Poppy Hills caught the eye of the
Champions Tour early
E
Professional Golf Returns to Poppy Hills
ven before grass was growing on every hole, the Champions Tour knew it wanted to host
a tournament at the new Poppy Hills.
The Champions Tour added to the Opening Day buzz at the reinvented Poppy Hills by revealing that the Robert Trent Jones II redesign will co-host The Nature Valley First Tee Open, along with Pebble Beach Golf Links, from Sept. 22-28. The agreement is through at least 2016. Even before the ceremo- nial first shot was taken, Poppy Hills was already deemed championship quality with the confirma- tion of The First Tee Open partnership. Poppy Hills is no stranger to professional
tour competition, as it co- hosted the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991-2009, as well as the Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational for four years. “The First Tee Open is
a wonderful partner for the home course of the North- ern California Golf Asso- ciation,” said Brad Shupe, general manager at Poppy Hills. “One of the prime initiatives of the NCGA Foundation is its Youth on Course program, which allows boys and girls to play courses for only $5. And we are proud that two of the last three pro-junior teams to win The First Tee Open were made up of Youth on Course players.” Poppy Hills debuted its
new layout with a Grand Opening for invited guests and media March 20 after closing for 13 months for a comprehensive renovation.
The project began March 11, 2013, and Poppy Hills officially opened to the public April 4, 2014. But the Champions Tour
was confident Poppy Hills would be a worthy tourna- ment course after a visit back in September, when most of the course was still in dirt form. “There are three things
that come to mind about adding Poppy Hills,” said Champions Tour spokes- man Dan Walker. “The relationship between The First Tee and Youth on Course is a nice tie. It’s great to have both courses for the event in the forest now. But the main thing is we came out to Poppy Hills during the First Tee Open while construction was go- ing on to see the course. We were super excited about what we saw that week, and now to come here and see it
finished is spectacular.” Mark O’Meara, the
Prince of Pebble Beach with five AT&T Pro-Am wins, is looking forward to return- ing to Poppy Hills. O’Meara won AT&Ts at Poppy Hills in 1992 and 1997. “All of the players—
especially me—are excited about returning to Poppy Hills, where many of us competed on the PGA Tour,” said O’Meara, now 57. “Champions Tour profes- sionals love to play top qual- ity courses and with the ad- dition of Poppy Hills to the Nature Valley First Tee Open that’s exactly what we’ve got. I look forward to seeing the positive renovations they have made to the course and I’m sure all the players will enjoy the changes.”
–K.M. TheNEW
HILLS POPPY
38 /
NCGA.ORG / SPRING 2014
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