2007 Press Releases

 

 

Sally Marschner, Director of Member Relations

Snee Farm Country Club

1200 Club Drive, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

843.884.8571

sally.marschner@sneefarmcc.com

 

       

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 18, 2007

Rice Planters Amateur Championship Celebrates 35th Anniversary

 Mt. Pleasant, SC, ---The Rice Planters Amateur golf tournament will celebrate its 35th anniversary this July at Snee Farm Country Club.

 “We are proud of the quality of players who have been contenders at our course and added so much to the success of the tournament,” said Tournament Director, Bruce Fleming. “We have a strong field of players this year and look forward to another successful tournament.”

 History of Rice Planters Amateur

The Rice Planters Amateur Golf Tournament was created by Dick Horne, a local amateur golfer, in 1973. Thirty-five years later, this elite golf championship continues to attract prominent players from every corner of the globe. Tom Lehman, Davis Love III, Mark O’Meara, Stewart Cink, and others have all competed at the Rice Planters. Stewart Cink (1993) and Aaron Price (2004) hold the course record of 63 (-9); Aaron Price (2004) holds the tournament record of 271 (-17).

 Venue Information

Snee Farm Country Club features a 6,834 yard, 18 hole, par 72 George Cobb designed golf course set among Low Country lakes, streams, marsh and picturesque homes providing an enjoyable yet challenging round of golf. Snee Farm offers newly constructed grass tee driving range with measured targets, a short game practice area with a sand bunker, chipping green and putting green.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 2007

Rice Planters Tournament Continues to Support Charleston Community

 

Mt. Pleasant, SC, --- The Rice Planters Amateur is a top tier amateur golf event held annually at Snee Farm Country Club in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina in the first week of July.

 Throughout the years, an illustrious group of golfers have made the Rice Planters Amateur part of their rite of passage.  The Rice Planters Amateur Golf Tournament will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2007.

 The Rice Planters and Snee Farm Country Club supports local charities and schools with monetary donations raised by the tournament.  Through community outlets such as East Cooper Meals on Wheels, The Medical University of South Carolina, and the Wando High School golf team, this tournament has given back over $30,000 to the greater Charleston area since the year 2000.  

 In addition, Snee Farm has been credited as the home course for the local Wando High School golf team since 1973.  Beyond weekly practices at the course, the Wando Warriors host teams from all over the state at this challenging George Cobb golf course.

 For those organizations interested in receiving charity donations from tournament proceeds, a charity request form is available at the Rice Planters’ Official Website (www.sneefarmcc.com/RPA). 

 Submissions are due no later than February 1st, and decisions will be made by April 1st of each year.  A maximum amount of $2500 per request is available.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 24, 2007

Back Nine USA joins 2007 Rice Planters Amateur sponsorship efforts

 

Mt. Pleasant, SC, --- Emerging golf lifestyle company Back Nine USA becomes the newest sponsor for the Rice Planters Amateur Championship.

35 years after its inception by local amateur Dick Horne, the Rice Planters Amateur Golf Championship has earned a reputation as one of the finest tournaments of its kind and a capstone of American competition.  This event, held at Snee Farm Country Club in Mount Pleasant, SC prides itself on a rigorous recruitment process resulting in a competitive field of young golf talent from all over the world. 

 

In preparation for this year’s tournament, scheduled for July 3rd-July 7th, the Rice Planters’ committee has arranged a variety of sponsorship efforts and donations from the surrounding Charleston community.  Among a long list of consistent local sponsors, the Rice Planters Amateur is proud to announce the addition of Back Nine USA, a Boston-based golf headwear and apparel company that has graciously donated a selection of goods to the competitors in this year’s tournament field.

 

“We are excited to be able to be a part of such a terrific tournament. It’s important to us to be able to support amateur golfers and events like Rice Planters because we understand the love for the game and the high level of competition it offers,” said Back Nine USA president Andy Hydorn.

