University of North Carolina Athletics
Rams Club Mini-Tour Returns For Its 11th Year Of Play
April 11, 2005 | General
April 11, 2005
The Rams Club Mini-Tour returns for its 11th year of play, offering Rams Club members and guests the opportunity to compete on many of the best courses in the South. Competing on a point system based on participation and individual and team performance, the golfers can win a variety of prizes at each tournament. They can also challenge for the Nantucket Cup, awarded to the point winner after the first eight tournaments, and choose the grand prize as the champion. The top 60 point winners and other individual champions from the tour qualify to play in the Tournament Players Championship on September 12th at The Preserve at Jordan Lake, just outside the Chapel Hill city limits.
Caryle and Co., proud sponsors of the Carlyle Cup will again sponsor the Mini-Tour Challenge. On the most difficult par three at each tournament, the winner of the closest-to-the-pin prize will receive the gift bag of outstanding items provided by Carlyle and be entered into the drawing for the Tag Heuer 2005 Masters Champion Tiger Woods limited timepiece. At the Tournament Players Championship, all nine par three winners will participate in the drawing for the timepiece.
The 2005 tour starts on Tuesday, June 14th, at Rock Barn Resort and Spa, home of the Champions Tour Greater Hickory Classic. Water is in play for twelve holes on the classic Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design. The course received rave reviews from the Mini-Tour players in 2003.
Home of the Nationwide Tour SAS Classic since 2001, TPC at Wakefield Plantation is the second tour stop on June 27th. Adjacent to Falls Lake, native pines, ponds and creeks frame the carefully sculpted holes of the Hale Irwin design.
Long-time tour favorite, and often rated the second best course in North Carolina, the Old North State Club hosts the tour on July 11th. Tom Fazio's masterpiece has three finishing holes that rival any in the country.
Carolina's own Davis Love III design group has rebuilt the greens and redone four holes at classic Forest Oaks Country Club, as the tour returns there on July 25th. The PGA tour also comes to Forest Oaks for the Chrysler Classic.
Rated foyr stars by "Golf Digest", the tour returns after a brief respite to the Jack Nicklaus design at Pinehurst National on August 8th. Wide fairways and lush conditions hide the undulating greens that test the patience and ability of all golfers.
Championship weekend opens on Friday, August 19th at the Grande Dunes course that many believe has become the best course in the Grand Strand. The trio of holes 8-10, and the scenic par three 14th along the intracoastal waterway have helped make this stop an annual tour favorite.
Cancelled by Hurricane Charley last year, Rivers Edge Golf Club hosts this year's tour finale on August 20th. Arnold Palmer has crafted a course that awards the risk taker, a trait of the most popular player in golf history.
Davis Love III also has built a beautiful and challenging course that has become the home of the Tournament Players Championship. The Preserve at Jordan Lake sits at the base of the lake, and has provided a stiff test for the qualifiers over the past three years.
Jay Younce is the defending Mini-Tour champion, while Julian Knott is the Tournament Players Championship defender.
On-line tour registration will be available at www.ramsclub.com in the near future. Last year's participants will be sent the tour brochure. For additional information, please contact Karlton Creech at kcreech@uncaa.unc.edu.
