Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ten of the Senior PGA Tour's top players will spend a day in September panning for gold in the hills of Bath County.
Continuing to flex its muscles on the national golf scene, The Homestead Resort announced Tuesday it will play host to the 1995 Merrill Lynch Senior Shoot-Out Championship.
The one-day tournament, which carries a purse of $500,000, will be held on the Hot Springs resort's renowned Cascades Course in mid-September on a date to be determined. It will be taped and shown by ESPN from 4-6 p.m. on Christmas.
``The Homestead is extremely proud to partner with Merrill Lynch in bringing this prestigious event to the Cascades, the No.1-rated course in Virginia,'' said Gary Rosenburg, president and chief operating officer for The Homestead.
The senior shootout will be the second major event held on the par-70, 6,566-yard mountain course since the resort was acquired by Dallas-based Club Resorts Inc. in October 1993. In August 1994, the Cascades was the site of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.
``We said when we came here that we were going to make a huge commitment to golf and I think we've proven that so far,'' said Wayne Nooe, the resort's director of golf operations.
Players eligible for the Shoot-Out Championship include the top four money-winners on the Senior PGA Tour's official money list for '95, the top three money-winners from the year-long Shoot-Out series and three wild-card entries selected by Merrill Lynch.
Tom Wargo won last year's championship in Lanai, Hawaii, besting Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tony Jacklin, Jim Albus, Jim Colbert, Dave Stockton, Deane Beman, Jim Dent, Bruce Crampton and Larry Laoretti.
The Shoot-Out format is much different than the typical stroke-play Senior PGA Tour event. All 10 players tee off on the first hole. The player with the highest score at each successive hole is eliminated. Ties are broken by a sudden-death shootout, involving a pitch shot, chip, bunker shot or long putt. The individual whose ball comes to rest farthest from the hole is eliminated.
After eight of the 10 contestants are eliminated, the two survivors play the ninth hole for the $100,000 first prize.
Current best bets to be eligible for the Shoot-Out Championship include Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino, Bob Charles, Bob Murphy, Hot Springs native J.C. Snead, Albus, Colbert and Stockton.
by CNB