 

Company Information

About Back Nine USA

Fed up with hats that barely belonged in the back window of a car, let alone on your head, two friends conspired to make a hat that actually fit with a logo that worked as well on the first tee as it would at your local watering hole. They put their clever design and passion for golf to work as Back Nine USA. Today, Back Nine USA designs, manufactures, and sells over 25 products from headwear and apparel to accessories designed not only for the golf course but for everyday life as well. Back Nine USA also creates custom headwear and golf accessories for private label companies such as major golf manufacturers, non-profit organizations, and adult beverage companies. For more information or to purchase Back Nine products, please visit www.back9usa.com

 

For more information on the prestigious Rice Planter’s Amateur and their continuing sponsorship efforts, please visit http://www.sneefarmcc.com/rpa.

                                                                                   

 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 8, 2007

 

2007 Rice Planters announces qualified, global tournament field and includes several players in the Top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings

 

Mt. Pleasant, SC, --- Local amateur golf championship reveals a diverse list of established competitors for competition in July.

 

Rice Planters Amateur

35 years after its inception by local amateur Dick Horne, the Rice Planters Amateur Golf Championship has earned a reputation as one of the top annual competitions of amateur golf.  This event, held at Snee Farm Country Club in Mount Pleasant, SC, prides itself on a rigorous recruitment process resulting in a competitive field of young golf talent from all over the world. In preparation for this year’s tournament, scheduled for July 3rd-July 7th, 88 amateur golfers have been selected to compete at this top-tier Southeastern tournament.  A five spot qualifier on June 25, 2007, will complete the field.

 

Snee Farm Country Club was established in 1973 and sits within a beautiful Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.  Designed by noted Southeastern architect George Cobb, the course measures 6,836 yards from the Rice Planters tournament tees and plays to a par 72.  Small, well-bunkered greens demand accurate iron play.  The signature hole is the par three 11th which can play as much as 235 yards to a large green surrounded almost completely by marsh and fronted by a large bunker.  Snee Farm Country Club is a great test of golf for the participants of the 2007 Rice Planters Amateur.

 

Summary of projected tournament field

In addition to its impressive list of past competitors and eventual PGA professionals, the Rice Planters Amateur has announced another impressive list of 88 golfers that are sure to attract plenty of attention from the golf community.  175 tournament applications were received in 2007 from local, national, and international players.  Of those applying, 25 players used their exempt status to gain entry into the 2007 event.  The remaining 150 applicants vied for 63 spots.  Five individuals will play their way into the tournament by qualifying on June 25, 2007, at Snee Farm Country Club.

 

Locally, well-known players and former champions Tanner Ervin (2006) and Bert Atkinson (1997, 1998) will once again compete for the R.P. Horne Championship Trophy as will Austin Cody, College of Charleston Head Men’s Golf Coach Mark McEntire, and his assistant coach Tyler Duncan.  South Carolina will be well represented by the likes of Mark Anderson, Daniel Bowden, Jonathan Bowden, Baker Elmore, McCuen Elmore, Scott Glaze, Jeffrey Goff, Luke Hopkins, and Harrison Moore among others. Additionally, a selection of established collegiate talent has been added to the 2007 Rice Planters tournament field, including representatives from Duke, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Clemson, USC, and Wake Forest.

 

-more-

 

Among 24 total international competitors, the 2007 Rice Planters Amateur will display the likes of Rohan Blizard (2007 Australian Amateur Champion currently ranked #17 in the WAGR), Ren Han (a member of the 2006 Chinese National Amateur Team who competed this year in the PGA European Tour’s China Open), and Greg Doherty (15th in the Ontario Golf Association rankings).

 

A large contingent of players from Australia will compete in the 2007 Rice Planters.  Players include (WAGR ranking # in brackets if applicable) Jamie Arnold (#175), Scott Arnold, Ray Beaufils (#204), Rudi Bezuidenhout (#194), Rohan Blizard (#18), Jeremy Cross, Leigh Deagan (#159), Tim Dugdale, Michael Foster (#130), Richie Gallichan (#199), Matthew Griffin (#156), Craig Hasthorpe, Andrew Kelly, David Mckendrick, Michael Moore, Daniel Popovic, Tom Prowse, Michael Raseta, Justin Roach (#116), Daniel Robertson, Tim Stewart (#62), and Josh Younger (#138).

