PGA TOUR Announces 2018 Web.com Tour Schedule
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2017-09-29
The Web.com Tour Announces Its 2018 Schedule, Featuring 27 Events, Increased Prize Money, Four-Event Start, And New Finals Order.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — The PGA TOUR announced Wednesday the 2018 Web.com Tour schedule, which features 27 tournaments played in 18 states and four countries outside the United States, and culminates with the four-event Web.com Tour Finals in August and September. The 27 events mark the most on the Web.com Tour calendar since 2012, with the $18.3 million in total prize money representing the most since the Tour’s 2010 season.
“We are thrilled with the positive momentum the Web.com Tour has established, and today’s schedule announcement is another indication of the further growth and strength of the Web.com Tour,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “The players benefit greatly from these increased playing opportunities and arrive on the PGA TOUR ready to compete and win immediately.”
The season-long chase for 50 available PGA TOUR cards encompasses a 23-event Regular Season that runs from The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay in January through the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz in August, before giving way to the sixth annual Web.com Tour Finals, which will culminate with the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship in Atlantic Beach, Florida
Twelve events will air on Golf Channel, including all four Web.com Tour Finals tournaments. The Web.com Tour will be seen in 180 other countries and territories, reaching a potential 300 million households across 36 channels outside the United States via the PGA TOUR’s international broadcasting operation.
“The momentum we’re seeing on the Web.com Tour is a direct result of the support from our title sponsors, the tireless effort put forth by our tournament directors and their staffs, and the passionate volunteers who donate time to make each event special and impactful,” said Web.com Tour President Dan Glod. “You combine that with the unique experience our players provide for fans by being approachable and engaging – on and off the golf course – and you can see why we are excited about the Web.com Tour’s future. As we look to 2018, we are pleased to see our schedule expand and will continue to focus on growth while enhancing the experience for fans, tournaments and players.”
The first five years of the Web.com Tour Finals have created a dramatic conclusion to the season-long chase for the 50 available PGA TOUR cards, with a host of the graduates finding immediate success on TOUR.
The 2015-16 PGA TOUR season saw Emiliano Grillo (Safeway Open), Smylie Kaufman (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Peter Malnati (Sanderson Farms Championship) win in the first four weeks of the year, while Cody Gribble (Sanderson Farms Championship), Rod Pampling (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Mackenzie Hughes (The RSM Classic) earned three of the first seven titles of the 2016-17 season after competing in the Web.com Tour Finals.
In total, nine graduates from the Web.com Tour’s Class of 2016 won 10 times on the PGA TOUR this past year, including Xander Schauffele, who earned his first title at the Greenbrier Classic and played his way into last week’s TOUR Championship in Atlanta, where he became the first rookie in history to win the TOUR’s season-ending event at storied East Lake Golf Club.
“The growth of the Web.com Tour and the caliber of its talent show that the PGA TOUR and Web.com are creating future opportunities where players can realize their full potential,” said David L. Brown, Chairman, CEO and President of Web.com. “The changes we are announcing will only improve the level of play while making meaningful contributions to local communities that reach far beyond golf.”
The 2018 season will open with the Web.com Tour returning to The Bahamas for the second annual Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay (1/13-1/16) and Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (1/21-1/24). The Exuma Classic will feature a Saturday-Tuesday competition schedule, while the Abaco Classic will feature a Sunday-Wednesday format. All four rounds of each tournament will be carried live on Golf Channel.
For the first time in Web.com Tour history, the season will open with events in four consecutive weeks, as the tournaments in The Bahamas will be followed by the Panama Championship the week of January 29-February 4 and the Club Colombia Championship the week of February 5-11.
The El Bosque Mexico Championship in Leon, Mexico will be held on March 5-11, while the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER will return to Le Triomphe Golf & Country Club in Broussard, Louisiana, for a 27th consecutive season the week of March 19-25.
The Web.com Tour will welcome two new events to the calendar in 2018, with the Savannah Golf Championship set for the week of March 26-April 1, and the North Mississippi Classic debuting the week of April 16-22. The Savannah Golf Championship will be contested at Deer Creek Golf Course at The Landings Club in Savannah, Georgia, while the North Mississippi Classic will be held at the Country Club of Oxford in Oxford, Mississippi.
The North Mississippi Classic will be the third PGA TOUR-sanctioned event to be held annually in Mississippi, joining the PGA TOUR’s Sanderson Farms Championship and the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on PGA TOUR Champions. Mississippi is one of just five states to host an annual tournament on all three Tours, with California, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina being the other four.
The United Leasing & Finance Championship, held annually at famed Victoria National Golf Club near Evansville, Indiana, will round out the Tour’s April schedule the week of April 23-29.
