Greater Greensboro Chrysler
Classic Stands at a Crossroads

By Shane Sharp, TravelGolf.com Senior Writer

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- As Scott Hoch tossed a piece of rough into the gallery after winning the 2001 Greater Greensboro Chrysler, one couldn’t help but wonder, “Why is this man chucking a piece of sod at the spectators, and more importantly, why is he even here in the first place?”

Hoch waited until the last minute to commit to the tournament. He watched the weather channel from his home in Florida, not wanting to stake his name to the field unless he could count on four straight days of sunshine. Once arriving, Hoch complained the rough was too short, negating any advantage the short, straight hitter might have off the tee over longer, wilder whackers.

Hoch’s victory had to be a bit bittersweet one for the Greensboro Jaycee’s – longtime tournament sponsors. Hoch was one of the bigger names to participate in the GGCC this year. But if the ever-fickle Hoch is a big name in your event, is your event in trouble?

“Overall we were very pleased,” says Jeff Iddings, the GGCC’s General Chairman. “The weather was great, we had great fans. Despite criticism of the field, we had the top ten money winner of all time raise the trophy. We get a little bit of grief that Tiger and Duval don’t come, but yet we have a champion that played on the Ryder Cup.”

The Greensboro Jaycee operated GGCC is one of the oldest non-major events on the circuit, and is inexorably tied to seven-time winner Sam Snead. Yet, it is situated in the unenviable position of falling just a few weeks after the Masters when most of the world’s best players are taking a couple weeks off. While the tournament has played host to names like Davis Love III, Jesper Parnevik and Phil Mickelson, over the years, it has never been able to draw a big chunk of the Tour’s top money winners.

This year, the tournament stepped out of its traditional spot in the batting order following the WorldCom Classic in Hilton Head and switched places with the Shell Houston Open. Original speculation by tournament organizers was that this was a good thing. Knowing that most of the big names in golf opt to play in Hilton Head for a little R and R after Augusta, and then take the next week off, the GGCC hoped to pick up a few heavy hitters based on its new slot on the calendar.

• Carolina News and Notes • Carolina Destination Guide • Carolina Course Reviews • Carolina Golf Course

“What we thought is that we’d see some different names,” says Iddings. “Our scheduling, because we are two or three weeks after the Masters, is going to make it difficult to see Tiger. We’ll see some of the other guys, but not on a regular basis. These guys are gearing their games around Tiger and the majors.”

Iddings says that because of the weather, attendance was up from last year and consistent with previous years. The GGCC drew approximately 200,000 over a four-day period, a number that Iddings credits to the knowledgeable Greensboro golfing population.

“The neat thing about this community is that they understand that we can’t always draw the big names,” Iddings says. “We got a Stewart Cink and a Scott Hoch this year, and we lost a Vijay Singh and a Tom Lehman. The criticism of our field revolves around the top five American golfers and why they are not here.”

Iddings says that the tournament will resume its original spot in the PGA Tour next year.

“It will be the same calendar week, but we’ll be following Hilton Head again,” he says. “I think we’ll see a better field next year. Tom Lehman and Vijay Singh play this year in and year out, and it was too much for me to ask them to play here this year.”

With a purse of $3.5 million and growing, solid attendance numbers, and a ton of history on its side, it’s safe to say that the GGCC is still going strong. But there are two major changes on the horizon that could drastically affect the popularity of the tournament with players, if not fans.

First, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is considering moving the Players Championship from March to May in order to shake its reputation as a “warm up” for the Masters. Second, the GGCC will be moving from Forest Oaks Country Club to a new venue in 2004. The former could shake up the entire PGA spring schedule, while the later could effect player’s decisions of whether or not to enter the field.

The Jaycees have no control over the Players Championship, however Iddings says they plan to make the new course as traditional and appealing as possible.

“We are in the process of interviewing and taking proposals from course designers now,” he says. “There are a lot of great designers that want to be a part of it. It is a neat, old tract of rolling hardwoods. It will not be a TPC course. What the players say they want and what we envision is a classic old style course that will be crowd friendly, but primarily built for the players.”

Iddings believes that the combination of the new course and the attractive pursue should be enough to improve future playing fields.

“I think we will see more big names,” he says. “Tiger has said that he will play every event before he is done. Duval will come back, and Mickelson will come back.”