Web.com Tour: The Proving Ground for Golf’s Next Wave
The legendary Ben Hogan won 62 tournaments on the PGA TOUR (including all four majors), but Hogan himself never ranked any of those victories as his most notable achievement. “My greatest accomplishment was being able to make a living playing golf after going broke twice starting out,” he once said, showcasing just how difficult it used to be for golf ’s great young talents to prove their ability. Hogan’s struggle to find his way onto the professional tour is something that modern players don’t have to face, thanks in large part to a developmental tour Hogan helped to promote. Now, the Web.com Tour (formerly known as the Ben Hogan Tour) is celebrating its 30th season.
Growing the Sport
The Web.com Tour has certainly evolved since its start. “When you think back to 30 years ago, the state of golf isn’t where it is today with so many young players and athletes on the golf course,” says Web.com Tour President Alex Baldwin. “The Ben Hogan Tour was created as a development tour to prepare, identify, and transition the next generation of PGA TOUR stars.” In these regards, the tour has been an unequivocal success. Three out of four 2018-2019 PGA TOUR members have Web.com Tour roots, and former Web.com Tour players have racked up more than 500 PGA TOUR titles, 23 major winners, and eight PLAYERS Championships.
As the breadth and depth of talent has grown in golf, so has the Web.com Tour as a proving ground for up-and-coming players. The PGA TOUR has increasingly awarded more and more TOUR cards through the Web.com Tour, and in 2012, made the decision that all PGA TOUR cards would come through the Web.com Tour. The decision was made, in part, because of the success that Web.com Tour graduates were having on the PGA TOUR. “We found that the players who spent a season (or multiple) on the Web.com Tour had both more immediate and more consistent success,” explains Alex. “And they were able to keep their PGA TOUR card in following seasons.”
A Place to Learn
By the time players earn their way onto the Web.com Tour, they are already some of the world’s best golfers. “Just looking at recent graduates, we have a guy like Cameron Champ who hits the ball so far and has already won on the PGA TOUR,” notes Alex. “If you go back just a few more years, you have players like Tony Finau and Justin Thomas, who are doing incredible things on the golf course.” What the Web.com Tour provides these amazing athletes is the ability to have a PGA TOUR experience, including the travel and trials of being a pro, so golfers are ready when they ultimately earn their TOUR card. “When you’re in college, you can only play so much golf, and it takes time to find the right balance between a training regimen and playing golf all year long,” notes Alex. “They also learn to balance everything else that comes with being a pro—the junior clinics, the interviews, fundraisers, and media attention.”
More of Golf’s Best
So much young talent is, of course, good for the Web.com Tour—but it’s even better for the fans who want to see the game’s greatest players. After all, there are only 46 events on the 2018-2019 PGA TOUR schedule. And as Alex notes, “there are more golf athletes than there are starts on the PGA TOUR, so the Web.com Tour has really become a PGA TOUR platform that reaches additional markets.” The 2019 season is shaping up to be an extraordinarily competitive one. “This year’s Web.com Tour rookie class includes exceptional talents like Doug Ghim, who was the low amateur at the 2018 Masters, Norman Xiong, who won the Haskins Award (the player of the year in men’s college golf ), and the 2017 NCAA Champion Braden Thornberry,” says Alex. “The talent level is just incredible, and we’re excited about what’s going to happen.”
New in 2019
In addition to an exciting new group of players, the Web.com Tour has some special changes in store for 2019. “We are transitioning to a points-based system—similar to the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup—so every win counts for the same amount of points, regardless of purse size,” explains Alex. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top 75 players in Web.com Tour points will be eligible to play in the Web.com Tour Finals, culminating in the Tour Championship that will be held at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana.
“We’re always focused on recreating a PGA TOUR-like experience,” says Alex. “And with this being our season-ending event, Victoria National is really the ultimate test for these guys.” Victoria National, which has hosted the Web.com Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance since 2012, is a formidable course that routinely plays as one of the most difficult on the Tour.
“If a player can perform well at Victoria National, that’s a strong indicator that they’ll be able to play any PGA TOUR golf course and be prepared for the challenges ahead.”
– Alex Baldwin, Web.com Tour President
With Victoria National’s recent change in ownership, the Dormie Network club and Evansville community has become the long-term home for the final event. “We’re excited to end the season at a Dormie Network property with United Leasing & Finance as our sponsor on a 10-year deal,” says Alex.
Chase Wright, a rookie on the PGA TOUR and Indiana native expects the difficult course will make for high drama: “It’s visually intimidating and a lot can happen, especially when you have the pressure of a PGA TOUR card on the line.”
The Web.com Tour also turned to a second Dormie Network course to fill another open date on with the Dormie Network Classic at Briggs Ranch Golf Club. “We looked at the fact that Briggs Ranch is a Fazio design, almost 7,300 yards, and that it’s ranked #11 in the state of Texas—so everything we need from a player standpoint,” says Alex. “We also understand what Dormie Network stands for, as it relates to the golf courses that are part of the network and the preparation that goes into making sure the facilities are first-class. These facilities check all the boxes in terms of the caliber of golf course we’re interested in for the Web.com Tour.”
Being the Change
When it comes to charity, the Web.com Tour follows the same model as the PGA TOUR. “What we do is set up an event that’s built around generating economic and charitable impact—with all of the net proceeds from the tournament going back to a charity that’s meaningful in that community,” says Web.com Tour President Alex Baldwin. In many cases, charitable impact is in excess of a million dollars, an impact that will be a huge benefit to the 27 locations hosting Web.com Tournaments in 2019. “A positive financial impact is always nice,” notes Alex, “but it’s the stories where we hear that the tournament has positively impacted someone’s life—those become part of our DNA.”
