Pro-am kicks off tour event
A Pro-Am game kicked off the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series Cooper Communities Northwest Arkansas Classic, allowing locals to play on teams with upand-coming pro golfers on the Highlands Golf Course’s verdant — and narrow — holes.
Alex Sanford, head golf professional at the Highlands Golf Course, said the game had teams of four players, including three amateurs and one pro, played in a shamble format, meaning everyone on the team drives, then plays individually from the best drive their team managed.
Pros, he said, drove from the most difficult tee, while amateur players played from a easier tees.
“We’ve got a fantastic golf course for these guys to play,” he said.
Hagan Parkman, media manager with the APT series, explained that this is a developmental tour. The golfers playing in it, she said, are potential professionals who can make a name for themselves in this tour and, ideally, make it into the PGA tour. The APT series, she said, runs its tournaments the same way the PGA Tour does.
The Pro-Am, she said, was in part to help get exposure for sponsors, but also to raise money for charity. The $200-per-person entry fee, she said, goes to charity.
Bella Vista resident Billy Wilson said he’s been interested in playing a Pro-Am.
“It’ll be my first one,” he said. Wilson said he was hoping to learn a few things along the way.
His teammate, Bella Vista resident Jeff Bell, said that he golfs at the Highlands regularly, though this is his first time playing alongside Wilson.
“We’ve known each other for a whole hour and a half,” he said.
Ron Stratton, vice chairman of the POA board, showed up to play and enjoy the day, though despite lovely weather, he said, he wasn’t playing his best.
“Certainly not my A-game,” he said. “We’re kind of embarrassing ourselves with the pro.”
This game, he said, was the first time the course has seen a Pro-Am event with professionals.
One of these pros, Julio Vegas, is Venezuelan and drove from Texas to compete.
He was excited to play in the tournament, he said, and he liked what he saw of the Highlands course prior to playing — though it did look challenging, he said. The Pro-Am, he said, was a good chance to learn the course prior to the tournament.
“Today is kind of the practice,” he said. “We have some fun with these guys.”
He got some practice at the driving range before his 12:10 tee time, he said. Once the time came he went to the black tee for Hole 1 and squared up before sending his team’s first ball flying downrange with a loud “thwack.”
As soon as everyone knew where the ball landed, Vegas got in his golf cart, along with teammates Bill Hayford, Doug Moore and Paul Hively, and took off down the course without a moment to spare.