tours around the world, as well as a Monday qualifier, in an effort to create a truly worldwide series.
The Palmetto Hall Championship has produced some of the highest winning scores in recent years on the eGolf Tour, with just three players over the past three seasons reaching double-digits under par.
AZALLION SHINES IN PINEHURST
Hilton Head Island's Daniel Azallion made the most of his trip to Pinehurst this past weekend.
Competing in the Boys 13 division at the U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Championships, Azallion finished fourth to qualify for the Teen World Cup, which was held Sunday on Pinehurst No. 4.
The top four finishers from each age group for the U.S. formed a team and played an international team in a series of best ball, stroke play matches. Azallion teamed with Texas' Brian Garrett to shoot 9-under 63 and earn a point for the U.S. during its 5-4 victory. The lowest round of the day included five consecutive birdies from Nos. 13-17.
JUNIORS COMPETE FOR KAREN FERREE TROPHY
The ninth annual GA-SC Junior Girls Team Matches will be held Saturday and Sunday at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club, with teams competing for the Karen Ferree Trophy.
Ferree, a Hilton Head Island resident and S.C. Golf Hall of Fame inductee who is a Georgia native, donated the trophy for the matches.
Teams from both states are selected by inviting the top four finishers at each state's Junior Championship. The South Carolina team was determined following the WSCGA Junior Championship held at the Columbia Country Club in June.
HOLES-IN-ONE
* Paul Sandrock made a hole-in-one July 23 on the 104-yard, eighth hole at Okatie Creek Golf Club. He used a 9-iron. Witnesses were John Clngerman, Orlando Fernandez and Barbara Fernandez.
This story was originally published July 31, 2014 at 1:53 AM with the headline "Golf notebook, July 31: Hilton Head Island lands eGolf Tour Championship."