The future of pro golf in Phoenix

October 28, 6:10 AMPhoenix Golf ExaminerDavid Marrandette

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Pro golf grows the game

Eye On Golf

Now that the Frys.com Open has departed the Valley of the Sun, the question on the minds of Phoenix golf fans is what professional golf tournaments will be played in the Valley of the Sun in 2010? (Yes, we here at Eye On Golf receive many calls concerning this urgent question.)

For the past several years Phoenix has been blessed with three, top-level professional golf events every year – two PGA Tour tournaments and one LPGA tournament. Now it appears that the area may be down to one professional event for 2010 – the spring edition of the PGA Tour – the FBR Open.

The Frys.com event just completed at Grayhawk Golf Club is scheduled to head to the west of Arizona landing somewhere in California for 2010. It will be miracle equal to the magnitude of the Second Coming if the LPGA returns to Phoenix in 2010. That leaves the FBR and this simple equation: three minus two equals one. One top notch, professional golf tournament will be played in Phoenix next year.

It is rather curious that a city like Phoenix, one of the most famous and travel-to destinations for golf in the United States, is experiencing such a difficult challenge.

So wherein lies the problem? It is certainly not for the lack of facilities. Get out your Google map and your magnifying glass and you will see that within a sixty miles radius of the city are at least one hundred courses that could host a professinal golf event. Heck, the LPGA, J Golf, Mirassou and the Tournament Golf Foundation (TGF) put together a miracle this year to get the ladies back to Phoenix in 2009, playing at Papago, a municipal course that had virtually no facilities. And, despite modest attendance, the tournament was a success.

Unfortunately, the Arizona Golf Foundation, a non-profit arm of the Arizona Golf Association, wants to dump Papago. That would probably mean the LPGA must look for a new home in the Phoenix area once again, a new home along with a new sponsor.

I know we get on this bandwagon and ride it through Phoenix about once a month, however, those of us who love golf just don't want this aspect of golf in Phoenix go away.