PGA Champions Tour in DR

(From www.dr1.com... just thought I'd let you know about this little piece of news. For your golf lovers, the event takes place about 3.5 hours from our house, but you'd be welcome to stay with us or whatever you'd like! Come, come!)

The Dominican Republic will be in the limelight of the world's golf community when the PGA Tour's Champions Tour 2008 takes place at Cap Cana in the east of the country next 31 March-6 April. Cap Cana's Board of Directors president Ricardo Hazoury and Champions Tour senior vice president Mike Stevens signed the agreement last week in the presence of Jack Nicklaus at Nicklaus Design headquarters in North Palm Beach, Fla.

The 54-hole stroke-play tournament will feature a 78-player field and official prize money of US$2 million, with the winner collecting US$300,000. Golf Channel will broadcast all three rounds in the United States and coverage of the event will be distributed internationally. "The Cap Cana will be a prestigious addition to our 2008 schedule," said Champions Tour president Rick George. "The pristine setting combined with the Jack Nicklaus design of the Punta Espada Golf Club and resources and amenities of the Cap Cana Resort will immediately establish The Cap Cana as a premier event on the Champions Tour."

Punta Espada Golf Club, the first of three Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses due to open in Cap Cana, is operated by Troon Golf and opened for play in November 2006. The par-72 course incorporates the surrounding natural beauty of Cap Cana, stretching along a coastline where golfers on each hole look out into the blue expanse of the Caribbean Sea. Just a few months after opening, Punta Espada debuted at No. 77 in Golf Digest's ranking of the 100 Best Courses Outside the U.S."