Four-Ball Invitational on par with top FCC events
Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/67483/
The lounge area inside Fayetteville Country Club serves as a repository of the past, prominently displaying the names of club champions and the winning sides of the member-guest and member-member tournaments.
Having a championship board hanging from the lounge wall confers a level of consequence merited by a select few tournaments. It also affirms an event’s longevity. The names of past stroke play champions dates back to the Great Depression.
In the long view of the club’s 81-year history, three years is a relatively short time, but in that brief span the FCC Four-Ball Invitational has garnered a spot alongside the club’s most venerable tournaments. Its championship board lacks history, but the level of interest and participation it generates rivals or surpasses its more established counterparts.
Club member and tournament organizer Jason Carter said the 128-team field for this weekend’s event was filled six days after invitations were mailed. Players from as far afield as New York and California will compete. In total, 13 different states will be represented when play begins today.
Carter said the impetus to create the invitational came from the desire to incorporate elements of other tournaments in which he had participated. The first two days are played under a match play format. The sides that advance to Sunday’s final round will make the transition to medal play.
The winner of this year’s event will join 2006 champions Jeb Mills and Dr. David Duke and 2007 champions Conner McNair and Ryan Green on the big board. In time, posterity will view the names of the 2008 champions with the same reverence previously reserved for winners of the club’s other championships.
“ It’s one of those things, especially for people who grew up here, that’s a big aspiration, ” Carter said. “ Whether it be the club champ or the member-guest champion or the member-member champion or now the invitational champion, I would think that’s a goal of a lot of people. There’s obviously a select few that do get on there.
“ It also says a lot for the tournament that it ranks there in the club as that much of an important tournament. ”
The event has been wellreceived by the membership since its inception in 2006. Carter said 84 of the 128 sides hold at least one FCC member, and more than 100 members are in the field. Members were given first priority in the allocation of invitations, followed by those who competed in last year’s event.
This weekend also serves to showcase the par-70, parkland layout to a wider audience. Tucked away on the south side of town, the course’s location lends it a level of obscurity.
“ The country club in general is not in one of the faster growing parts of town, but it’s been here for ages and it’s not going anywhere, ” Carter said. “ Most of us here that are members consider it the best deal in Northwest Arkansas for the amount it costs to join here and the monthly dues. ”
Carter said superintendent Brandon Nichols’ stewardship of the course is one of the club’s most conspicuous attributes. Playing conditions are close to optimum no matter the obstacles Nichols has to overcome.
“ One of the things you can always hear people say about the course after they play is what outstanding shape it’s always in, ” Carter said. “ Whether we’re in a drought or there’s too much rain, the course is always in phenomenal shape. ”
At just over 6, 200 yards from the back set of tees, the course’s length doesn’t inspire awe in those playing it for the first time. Looking at the scorecard, one might presume that low numbers are easy to obtain, however, those familiar with the tree-lined layout know better.
“ The funny thing about our course that kind of cracks me up is people look at the yardage and automatically say ‘ this is going to be an easy course, ’” Carter said. “ Once they get out there and miss the green on one of the short holes, they realize there’s no chance of getting up and down. They’re going to make a bogey. ”
Carter said he asked Nichols to mow the rough a day earlier than he normally would, ensuring unfavorable lies for shots that stray from the fairways and greens. Compounding the difficulty, Carter said the pins will be set in as inaccessible positions as possible during Sunday’s round.