Published: May 16, 2008 01:21 am            

Wells Fargo Insurance hosts $1 million, hole-in-one shootout

BRIDGEPORT — Wells Fargo Insurance and the Nationwide Tour Players Cup have teamed up to offer an innovative promotion for the July 7-13 Players Cup tournament: a $1 million, hole-in-one shootout at one of the Pete Dye Golf Club’s challenging par 3 holes.

Contestants in the “Wells Fargo Players Cup Shootout” will be chosen every Friday for the next two months during “happy hour” — 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. — at the Outback restaurant in Bridgeport.

Eight people, one chosen each week, will be offered a chance to try for a hole-in-one at Pete Dye Golf Club’s No. 16, a challenging, 185-yard par 3. If any contestant sinks a hole-in-one, he or she will be $1 million richer.

The shootout will be held on Sunday, July 6, a day before official tournament activities begin. The time has not been set.

This year’s Nationwide Tour Players Cup offers its competitors a first-ever, $1 million purse, the largest in first tour history. So it is no accident that contestants in the Wells Fargo Shootout are trying for $1 million.

“This came about as we were trying to figure out a way to put a spotlight on the $1 million purse being offered at this year’s tournament. We wanted to do something to get people’s attention,” said Players Cup tournament director Tim McNeely. “We were fortunate that Wells Fargo stepped up to make this happen.

“We’re also fortunate that Outback and Callaway Golf are pitching in. Outback is has allowed us to host this event at the restaurant, and Callaway gives away a variety of prizes each week.”

The hole-in-one contestants are considered weekly winners, and all are given a Callaway Hyper X Driver. On Friday, May 9, Tim Meagher, of Bridgeport, became the first winner. Seven more will be chosen during the next seven weeks. They will play from the elevated tee of the No. 16 hole. The hole plays slightly downhill toward a green that is flanked on the right by a large bunker.

“It would be great for our tournament if someone would win. But it’s a challenge for golfers at any level,” McNeely said. “And it’s certainly a great way to kick off the Players Cup.”

The Nationwide Tour chose West Virginia and the Pete Dye Golf Club to host the $1 million Players Cup, the tour’s premier in-season event. All four days of professional competition — July 10-13 — will be televised live on the Golf Channel.

The Players Cup will feature a unique 144-player field based on the Nationwide Tour's money list. Nationwide Tour players will have the first 16 tournaments of the year to secure their position among the top 144 on the money list and a spot in the field. The winner is virtually assured of earning one of the 25 coveted PGA Tour cards for 2009 that will be awarded at season's end to the tour’s leading money winners.

McNeely said that he’s “extremely pleased at the participation we’ve gotten in this year’s Tickets Fore Charity, a new program introduced this year that is being utilized on Nationwide Tour events across the country.

“More than 60 charities have sold tickets for the tournament. And the exciting thing is that these charitable organizations receive 100 percent of the money raised from their ticket sales. I want to encourage charitable organizations around the state to take a good look at this opportunity. We’d love to have even more organizations involved.”

To receive more information on the program, contact Players Cup assistant tournament director Chase McClain at (304) 848-2027 or go to the tournament’s Web site (www.playerscup.net).

        

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