The PGA will now make a regular stop in Minnesota. Long the 3M Championship Theater, at the senior level, the Twin Cities Club, in the suburbs of Minneapolis, is added to the rotation for at least seven years, starting in 2019.
The event will be called the 3M Open. The dates will be known next month, when the PGA will unveil its full schedule for the coming year.
Minnesota hosts a senior tournament since 1993. The last edition will take place from August 3rd to 5th, with Paul Goydos as defending champion.
The Twin Cities Club is located in Blaine, about 30 km north of the city center. It was designed by Arnold Palmer in collaboration with Tom Lehman, a native of Minnesota
Speaking to media, 3M Championship Tournament Director Hollis Cavner told he is happy with the event’s spot on the PGA Tour Schedule. He confirmed that the tournament will be played next June or July.
“This is going to be one of the premier events, it’s a FedEx Cup event. To get an event as everybody knows is one of the hardest things is. It just doesn’t happen.” Cavner said.
“Network television, the whole nine yards, four days, you know, this is big for the state. This is not just for 3M or Blaine or Anoka. This is big for the state.
“And that’s what we’re trying to show. We want to showcase how great this place is. When we show Minnesota Nice, it’s going to play very well here.” Cavner added.
Golf fans now may enjoy PGA Tournament in Minnesota. (Source:www.golfdigest.com)
Minnesota has already hosted prestigious tournaments including the Ryder Cup at the Hazeltine Club in Chaska in 2016. The competition will return in 2028. Hazeltine was also selected for the PGA Championship in 2002-2009, and for the US Open in 1970 and 1991.
On the women’s side, the US Open was presented at the Interlachen club in Edina in 2008, six years after a Solheim Cup at the same venue.
The director of golf at TPC Twin Cities, Alan Cull on the other hand, said the course never played at its toughest or longest for the world’s best 50-over golfers.
“The three things that we’ve really identified are length, repositioning of some bunkers and potentially narrowing of some fairways.” Cull said.
“There were years when the tournament was played the week after the Senior British Open and Hollis didn’t want to beat the players up here after they just got beat up in the British. So we made things more playable for them.” Cull added.
