2013 NCGA POINTS "PRESS RELEASE"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
RIVERSIDE GOLF COURSE AWARDED PREMIER STATUS WITH NEW MAXIMUM POINT RANKING BY THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GOLF ASSOCIATION FOR THE FRESNO CITY AMATEUR, AND INCREASED POINTS FOR THE FRESNO CITY FOUR-BALL TOURNAMEMNT.
Petaluma, CA (December 28, 2012)—CourseCo proudly announces that Riverside Golf Course has achieved yet another accolade with the recent awarding of maximum point ranking for the Fresno City Amateur by the Northern California Golf Association. This places Riverside and the Fresno City Amateur among premier status as one of only six courses and independent tournaments to be granted the 200 point maximum in the NCGA Player-of-the-Year competition. The new ranking joins a parallel announcement that Riverside’s Fresno City Four-Ball Tournament has also been increased to 150 points, and will stand alone as the only two-man event in Northern California with that distinction.
According to Riverside General Manager, Adam Pohll, the new status is direct result of a concerted eight-year effort by Tournament Director and Riverside Assistant General Manager, Keith Berry with continued effort from long time Tournament Chairman Bill Finn. Berry conducted a personal campaign to have both events re-evaluated, sanctioned, and granted maximum point status by the NCGA. “It’s sometimes hard to get recognition here, all the other maximum point events are in other parts of the state, so having an event of this caliber in Fresno is a big deal,” explained Pohll. “We’re not near the big population bases, but because of Keith’s hard work, it paid off.” Pohll adds that “the new points increase says a lot about the quality of our tournament and the quality of event that we put on.”
The Fresno City Amateur comprises 160 of the top players in Northern California, including international and out-of-state entrants. “Not only do they care about the points, but all of these players have lots of options of other tournaments to play in throughout the year,” said Pohll. “They go to compete against the best fields, and that last weekend in May when we have our event, there are several other tournaments to choose from — and they’re going to go where the biggest points are because the best players will be in those events. And now as our points max out, we start to grab more players from other events as we get bigger and bigger.”
Four-time PGA Tour winner, Notah Begay III, is a former winner of the Fresno City Amateur, and the NCGA Player-of-the-Year trophy cites a litany of golf notables. The Fresno City Four-Ball event has been held since 1997, and attracts 110 players in early December. It includes many of the logistical and other successful elements derived from the presentation of the Fresno City Amateur.
“I had played in a few of the USGA tournaments, and have travelled, playing in and seeing those big national events, the quality of the fields, and more importantly, the type of tournament that was being run, and that’s what kick-started this whole thing,” said Berry. “We wanted to create an atmosphere where guys step onto our property and feel that they’re at a big-time event, that they want to hold that trophy — and with both of these tournaments we’ve captured that atmosphere, it’s not a small event anymore, there’s really something in the air, there’s really something special about it.”
Part of the CourseCo stable of managed courses, Riverside, unlike most of the other maximum point venues, is a municipal facility — designed by the celebrated William P. (Billy) Bell in 1939. “The Fresno City Amateur is a great event for us to showcase the course, as many of those players would not otherwise come to Fresno to play a municipal course,” said Pohll. “So it’s a perfect blend of public access that anyone can come and play, and now they can play in one of the strongest, highest quality amateur tournaments in Northern California.” ###
Petaluma-based, CourseCo is a 23-year-old full-service golf management and development company that specializes in municipally-owned and environmentally sensitive golf properties. Now operating 22 public golf facilities that stretch from Southern California to Washington State, CourseCo was formed in 1989 by CEO, Tom Isaak. The company now manages more than 900 employees, and generates over $55 million in operating revenue. CourseCo operations have won numerous environmental and other golf industry awards, including the 2003 California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Sustainable Practices, and The First Tee Founders Award. Further informationCourseCo Inc, at www.courseco.com.
CONTACTS:
Tom Isaak, tbisaak@courseco.com
Petaluma,
(707) 763-0335