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Photos courtesy of Bruno Event Team.
Bernhard Langer chips out of a sand bunker at the 2019 Regions Tradition golf tournament at the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
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People gather for a concert at the 2019 Regions Tradition golf tournament at the Greystone Golf and Country Club. The annual golf event returns after a year off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Regions Tradition golf tournament is coming back to Greystone Golf and Country Club on May 5-9 after missing a year due to COVID-19.
“We are ecstatic,” said Gene Hallman, president and CEO of the Bruno Event Team, which organizes the event for the PGA Tour Champions. “The entire staff is back in their element and doing what they do — working hard on providing a first-class tournament.”
But things will be different this year, as organizers strive to maintain a healthy environment for attendees.
The biggest change people might notice is the absence of skyboxes and tents at holes where they normally are present, Hallman said. “You don’t want people in close quarters.”
Even though it’s an outdoor event, attendees will be directed to wear masks and practice social distancing from others, he said. Also, the PGA Tour, in conjunction with advice from public health officials, will limit the size of crowds allowed into the tournament each day, he said.
However, “it still will be a nice event — not sparse,” Hallman said.
The PGA Tour will wait until closer to the tournament to decide what the crowd size will be, he said.
Each player and celebrity pro-am participant will be tested upon arrival, and players will be kept in “bubbles” to limit contact with spectators, with no autographs allowed this year, Hallman said. All transactions for tickets, concessions and merchandise will be cashless; only credit and debit cards will be accepted.
Also, there will be hand sanitizer stations spread throughout the golf tournament grounds.
The 2020 Regions Tradition, one of five major PGA Tour Champions tournaments each year, was originally scheduled for last May, then postponed until September and ultimately canceled altogether due to health concerns. However, more than $750,000 was still donated to charities thanks to donations from Regions Bank, the title sponsor, and other community partners, Hallman said.
Regions carefully weighed the decision on whether to move ahead with the tournament this year and decided that, with health conditions improving, the charities standing to benefit and the economic boost given to businesses in the area were important enough to proceed, he said. Restaurants, hotels and rental car agencies all will get a big boost with this event, he said.
“The fact that it’s an outdoor event certainly helps, and if we can have an event that is safe for all in the community, then why not do it?” Hallman said.
Organizers expect total donations to charity from the tournament to exceed $1 million this year, he said. Over the past 29 years, the Regions Tradition has generated more than $19 million for local charities, with Children’s of Alabama serving as the primary beneficiary.
The celebrity pro-am is scheduled for Wednesday, May 5, with confirmed celebrities including Alabama football coach Nick Saban, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, UAB basketball coach Andy Kennedy, UAB Athletic Director Mark Ingram, Samford Athletic Director Martin Newton, former Auburn, NFL and Major League Baseball player Bo Jackson, singer Taylor Hicks and Widespread Panic lead singer John Bell.
The tournament itself will include four days of golf (Thursday-Sunday) and feature 81 professional golfers age 50 and older, including 2019 Regions Tradition champion Steve Stricker, John Daly, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen, Tom Lehman, David Toms, Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Rocco Mediate, Jim Furyk and Mark O’Meara.
“It’s about as strong a field as we’ve had in a long time,” Hallman said.
The total purse is $2.4 million, and the winner will get $360,000.
There will be no juniors golf clinic or private pairings party this year, and the “watering hole” party area at Hole No. 10 will be scaled back but will take place in an open-air environment, Hallman said. Organizers also hope to have a nationally known country act perform a concert at the 10th hole Saturday night.
The tournament will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel all four days. Tickets are $25 for daily entry, and children ages 18 and under get in free with a ticketed adult. There also is a $70 package available for those who wish to serve as a volunteer at the event that includes a credential good for the entire week, five good-any-day grounds tickets, a round of golf, meals while working, a tournament Polo shirt and ball cap or visor.
Public parking is available at 500 Corporate Parkway in the Meadow Brook Corporate Park Wednesday through Friday and at Moultrie Feeders at 2600 Corporate Drive Saturday and Sunday. Shuttles will take attendees to the tournament. There also is a rideshare lot at Greystone Golf and Country Club and VIP parking at The Church at Brook Hills Monday-Saturday and at 500 Corporate Parkway in Meadow Brook Corporate Park on Sunday.
