WILMINGTON – While much of the sports world was focused on Sunday’s dramatic conclusion to the 81st Master’s Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, four golfers announced commitments to the upcoming Wells Fargo Championship.
Over the weekend, Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Alex Noren and Louis Oosthuizen added their names to the growing list of competitors scheduled to tee off May 1-7 at Eagle Point Golf Club.
Furyk, the 2006 Well Fargo Championship winner, is the current U.S. Ryder Cup captain and winner of 17 career titles.
Kisner, ranked No.37 in the world, is a South Carolina native and winner of the 2015 RSM Classic.
Noren, from Sweden, is a 7-time European Tour winner, including multiple wins last year and is ranked No.12 in the world.
South Africa’s Oosthuizen, currently ranked 30th in the world, won the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Players have until 5 p.m. eastern on Friday, April 28, to commit to the tournament. They can withdraw at any time. (Wells Fargo Player Commitment List)
First Tee of Greater Wilmington nearing completion
On Tuesday, Wilmington City Council members got a glimpse of the First Tee facility nearing completion at the city Municipal Golf Course. The First Tee of Greater Wilmington will open May 2 and will served as the primary charitable beneficiary of the Wells Fargo Championship Golf Tournament.
Along with the short three-hole course and practice green, The First Tee is adding a new chipping green by the first hole, new tees at the ninth hole and new sod in the ninth hole fairway.
The First Tee is a nationwide nonprofit that provides educational programs for local youth through the game of golf.
The local First Tee is a public/private partnership, with the city providing land and the program’s board raising more than $1 million for the facility located along the ninth fairway of the city’s Donald Ross designed public golf course.
“This is what a true public/partnership looks like,” Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said. “It’s good for our community and especially good for our kids.”
The organization plans to serve 25,000 children in the three-county area by 2019.
“Over time, The First Tee program will develop good golfers and good citizens that will be a terrific legacy for our community,” said Gordon Dalgleish, Local First Tee chairman.
