Running Horse Golf Championship
The Running Horse Golf Championship is a new PGA Tour golf tournament which is scheduled to be played for the first time on October 22-28 2007. It was to be staged at Running Horse Golf & Country Club in Fresno, California, USA, a residential golf development with a course co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and his son Jack Nicklaus II. However, in November 2006 it was reported that foreclosure proceedings on Running Horse had begun. The City of Fresno hoped that a buyer could be found and the tournament would go ahead. The PGA Tour also remained optimistic, and the tournament director stated that the tournament can be played at Running Horse if the course is seeded in March 2007. However a move to a new venue, which would entail a change of name, has not been ruled out. [1] By June 2007 there was no real doubt that the tournament would not take place at Running Horse in 2007. [1] This had been acknowledged by Fresno city officials, but no official announcement on rescheduling had been made by the PGA Tour. The tournament may be played at another course in the region in 2007, and may move to Running Horse in 2008, if a new owner is able to have the course ready by that time.[2]
The Running Horse Golf Championship (or its replacement, if there is one) will be a "Fall Series" event, played after the Tour Championship and the conclusion of the FedEx Cup, which is also a 2007 introduction. The planned prize fund is US$4.5 million.
If the event is ever held at Running Horse, it will be the first PGA Tour event to be staged in central California.
References
- ^ Is there a Fresh Start for Running Horse?, abclocal.go.com, November 2006 (day of month not stated online).