Article by: Jerry Ratcliffe

Charlottesville Daily Progress

October 13, 2008

With the North Carolina Tar Heels coming to Charlottesville for the biggest football game of the season on Saturday, the Tarheel Tour, a professional golf mini-tour, will be holding its season-ending championship here this week as well.
The EGOLF Tour Championship (the tour is now sponsored by EGOLF) will be contested on two Central Virginia courses this week with a $200,00 purse. The 54-hole tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday at Spring Creek Golf Club near Zion Crossroads and at Wintergreen’s Stoney Creek course.
All three days of golf are open to the public with free admission.
The huge field of golfers will be split for the first two rounds. Half the field will play Spring Creek and half will play Stoney Creek on Thursday, with the players flip-flopping to the other course on Friday.
Only the low 70 percent of the field (and ties) will make the cut to Saturday’s final round at Spring Creek.
When the Tarheel Tour first laid eyes upon Spring Creek during a regular tour stop in the summer of 2007, the tour’s officials and players fell in love with the new course and classified it as the best course on the entire circuit.
They returned for another regular season event this past summer before negotiating with Spring Creek to host its annual championship for the next four years.
“The course is in phenomenal shape right now,” said Spring Creek master professional Jack Snyder. “The rough is so rough right now. It’s long and thick. If you hit it in the rough, it’s going to be a challenge.”
Pros from the Tarheel Tour hit the ball so far that Spring Creek’s only defense may be the thickened rough and fast, undulating greens.
“The long hitters have a tremendous advantage out here because anyone hitting shorter clubs into these greens will definitely benefit,” Snyder said. “But this Tour’s officials know the quality of their players, so they tend to make the pin placements very difficult so that the best players have the best chance to win.”
Even though Spring Creek officials lengthened the course between the ‘07 and ‘08 tour stops, the professionals didn’t blink at the new yardage.
“Most good golfers that play here try to hit their drives to the left of the bunkers on No. 10, but these Tarheel Tour players just drive it right over the bunker,” Snyder said. “And on the 615-yard, ninth hole, several of these guys hit it in two every day this past summer.”