Two of the biggest moves in the Tour’s traditional schedule layout are found in May, with the Knoxville Open in Knoxville, Tennessee, moving from its traditional August date to the week of May 7-13. The Tour will return with the 27th annual BMW Charity Pro-Am (May 14-20) in the South Carolina Upstate the following week, with the Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation moving back approximately one month to the week of May 21-27.
Beginning with the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, North Carolina, the week of May 28-June 3, the Web.com Tour will play 11 tournaments in 12 weeks through the summer months to round out the Regular Season.
The WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz will return to Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Oregon, for a fifth straight year, where the first 25 PGA TOUR cards for the 2018-19 season will be determined.
The 2018 Web.com Tour Finals will begin the following week with back-to-back events in Ohio for the first time. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship will be held at Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course in Columbus on August 20-26, with the DAP Championship at storied Canterbury Golf Club set for the week of August 27-September 2, just two hours northeast in Beachwood.
Following a week off, the Finals will conclude with the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco (September 10-16) and the Web.com Tour Championship, which will return to Atlantic Beach Country Club in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the week of September 17-23.
The season-ending Web.com Tour Championship will finalize the second set of 25 PGA TOUR cards for 2018-19 and determine player positioning in the Priority Ranking system, which is used to form fields for TOUR events, for all 50 card recipients.
Full 2018 Web.com Tour schedule:
| Dates | Tournament | TV | Course | City | Purse |
| Jan. 13-16 | The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay | TV | Sandals Emerald Bay - Emerald Reef Course | Great Exuma, Bahamas | $600,000 |
| Jan. 21-24 | The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club | TV | The Abaco Club on Winding Bay | Great Abaco, Bahamas | $600,000 |
| Feb. 1-4 | Panama Championship | Club de Golf de Panama | Panama City, Panama | $625,000 | |
| Feb. 8-11 | Club Colombia Championship | Country Club de Bogota | Bogota, Colombia | $700,000 | |
| March 8-11 | El Bosque Mexico Championship by INNOVA | El Bosque CC | Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico | $650,000 | |
| March 22-25 | Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER | Le Triomphe G&CC | Broussard, Louisiana (Lafayette) | $550,000 | |
| March 29-April 1 | Savannah Golf Championship | The Landings Club - Deer Creek Course | Savannah, Georgia | $550,000 | |
| April 19-22 | North Mississippi Classic | CC of Oxford | Oxford, Mississippi | $550,000 | |
| April 26-29 | United Leasing & Finance Championship | TV | Victoria National GC | Newburgh, Indiana (Evansville) | $600,000 |
| May 10-13 | Knoxville Open | Fox Den CC | Knoxville, Tennessee | $550,000 | |
| May 17-20 | BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation | TV | Thornblade Club (Host Course), The Preserve at Verdae, Furman University GC | Greenville, South Carolina | $700,000 |
| May 24-27 | Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation | Nashville Golf & Athletic Club | Brentwood, Tennessee (Nashville) | $550,000 | |
| May 30-June 3 | Rex Hospital Open | TPC Wakefield Plantation | Raleigh, North Carolina | $650,000 | |
| June 7-10 | Rust-Oleum Championship | TV | Ivanhoe Club | Mundelein, Illinois (Chicago) | $600,000 |
| June 21-24 | Air Capital Classic Supporting Wichita's Youth | Crestview CC | Wichita, Kansas | $625,000 | |
| June 28-July 1 | Lincoln Land Charity Championship | Panther Creek CC | Springfield, Illinois | $550,000 | |
| July 5-8 | LECOM Health Challenge | TV | Peek'n Peak Resort | Clymer, New York | $600,000 |
| July 12-15 | Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank | TV | Oakridge CC | Farmington, Utah | $700,000 |
| July 19-22 | Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Heartland Chevy Dealers | The Club at Indian Creek | Omaha, Nebraska | $600,000 | |
| July 26-29 | Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper | Highland Springs CC | Springfield, Missouri | $675,000 | |
| Aug. 2-5 | Digital Ally Open | Nicklaus GC at LionsGate | Overland Park, Kansas (Kansas City) | $675,000 | |
| Aug. 9-12 | Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae | TPC Stonebrae | Hayward, California | $600,000 | |
| Aug. 16-19 | WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz | TV | Pumpkin Ridge GC - Witch Hollow | North Plains, Oregon | $800,000 |
| Aug. 23-26 | Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship | TV | Ohio State University GC - Scarlet Course | Columbus, Ohio | $1,000,000 |
| Aug. 29-Sept. 2 | DAP Championship | TV | Canterbury GC | Beachwood, Ohio (Cleveland) | $1,000,000 |
| Sept. 13-16 | Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco | TV | Hillcrest CC | Boise, Idaho | $1,000,000 |
| Sept. 20-23 | Web.com Tour Championship | TV | Atlantic Beach CC | Atlantic Beach, Florida | $1,000,000 |