Professional golf returns to Richmond

The Greater Richmond area hosted its first professional golf tournament in over 25 years when the Country Club of Virginia held the Dominion Charity Classic at The Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course Nov. 4-6.

“Richmond is the perfect place for our kind of golf,” said Champions Tour pro Loren Roberts. “You’ve got a good size community of people that love to play golf around here.”

The weekend’s festivities kicked-off with a pro-am event held Thursday before the official tournament Friday through Sunday.

Thursday’s pro-am featured local collegiate golf coaches, including University of Richmond’s Adam Decker, Virginia Union University’s E. Lee Cobble, Virginia State University’s William Perkins and Randolph-Macon College’s Ed Turnage. The foursome teamed up with Tom Pernice Jr., the winner of the tour’s previous tournament, the PowerShares QQQ Championship, in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

The Champions Tour event welcomed a stable of well-known golfers such as Fred Funk, Jay Haas and Miguel Angel Jimenez and featured three World Golf Hall of Famers: Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie and Mark O’Meara.

“This week, we’ll witness the season’s best here in Richmond,” said PGA Tour Champions President Greg McLaughlin prior to the tournament.

Proceeds from the event benefitted the Virginia Values Veterans, or V3 program, which aids transitioning military veterans by creating employment opportunities around the state.

“This exciting tournament provides our community with the chance to cheer on legends of the game as well as honor our nation’s heroes,” said Jerry Jenkins, the country club’s president.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe stated in the event’s promotional material he thinks the tournament will provide a spark for Richmond and the Central Virginia region.

“PGA Tour fans from all across the country have traveled to Richmond to watch the top-ranked golfers in the world compete,” McAuliffe stated. “These events are essential to our tourism industry and contribute greatly to the new Virginia economy.”

While it’s been nearly three decades since the area last hosted a major golf tournament, the city boasts a rich golf history.

In 1945, Hermitage Country Club hosted the Richmond Invitational, where golf legend Ben Hogan shot a final-round 73 to win by four strokes. A decade later, the James River Course hosted the national amateur championship, which featured another legend in Jack Nicklaus, playing in his first-ever amateur tournament at the age of 15.

From 1983 to 1990, Richmond hosted the Crestar Classic, and in 1988, witnessed Arnold Palmer earn his last professional victory.

The top 36 players on the points list following Sunday’s final round advanced to the season-ending $2.5 million Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

“I think it kind of resets the whole season,” Roberts said. “And with a real 50-yard dash here to the finish, I think it’s going to be great.”

Scott McCarron won Dominion Charity Classic after defeating Tom Byrum on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, taking home the $305,000 top prize and securing second place in the points standings heading into the season’s final tournament.

Nick Versaw, Contributing Writer