Regions Tradition
The Regions Tradition (or The Tradition) is a major tournament on the PGA Tour Champions circuit of professional golf. It was played at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Shelby County from 2011 to 2015, and since then at the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
The tournament was inaugurated by resort developer Lyle Anderson as The Tradition at Desert Mountain at the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1989, and later was renamed the Countrywide Tradition. After a year at the Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona it moved to Oregon as the Jeld-Wen Tradition in 2003, first to The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club in Aloha, west of Portland, and then, in 2007, to the Crosswater Golf Club in Sun River.
Regions Bank took over title sponsorship after the 2010 tournament concluded. For Birmingham, the tournament superseded the Regions Charity Classic (originally the "Bruno's Memorial Classic") held at Greystone from 1992 to 2006, and at the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa until 2010.
The Tradition is an unofficial counterpart to the Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The "Lyle Anderson Trophy", designed by Anderson and Jack Nicklaus, is styled similarly to the "claret jug" presented to winners of the Open Championship ("the British Open"). Unlike the other majors for seniors golfers (the U.S. Senior Open, the Senior PGA Championship, and the Senior British Open), the Tradition is not recognized by the Legends Tour (European Senior Tour) and does not provide an automatic exemption onto the regular tour for its champion.
Since 2019 the course has included a "White Claw Watering Hole" with food, drink, cigar, IV therapy, and merchandise tents lining the fairway of the 10th hole, a par 3.
Shoal Creek
2011 tournament
The re-branded tournament, held on May 2-8, was the first of five major tournaments on the 2011 tour. Condoleezza Rice, a Shoal Creek member, was the honorary chair and hit the first ball off the tee.
Tom Lehman defeated Peter Senior in a two-hole playoff for a 13-under 275 and the tournament win. Mark Calcavecchia had led going into the final day, but came in with a 75 and fell into a tie for fifth place.
2012 tournament
Tom Lehmen repeated as champion in the 2012 tournament, held June 6-10. He finished 15 under par, holding off late challenges from Bernhard Langer, Chien Soon Lu and Fred Couples.
2013 tournament
David Frost of South Africa finished at four under, one stroke ahead of Fred Couples, to win a rain-soaked tournament held from June 6-9, 2013.
2014 tournament
Kenny Perry finished with a one-stroke margin over Mark Calcavecchia in the 2014 Tradition, which was held on May 14-18.
2015 tournament
Kevin Sutherland two-putted for bogey on the first hole of a sudden death playoff against Jeff Maggert, giving him his first Champions Tour major title.
The 2015 event, held on May 13-17, was the last to be held at Shoal Creek before the tournament moved to the Greystone Golf and Country Club.
Greystone
2016 tournament
The 2016 tournament was the first held on the renovated Founders Course at Greystone. Bernhard Langer won the 2016 Tradition going away to finish 17-under par, with a six-shot lead over Olin Browne. Crowd favorite John Daly finished at 5-under, but closed his final round with an eagle at the 18th hole.
2017 tournament
Bernhard Langer won his second consecutive Tradition, finishing at 268 (20 under par).
2018 tournament
Miguel Ángel Jiménez won the 2018 tournament by 3 strokes.
2019 tournament
Steve Stricker won the 2019 event with a 6-stroke lead over Billy Andrade, Paul Goydos, David Toms.
2020 tournament
The 2020 tournament was postponed to September 23-27, and later canceled altogether, due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
2021 tournament
The 2021 Tradition was held on May 5–9. Alex Čejka won the tournament, defeating Steve Stricker in a playoff.
2022 tournament
The 2022 Tradition was held on May 12–15. Steve Stricker played to 15-under to run away from the pack.
2023 tournament
The 2022 Tradition was held on May 11–14. Steve Stricker repeated as champion with a weekend score of 23-under.
2024 tournament
The 2024 Tradition took place from May 9–12. Doug Barron's score of 17-under gave him a two-stroke advantage over runner-up Steven Alker. Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker and Ernie Els rounded out the top 5, each at 14-under par.
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 23, 2010) "Shoal Creek gets major PGA Champions Tour golf event that will replace Regions Charity Classic." The Birmingham News
- "Condoleeza [sic] Rice accepts chairperson invite for Regions Tradition" (March 22, 2011) myFoxAL.com
- Zenor, John (May 8, 2011) "Lehman tops Senior in Regions Tradition." Associated Press
- Irvine, Steve (June 11, 2012) "Swingin' in the rain; Lehman overcomes his dislike of playing in the rain to win his second straight Regions Tradition." The Birmingham News
- Cohen, Matt (May 12, 2024) "Why does the Regions Tradition trophy look just like the Claret Jug?" AL.com
- Cohen, Matt (May 12, 2024) "Doug Barron wins Regions Tradition, headlining a career renaissance." AL.com
- Cohen, Matt (May 13, 2024) "The Regions Tradition wants to emulate the Phoenix Open. Is that a good thing?." AL.com
External links
- Regions Tradition website