Regions Tradition
The Regions Tradition (or The Tradition) is a major tournament on the Champions Tour of Professional Golf, played at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Shelby County. The tournament was inaugurated by resort developer Lyle Anderson as The Tradition at Desert Mountain at the Cochise Golf Course in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1989, and later was renamed the Countrywide Tradition. It moved to Oregon as the Jeld-Wen Tradition in 2003, first to The Reserve west of Portland, and then, in 2007, to the Crosswater Golf Club in Central Oregon. Regions Bank took over title sponsorship after the 2010 tournament concluded.
For Birmingham, the tournament superseded the Regions Charity Classic (originally the "Bruno's Memorial Classic") held at Greystone Golf and Country Club from 1992 to 2006 and at the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa until 2010.
Unlike the other majors for seniors golfers (the U. S. Senior Open, the Senior PGA Championship, and the Senior British Open), the Tradition is not recognized by the European Seniors Tour and does not provide an automatic exemption onto the regular tour for its champion.
2011 tournament
The re-branded tournament, held on May 2-8, was the first of five major tournaments on the 2011 tour. Condoleezza Rice, a Shoal Creek member, was the honorary chair and hit the first ball off the tee.
Tom Lehman defeated Peter Senior in a two-hole playoff for a 13-under 275 and the tournament win. Mark Calcavecchia had led going into the final day, but came in with a 75 and fell into a tie for fifth place.
2012 tournament
Tom Lehmen repeated as champion in the 2012 tournament, held June 6-10. He finished 15 under par, holding off late challenges from Bernhard Langer, Chien Soon Lu and Fred Couples.
2013 tournament
David Frost of South Africa finished at four under, one stroke ahead of Fred Couples, to win a rain-soaked tournament in 2013.
2014 tournament
Kenny Perry finished with a one-stroke margin over Mark Calcavecchia in the 2014 Tradition.
2015 tournament
Kevin Sutherland two-putted for bogey on the first hole of a sudden death playoff against Jeff Maggert, giving him his first Champions Tour major title.
The 2015 event was the last to be held at Shoal Creek before the tournament returned to the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 23, 2010) "Shoal Creek gets major PGA Champions Tour golf event that will replace Regions Charity Classic." The Birmingham News
- "Condoleeza [sic] Rice accepts chairperson invite for Regions Tradition" (March 22, 2011) myFoxAL.com
- Zenor, John (May 8, 2011) "Lehman tops Senior in Regions Tradition." Associated Press
- Irvine, Steve (June 11, 2012) "Swingin' in the rain; Lehman overcomes his dislike of playing in the rain to win his second straight Regions Tradition." The Birmingham News
External links
- Regions Tradition website