 

“The Tournament Players Committee worked diligently to produce the most competitive field possible for the 35th Rice Planters Amateur Championship.  Recruiting players and talking with golf coaches around the world began in February.  I am extremely pleased with the quality of the field, the prestigious events they have competed in prior to the Rice Planters, and the global make-up of our players” said Bruce Fleming, Tournament Director.  “Our number one goal in 2006 was to increase the prominence of our competitors; we achieved this last year and have done so again in 2007.”

 

Key Sponsors

The 2007 Rice Planters Amateur is proudly supported by a long list of corporate sponsors, including Hampton Inn, Back Nine USA, Piggly Wiggly, Forest and Hue Clothing, Athletic Golf, Sticky Fingers Rib House, Fitness Now and Barter Brokers International.

 

For more information on Charleston’s own Rice Planters Amateur Championship and a detailed list of the tournament field, please visit the official website at http://www.sneefarmcc.com/rpa

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Tournament Field List

2007 RICE PLANTERS AMATEUR FIELD

(As of June 5, 2007)

 

ALAFOGINIS, FRANK

GALLICHAN, RICHIE

PROWSE, TOM

ANDERSON, MARK

GLAZE, SCOTT

QUAGLIANO, MICHAEL

ARNOLD, JAMIE

GOFF, JEFFREY

RASETA, MICHAEL

ARNOLD, SCOTT

GRIFFIN, MATTHEW

ROACH, JUSTIN

ATKINSON, BERT

HAN, REN

ROBERTSON, DANIEL

BARSAMIAN, JARROD

HARE, JUSTIN

SHAFFER, DAVID

BEAUFILS, RAY

HASTHORPE, CRAIG

SIEFERT, ZACK

BEZUIDENHOUT, RUDY

HOMAN, WES

SILVERS, MARK

BLANN, JORDAN

HOPKINS, LUKE

TUTTLE, ALLEN

BLIZARD, ROHAN

HYDORN, ANDY

STEWART, TIM

BOWDEN, DANIEL

JEON, SONG

STONE, TODD

BOWDEN, JONATHAN

KELLY, ANDREW

THOMAS, WARREN

BROWN, CHAPPELL

KEMMER, DODGE

VON BORSIG, CONRAD

BURNS, DANIEL

KNIGHT, CAMERON

WADKINS, TRAVIS

CODY, AUSTIN

LEE, ERIC

WATKINS, PHILIP

COHAN, ADAM

LIPSMEYER, MARK

WILSON, RYAN

COHAN, JASON

LOVE, GORDON

YOUNGER, JOSH

COONEY, MATT

MARINO, SCOTT

 

CROSS, JEREMY

MCENTIRE, MARK

 

CUNNING, PATRICK

MCKENDRICK, DAVID

 

DEAGAN, LEIGH

MOORE, HARRISON

 

DOCHNIAK, BRIAN

MOORE, KYLE

 

DOHERTY, GREG

MOORE, MICHAEL

 

DRAGOO, DAVID

MORRIS, KYLE

 

DUGDALE, TIM

MORRISON, GARRETT

 

DUNCAN, TIM

MULLHAUPT, NICHOLAS

 

DUNCAN, TYLER

MURPHY, JOHN

 

EBERT, JOHN

MURRAY, TOM

 

ELMORE, BAKER

NEAL, TYLER

 

ELMORE, McCUEN

NEWMAN, CARTER

 

ERVIN, TANNER

NOONAN, BRIAN

 

FEINBERG, NICK

ONESI, ERIC

 

FERRELL, GARLAND

PERRY, DREW

 

FLEMING, BRUCE

PIUMELLI, CHRIS

 

FOSTER, MICHAEL

POPOVIC, DANIEL