Ginn Champion Tour Moving from the Conservatory to Ocean Hammock Golf Club

Champion Tour’s Ginn Championship is being relocated from the Tom Watson Conservatory course to the Jack Nicklaus Ocean Hammock Course

February 2 – There has been no official announcement but tournament volunteers for the March 26 – April 1 Ginn Tournament have been told that the event will be played at the Jack Nicklaus designed Ocean Hammock Golf Club rather than the Tom Watson designed Conservatory. Ginn recently acquired the Ocean Hammock course from Centex Destination Properties.The Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach is presented by Ginn Sports Entertainment LLC and sponsored by Ginn Resorts. It will be one of the richest events on the Champions Tour in 2007 at $2.5 million with the winner taking home $375,000. The event is scheduled one week before the Masters, and two weeks before the LPGA Ginn Resorts Open in Reunion, Fla. Ginn Resorts has a five year agreement with the Champions Tour.

The Conservatory development is a work in process. The golf course is completed and has gotten rave reviews from those who have played it. But the clubhouse is still under construction and there are only a few new homes currently being built. There is still a lot of dirt. Ocean Hammock, on the other hand, is a mature course, surrounded by the amenities of Ginn’s Hammock Beach Club the Ocean Hammock Lodge and the Atlantic Ocean. Logistically, it makes a lot of sense. The estimated number of tents required has dropped from 70 to 30. Parking will be provided at another Ginn project, Yacht Harbor Village, with busses transporting guests to the event.

Tour officials have inspected the site. The course will be closed to facilitate preparation for the tournament. Sources close to the tournament report that several greens are in poor condition. Since it is too late to over seed again with rye grass, workers will be covering the affected greens with tarps and applying heat to fool the Bermuda grass into thinking it is spring.