Star-studded field prepared to tee it up in Glen Allen  PGA TOUR staff  Paul Claxton is eighth on the Nationwide Tour money list. (WireImage)
The Nationwide Tour makes its yearly stop in Virginia this week where 156 players will compete in the 15th annual Henrico County Open at The Dominion Club in Glen Allen, just outside Richmond, in the only PGA TOUR-sanctioned event played in the state. Designed in 1992 by Virginia native Curtis Strange, who just last week was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame, The Dominion Club plays to a 7,201-yard par of 72. It will host the event for the sixth consecutive year and the 13th overall. Year-in and year-out, The Dominion course provides Nationwide Tour players with a challenging and fair test. Last year, The Dominion was the fourth toughest course on the Nationwide Tour, playing to an average of 73.428. It is home to six of last year's 50 toughest holes on Tour including the par-4 eighth hole which was the hardest of all 558 holes played last year. At 470 yards, No. 8 played to a 4.560 average. Matt Kuchar two-putted the third hole of a playoff for birdie last May to beat Paul Claxton. Kuchar gained entry into the playoff -- the fifth in tournament history -- after rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to tie Claxton at 9-under-par 279. Kuchar's victory was instrumental in helping the Georgia Tech graduate return to the PGA TOUR this year. Claxton, currently eighth on the money list, will be in good company as six of this year's seven Nationwide Tour winners are scheduled to be in the field. Thanks in large part to their victories, Nicholas Thompson, Omar Uresti, Scott Sterling, John Kimball, Miguel Carballo and last week's winner Martin Laird hold down the second through seventh spots, respectively, on the money list and have a considerable leg up on other Nationwide Tour players as Tour players seek to secure one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards for 2008 that are at stake during the year. Only Chitimacha Louisiana Open winner and leading money winner Skip Kendall is missing from the Henrico County Open field. Also in the field are four former U.S. Amateur champions David Gossett (1999), Bubba Dickerson (2001), Ricky Barnes (2002) and Nick Flanagan (2003) as are former University of Virginia students James Driscoll and Brian Quackenbush. Quackenbush, a non-exempt Nationwide Tour player, Monday-qualified last week in Valdosta and played his way into this week's field with a top-25 finish (T-14). Play begins Thursday and will be televised on GOLF CHANNEL all four days beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. |
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