Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship Set To Kick Off This Friday With Stellar Field Of PGA TOUR Champions Stars
World Golf Hall Of Fame Member And Two-Time Masters Champion Bernhard Langer Highlights A Stellar Field Of PGA TOUR Champions Players Coming To Victoria's Bear Mountain This Week
Tickets available for PGA TOUR Champions Tournament hosted at Bear Mountain Golf Resort
VICTORIA, B.C. (September 20, 2016) – The 2016 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship will get underway this Friday morning at Bear Mountain Golf Resort’s Mountain Course, with 81 of the top players on PGA TOUR Champions competing for one of the year’s top purses of US$2.5 million.
Headlining one of the strongest fields of the 2016 PGA TOUR Champions season are World Golf Hall of Fame members Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara and Tom Kite.
Langer, who currently leads the Charles Schwab Cup standings with $2,432.659 in 2016 earnings, has put forth one of the strongest seasons in Tour history at the age of 59, with four wins – including major championship victories at the Regions Tradition and Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship earlier this year.
The two-time Masters Tournament champion owns 29 career titles on PGA TOUR Champions, which puts him tied for second on the all-time victories list with Lee Trevino, trailing only Hale Irwin, who has 45 career wins.
Singh won 34 times during a stellar career on the PGA TOUR, including major championship titles at the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship, as well as the 2000 Masters Tournament.
The 53-year-old native of Fiji ranks 14th on the PGA TOUR’s all-time victories list, and recorded a staggering 31 of his 34 wins during what is commonly referred to as the “Tiger Woods era.” Singh was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.
Montgomerie, 53, has notched three victories on PGA TOUR Champions, including the 2014 and 2015 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, as well as the 2014 U.S. Senior Open – all of which are senior major championships.
The Scotland native won the European Tour’s Order of Merit a record eight times during a standout career which gave way to Hall of Fame honors in 2013. Montgomerie drew the ire of American golf fans through the years, posting a 20-7-1 record in the biennial Ryder Cup without losing a singles match.
An event qualifier was held on Tuesday September 20th at Bear Mountain and Delta's Murray Poje was one of five players to earn a spot in the field for the championship. CLICK HERE for scoring.
Other notable players in the field include former Masters Tournament champions Craig Stadler (1983), Larry Mize (1987) and Ian Woosnam (1991), as well as former Open Championship winners Mark Calcavecchia (1989) and Todd Hamilton (2005).
Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen and 1987 U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson will tee it up on Friday, as will former PGA Championship winner Jeff Sluman (1988).
The inaugural Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs are set to get underway at the end of October, which makes the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship a crucial stop on the 2016 calendar as one of the final three events in the Tour’s Regular Season. The top 72 players will qualify for the Playoffs.
The Charles Schwab Cup standings during the Regular Season are based on earnings, in turn making the US$375,000 winner’s share this week an attractive target for players looking to win the prestigious season-long race. Only three events in the Tour’s 26-tournament schedule have larger purses than the US$2.5 million offered this week, with all three being major championships.
The field at the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship will consist of 52 former PGA TOUR winners, and 11 players who have won on PGA TOUR Champions this year alone.
Tournament week in Victoria will begin with Official Pro-Ams on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by 54 holes of championship play from Friday through Sunday, with no cut. All three competitive rounds will be broadcast live by Golf Channel to more than 200 million homes in 84 countries and 11 languages around the world.
Tickets are available for both pro-am rounds and tournament rounds, and are offered in a variety of packages, including the popular Champions Club.
The Champions Club offers golf fans a retreat from the crowds and the elements before, during and after the golf action. Located on the terrace of the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa and overlooking the 18th green, the Champions Club has a sports lounge feel complete with plasma televisions, live scoring monitors, bar service and plenty of comfortable seating. The Champions Club features a fantastic menu of entrées and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase.
Tickets can be purchased at www.selectyourtickets.com or by clicking HERE.
Fans can choose from the following ticket options:
- Weekly Pass – Wednesday through Sunday: $99 (includes parking / Official Program)
- Daily Pass – Friday, Saturday or Sunday: $40
- Pro-Am Daily Pass – Wednesday or Thursday: $25
- Champions Club VIP Pass – Friday through Sunday: $200
Starting Wednesday, September 21, passes can be purchased on-site in the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship – Spectator Village at Bear Mountain Golf Resort.
