Tour announces changes, schedule for 2006 season
Among the few changes approved for the 2006 Tour season at the Board of Directors meeting was the exciting possibility to earn a 2-year exemption from membership dues with a hole-in-one during Mulligan Tour competition. The decision comes after 2 players made aces in the 2005 season. DeVonne Mowry carded the Tour’s first hole-in-one at the 2005 U&B Golf Classic in July. Greg Kline made a hole-in-one on his way to winning the TOUR Championship in September.
Also new in 2006 is a World ranking system that will allow a relative comparison of Tour members across all regional divisions. Players earn 100 points divided by their placement in every tournament (250 points for majors). So, a player earns 100 points for a win, 50 points for 2nd place, 33.3 points for 3rd place, etc. Then, the points are averaged over the number of tournaments played over the last 2 years.
The Mulligan Tour Chronicles will now be published monthly. The Tour’s newsletter will concentrate on previewing upcoming events and introducing individual players to the membership. As a consequence, players will need to refer to the Tour’s website to find their tee times if they are playing in the coming weekend’s tournaments.
The 2006 Tour schedule is nearly solidified. The Tin Cup (Hickory Creek GC) and Pine View Classic (Pine View GC) have their traditional season starts for the Central and West divisions on April 29. Then the Tour visits Calderone Farms GC for the first time as the Western Swing and Chelsea Classic share the course on May 6. Popular Salem Hills GC hosts the Sweet Sixteen and Animal House Classic on May 13 before the season’s first major takes the Tour’s best twosomes down to Willow Metropark GC for the Memorial tournament on May 20th.
Other tournaments that are set on the schedule include the Go Blue Classic at Lake Forest GC (June 3), the Crazy Brit at Whispering Willows GC (June 10), the Holy Grail at St.Johns GC (June 10), and the Quad-Tour Challenge at Fox Creek GC (July 22).
The most noticeable change in the schedule is the Match Play Championship moving from September into early August. The move spreads the Tour’s majors out more evenly over the season. The tournament has been alternately hosted by The Woodlands of Van Buren (odd years) and Inkster Valley GC (even years) but the Tour is considering a move to Links at Whitmore Lake, the venue that was put into emergency use last year after a scheduling snafu at the Woodlands.