The Tradition Explained

The Tradition
Location:Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Establishment:1989
Course:Greystone Golf and Country Club
(Founders Course)
Par:72
Yardage:[1]
Tour:PGA Tour Champions
Format:Stroke play
Month Played:May
Aggregate:265 Doug Tewell (2001)
265 Steve Stricker (2023)
To-Par:−23 as above
Current Champion: Doug Barron
Map:USA#USA Alabama
Map Label:Greystone G&CC
Map Relief:yes
Map Size:200
Coordinates:33.4294°N -86.6508°W

The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Open, Senior PGA Championship and Senior Open Championship, it is not recognized as a major by the European Senior Tour, and is not part of that tour's official schedule. It is the only senior major where the winner does not earn an exemption into a PGA Tour or European Tour event.

Locations

Arizona

From its inception in 1989 through 2001, the tournament was held in Arizona at the Cochise Golf Course of the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale. In 2002, it was held at the Prospector Course of Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club near Gold Canyon.[2] While in Arizona, the event was played in early April.

Oregon

In 2003, the event relocated to northwest Oregon for four years at the South Course of The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Hillsboro, Oregon, just west of Portland. Following the 2006 edition, it moved to the high desert of central Oregon for four years, to the Crosswater Club in Sunriver, south of Bend. The lengthy course sits on 600acres of woodlands and preserved wetlands along the Deschutes River, at an average elevation of 4170feet above sea level. The par-72 layout played at in 2009. During the eight years in Oregon, the event was held in mid- to late August.

Alabama

Following the 2010 event, Birmingham, Alabama–based Regions Financial Corporation announced in August that it was taking over sponsorship of the tournament. For five years, the event was played at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in the Shoal Creek development, southeast of Birmingham. [3] The Tradition superseded the Regions Charity Classic, a regular Champions Tour event which began in 1992 as the Bruno's Memorial Classic.[4] Shoal Creek previously hosted two PGA Championships, in 1984 and 1990.

Since moving to Alabama in 2011, the event has been played in May and June. It moved from Shoal Creek to the nearby Greystone Golf and Country Club in 2016, and is held on the recently renovated Founders Course.

Winners

Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
Venue
Regions Tradition
271 −17 2 strokes 375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
Steve Stricker (3) 265 −23 6 strokes 375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
Steve Stricker (2) 267 −21 6 strokes 375,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
270 −18 Playoff 375,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
270 −18 6 strokes 360,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
269 −19 3 strokes 360,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
Bernhard Langer (2) 268 −20 5 strokes 345,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
271 −17 6 strokes 345,000Greystone
(Founders Course)
274 −14 Playoff 345,000Shoal Creek
281 −7 1 stroke 330,000Shoal Creek
272 −16 1 stroke 335,000Shoal Creek
Tom Lehman (2) 274 −14 2 strokes 335,000Shoal Creek
275 −13 Playoff 330,000Shoal Creek
JELD-WEN Tradition
Fred Funk (2) 276 −12 1 stroke 392,000
272 −16 Playoff 392,000
269 −19 3 strokes 392,000
272 −16 5 strokes 390,000
275 −13 Playoff 375,000The Reserve
(South Course)
273 −15 Playoff 375,000The Reserve
(South Course)
275 −13 1 stroke 345,000The Reserve
(South Course)
273 −15 1 stroke 330,000The Reserve
(South Course)
The Countrywide Tradition
277 −11 Playoff 300,000Superstition Mountain
(Prospector Course)
265 −23 9 strokes 255,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
280 −8 Playoff 240,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
The Tradition
136 −8 3 strokes 225,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
Gil Morgan (2) 276 −12 2 strokes 210,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
266 −22 6 strokes 180,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
Jack Nicklaus (4) 272 −16 3 strokes 150,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
Jack Nicklaus (3) 276 −12 Playoff 150,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
271 −17 Playoff 127,500Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
269 −19 1 stroke 127,500Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
274 −14 1 stroke 120,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
Jack Nicklaus (2) 277 −11 1 stroke 120,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
206 −10 4 strokes 120,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
275 −13 1 stroke 90,000Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)

Multiple winners

Through 2023, five men have multiple wins in the Tradition:

1990, 1991, 1995, 1996

2019, 2022, 2023

1997, 1998

2008, 2010

2011, 2012

2016, 2017

External links

33.4294°N -86.6508°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Course map . Regions Tradition . 2016 . May 22, 2016.
  2. http://www.nicklaus.com/nicklaus_news/news101801.php The Countrywide Tradition moves to a new home
  3. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/05/how_the_regions_tradition_came.html al.com
  4. http://www.pgatour.com/2010/tournaments/s558/08/23/traditions/index.html Shoal Creek will host Regions Tradition in 2011