Constellation Senior PLAYERS Championship Returns To Fox Chapel
Jul 14, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; Kenny Perry raises the championship trophy after winning the 2013 U.S. Senior Open at the Omaha Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Champions Tour will welcome golfers back to Fox Chapel Country Club for the third and perhaps final time as the Constellation Senior PLAYERS Championship returns to Fox Chapel Golf Club.
With the US Open to be played at Oakmont Country Club in 2016, the event will be moved from Fox Chapel to Belmont Country Club just outside of Boston.
“It’s certainly a letdown,” Jason Hurwitz, Fox Chapel course superintendent said to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’ll be bittersweet letting it go, but we would love to have it back. It’s been an exciting run.”
In the previous two years many of the players told the media that they enjoyed the course and hope that the tournament will return to the area in the future.
Last year’s event starred Kenny Perry who won his first ever major besting Fred Couples and the rest of the field. It would lead to a string of three consecutive majors won as well as the Charles Schwab Cup.
“For me personally, it was finally a dream come true,” Perry said. “To have major championships at your fingertips and to lose them and to now finally have a major title attached to your name, it’s been pretty special for me. The 2013 summer was incredible.”
The event did have a second major player which was mother nature. Because of the rain, not only was play suspended, but the course played much shorter. After Perry tapped in for his par on the final hole of the tournament, a horn blew signifying that bad weather was once again on its way Had Perry missed the putt, he may have had to wait another day just to finish off his win.
“It was so soft last year, so the course probably played 500 yards shorter,” said Alexander Childs Fox Chapel Golf Club They could get their shots so close to the holes because they knew the ball would hold, and that will be the main difference.”
Childs believes that should the weather hold off, the course will play quicker with the fairways more firm.
This year, the tournament is putting an emphasis on military members. Not only will they get complimentary access for the entirety of the event, but military members will serve as pin attendants on the 17th hole and participate in an appreciation ceremony June 28.
“The Constellation Senior Players is committed to honoring our nation’s military, which is why there are more appreciation initiatives than ever this year,” said Joe Rotellini, executive director of the tournament. “Our biggest priority is giving back to the community, which includes thanking and celebrating our local military in any way we can.”