The Atlantic Beach Country Club has been named as host venue for the 2016 Web.com Tour Championship, the PGA Tour has announced.
Tournament week at the 2016 Web.com Tour Championship will begin Monday Oct. 3, with opening-round play slated for Thursday Oct. 6 and continuing through Oct. 9. The main beneficiary of this year’s event will be Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
While the Web.com Tour Championship was held at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass from 2013 to 2015, expansive construction on the TPC property required tour officials to find a new location for this year’s championship.
“We are delighted at the opportunity this partnership with Atlantic Beach Country Club and Wolfson Children’s Hospital presents for the Web.com Tour Championship and Northeast Florida,” said David L. Brown, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Web.com. “This will be a memorable fall week of golf and fun community activities for the residents of Atlantic Beach, the surrounding beaches and the city of Jacksonville.”
Located five blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic Beach Country Club is steeped in PGA TOUR tradition, with a number of the game’s biggest stars competing in what would become the tour’s premier event. As Selva Marina Country Club, the club hosted the PGA TOUR’s Greater Jacksonville Open in 1965 and 1966, with legendary golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead on site to compete, and Nicklaus recording the only double-eagle of his tour career on the par-5 18th hole in 1966. The tournament would remain in the greater Jacksonville area in the ensuing years, eventually moving to TPC Sawgrass’ famed Stadium Course in 1982 with a new name – THE PLAYERS Championship.
In 2015, the site was redeveloped as Atlantic Beach Country Club with a re-design that saw the addition of a 16,000 square-foot clubhouse.
“We are excited to name Atlantic Beach Country Club as host of our championship,” Web.com Tour President Bill Calfee said. “As the season-ending event, the Web.com Tour Championship takes on a special level of significance with the 25 PGA TOUR cards issued after the conclusion of play. The support and excitement from the members, Web.com and Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been fantastic, and we anticipate this being a wonderful week for golf fans in the area.”
As the path to the PGA TOUR, the Web.com Tour awards 25 TOUR cards at the conclusion of the regular season, with another 25 cards awarded following the completion of the four-event, season-ending Web.com Tour Finals. The Web.com Tour Finals open with the inaugural DAP Championship the week of Sep. 5-11, and from there move to the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco (Sep. 12-18) and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (Sep. 19-25) before an off week leads into the Web.com Tour Championship. Each of the four events features a $1 million purse.
Benefiting charity
A part of Baptist Health, Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been recognized repeatedly as one of America's Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, and stands alone as the only full-service tertiary hospital for children in the region, serving North Florida, South Georgia and beyond. The hospital provides care for all children, regardless of their ability to pay.
“For years Wolfson Children’s has had great relationships with the PGA TOUR and Web.com – and now, these two exemplary organizations are multiplying their impact by working together to save more children’s lives,” President Michael D. Aubin said. “We are honored to be named as the major beneficiary of the Web.com Tour Championship and excited about what this will mean for the patients we serve,”
The PGA TOUR and its tournaments generated a record $160 million for charity in 2015, with three events on the Web.com Tour surpassing the $1 million mark in 2015 alone.
