The Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event of the Champions Tour, returns to the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale November 4-8 on the award-winning Cochise course.
Featuring the 30 top players on the Tour’s official money list at the conclusion of the season, the tournament is a limited-field event. In 2014, Bernhard Langer won the season-long Charles Schwab Cup, the second of his career, closing with a final-round 5-under 65. Tom Pernice Jr. took the championship over Jay Haas after a four-hole playoff with an up-and-down birdie at the par-5 18th.
“Once again, it’s great to be back at Desert Mountain,” said Gerald Goodman, executive director of the Charles Schwab Cub Championship. “This tournament is a celebration because every player has earned a spot in this field. When you play on a course that is as beautiful as Cochise and pair it with the club’s outstanding amenities, it makes the players feel they have accomplished something by playing in this event.”
The Cochise Course
Goodman pointed out that in 2012 and in 2014, the Cochise course conditions were considered the best on the Champions Tour by the players, adding that when one long-time rules official first saw the greens in 2012, he called the course “Augusta in the desert.”
Cochise, one of six Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf courses at Desert Mountain, plays at 7,019 yards and is considered by Nicklaus to be one of the most picturesque courses in the world. Featuring rock outcroppings surrounding the fairways, the award-winning course is known for its challenging par 3, 7th hole and par 5, 15th hole, which share a double green that sits on an island and is approached from two different directions. Built in 1988, Cochise was also the home of the Regions Tradition from 1988-2001, one of five major championships on the Champions Tour. Nicklaus won the tournament four times.
“We’re all about great golf so it’s fantastic to be back hosting the event for the third time,” said Desert Mountain Club COO and General Manager Robert Jones. “The national and international exposure the club, Scottsdale and the immediate areas of Carefree and Cave Creek received in 2014 from broadcasts of the tournament on the Golf Channel was incredible,” he explained. “Last year, we reached 225 million households which gave Desert Mountain an opportunity to showcase the club, the amenities and our outstanding location. It also provided a venue for many of our club members, who have a deep respect for and are great stewards of the game, to serve as volunteers during tournament week.” Aside from golf, Jones added that the event helps to raise funds for local charities which received more than $118,000 in 2014. “We hope to build on the success of last year’s event for Desert Mountain and Scottsdale this year and in 2016.”
Cochise will be played as a 6,929-yard, par 70 course. Desert Mountain Director of Agronomy Shawn Emerson said the course set-up will be a cross between the U.S. Open and the Masters with quick, firm greens and a Stimpmeter at 13-plus feet. “I think spectators will enjoy walking the course. The hillsides surrounding the fairways offer clear viewing that is close to the action and the ninth and 18th holes are perfect amphitheaters to watch the finish.”
Tickets can be purchased on schwabcup.com. Offsite parking is $10 each day of the tournament. Upgraded parking is available and can also be purchased online.
Spectators may also support local, non-profit organizations by purchasing event tickets through the TICKETS Fore CHARITY program which donates 100% of the net proceeds to their charity of choice. In addition, the Charles Schwab Cup Foundation provides $20,000 in bonus money to the top performing charities. To purchase tickets (good any day grounds tickets only), visit https://www.schwabcuptfc.com/buy-tickets/.
The tournament also offers complimentary tickets for active duty, reserve, military retirees, their dependents and non-retired veterans with a valid military ID along with a voucher at the event. To download tickets, visit https://birdiesforthebrave.sheerid.com/CharlesSchwabCup/ or email Kristi Lee Fowlks at [email protected]. There is a $1 verification fee per military individual order. The program, sponsored by the PGA Tour and Friends of the Military, will also offer the Patriots Outpost at the tournament where all military guests can watch the event and receive free refreshments Nov. 5-8.
For questions about the daily and weekly grounds tickets, upgraded hospitality tickets or sponsorship packages, contact the tournament office at 480-237-2100, Ext. 15.
About Desert Mountain
Desert Mountain is a private, golf and recreational community that is ranked among the 10 top private residential clubs in the United States. For more than two decades, Desert Mountain has offered its members one of the greatest private golf and lifestyle experiences in the world. Home to six award-winning Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf courses, Desert Mountain also provides diverse amenities that the entire family can enjoy in a stunning location in the northeast Valley. It is also the home of the Jim Flick Golf Performance Center, dedicated to one of the greatest instructors of all time and Desert Mountain’s PGA Director of Instruction from 1987-2005. The center features the most advanced technology in the industry today. Six architecturally-distinct clubhouses offer nine restaurants and grills. For those seeking a true wilderness experience, Desert Mountain offers horseback riding and luxury camping at The Ranch, located within a pristine natural preserve in the community. An award-winning 15-mile private hiking and biking trail system shares frontage with national forest land. For information, visit www.desertmountain.com.
About the Champions Tour
Collectively, the Champions Tour has the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game, with many of its 32 members in the World Golf Hall of Fame competing regularly in its events. The Tour also counts numerous other major championship winners among its members. The Champions Tour is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays. Points earned in official Charles Schwab Cup events in 2014 determined Bernhard Langer as the Charles Schwab Cup champion, the season-long competition designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s leading player. The Commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Greg McLaughlin is President of the Champions Tour. The PGA TOUR’s website is pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Follow the Champions Tour at facebook.com/ChampionsTour and on Twitter @ChampionsTour.