General parking for the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship will be located at the Western Speedway - Millstream Road entrance (at the bottom of the hill before entering Bear Mountain). Parking will be available from Wednesday, September 21 to Sunday, September 25 for $10/day.
About Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship
The Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship is an official event on PGA Champions TOUR featuring the world's premier golfers aged 50 and older competing for a US$ 2.5 million purse. Tournament play at the Pacific Links Championship will be held on the Jack and Steve Nicklaus Co-Design Mountain Course at Bear Mountain Golf Resort, Victoria, British Columbia, from September 19-25, 2016. All three competitive rounds will be broadcast live by Golf Channel to more than 200 million homes in 84 countries and 11 languages around the world. For more information on the Pacific Links Championship or PGA TOUR Champions, please visit www.PGATOUR.com/Champions
Website: PacificLinksChampionship.com
Twitter: @PacificLinksVIC
Instagram: @pacificlinksvic
About Pacific Links International
Pacific Links was founded in 2009 to provide members with a premium golf experience through an innovative international membership structure focused on the Chinese golfer. Pacific Links offers them access to the finest collection of high quality golf clubs in the world. Since 2012, the Pacific Links Network of Affiliated and Reciprocal clubs now stands at over 500 properties located in 20+ countries around the world. With a strong membership base continuing to grow in China, the planned expansion into other parts of Asia and the aggregated population of members from all the participating clubs, Pacific Links is now expanding the brand platform to encompass more than just golf. We are positioning Pacific Links International to be the preeminent Lifestyle portal for China’s HNW customer providing high demand travel itineraries inspired by golf but encompassing concierge services, flights, accommodations, local tourism experience and travel butler assistance. The main feature of a Pacific Links membership is reciprocal access. In the next 10-15 years, PLI will further expand its international affiliate network to over 1,000 clubs in North America, Europe, Australia, Japan and the entire Southeast Asia. www.pacificlinks.com
About Bear Mountain Golf Resort
Located on southern Vancouver Island - a region known for its year round golf climate, stellar fishing opportunities and strong local food movement - Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa offers two outstanding courses that combined represent the only 36-hole Nicklaus Design golf experience in Canada. The Mountain Course, a Jack and Steve Nicklaus Co-Design, features impressive landscape and dramatic terrain that lead to breathtaking 180 degree views of nearby Victoria, the Pacific Ocean and the Olympic Mountains of Washington State. The course, a par 71 playing at 6,925 yards, sets atop a 1,100-foot mountain and has been assigned a slope rating of 142 from the back tees. The 18-hole, par 71 Nicklaus Design Valley Course, a spectacular golf setting that is nestled in a pristine natural 102 acres of mature forests, measures just under 7,000 yards. Surrounded by 3,000 acres of parks and hiking trails, Bear Mountain is one of the few golf courses in North America that offers an authentic natural setting so close to a capital city. More than a resort and an incredible community, Bear Mountain is also home to Golf Canada's National Development team, the high performance training centre of Canada’s National Mountain Bike team, and construction recently commenced on Canada’s largest indoor/outdoor clay court tennis facility supported by Tennis Canada and Tennis BC. The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa rounds out the amenities offering guests a luxurious getaway with outstanding fine dining options, the award-winning Sante Spa, and the Bear Mountain Golf Academy. www.bearmountain.ca
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of golfers age 50 and older, with the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game - including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, which compete regularly in its events. PGA TOUR Champions is where Legends play, and is home to The Ultimate Clubhouse. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The primary purpose of PGA TOUR Champions is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays. In 2016, the newly-introduced Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs will identify and recognize the Tour’s leading player via a season-long race for the Charles Schwab Cup. The Commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Greg McLaughlin is President of PGA TOUR Champions. The PGA TOUR’s website is pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Follow PGA TOUR Champions at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions and on Twitter @ChampionsTour
About Help Fill a Dream – (official charity)
Help Fill a Dream provides hope, help and happiness for Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands children with life-threatening conditions. The foundation fulfills dreams, improves quality of life and assists families with care and financial support. Help Fill A Dream is proud to be celebrating 30 years of making Dreams come true. www.helpfilladream.com
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
McKenzie Clarke
Senior Manager
Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship
647-468-3500
mclarke@sportboxgroup.com