Syracuse-area golf fans bummed out that they can't spend a week's pay to see Tiger Woods at Atunyote on Aug. 24 should be glad to know that seeing the Futures Tour's Alliance Bank Classic at Drumlins East this weekend costs just $10 a day, $25 for all three days. Shameless plug, but hey, it's a great event, and the players are truly appreciative of the support..
Meanwhile, a small item out of Michigan might have big consequences around here.
There's a good chance the Buick Open in Grand Blanc this weekend might be the last one. Both the sponsor and the host course, Warwick Hills, are pulling out, ending the PGA Tour's longest partnership between an event and a sponsor.
This might leave a big void in the 2010 Tour schedule right in between the British Open and PGA Championship. Whatever Tour officials might be planning, may we offer a modest suggestion.
It's nice to have a PGA Tour event at Turning Stone. But in early October? After the Tour playoffs? That all but guarantees a field without any of the Tour's big stars. Not to mention that it's football season, and occasionally we get football weather in October in Central New York (note the hail and sleet last year).
Still, it's a great, well-run event on a course and a venue the players love. Move it to that possibly empty Buick Open spot, and suddenly you get better weather, better attendance and a lot more star power.
Here's hoping that Ray Halbritter and the folks at Turning Stone make a full-court press on a summer date. It would turn into the prime sporting event of the summer around here. Isn't that worth having?
