Regions Charity Classic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Regions Charity Classic, formerly known as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, is an American golf tournament that is part of the PGA Champions Tour. It is held at Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, one of ten courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, located in Hoover, Alabama (a suburb of Birmingham).
Through sponsorship agreements, the formal name of the tournament is "The Regions Charity Classic, presented by Bruno's Supermarkets."
The tournament is normally scheduled to end on the first Sunday of May of each year, or a few days close to that day. In 2006, the tournament is scheduled for May 3 through May 7. The first two tournaments were held in August — frequently a time of hot, humid climate in Alabama. The dates were moved to June for three more years, then finally to the early May/late April period.
Contents |
[edit] History
The tournament was first held in 1992 as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, with Bruno's Supermarkets as the title sponsor. The name stems from the founders, Angelo and Lee Bruno (brothers of Bruno's founder Joseph Bruno), who were killed in an airplane crash shortly after the 1991 press conference announcing the tournament's inception. From the beginning, the tournament was staged at the Greystone Golf & Country Club, in the Inverness section of Hoover.
Since its inception, the Bruno's Memorial has been one of the most popular stops on the Champions Tour, usually attracting all of the top money winners. With the loss of the annual Iron Bowl college football game between Alabama and Auburn, which was formerly played at Birmingham's Legion Field, the golf tournament has become Metro Birmingham's largest sporting event.
In 2006, Bruno's Supermarkets — which had undergone a series of financial struggles, various ownerships, and the loss involvement by Bruno family members — announced it would reduce its sponsorship commitment to the tournament. Regions Financial Corporation, a banking and financial services company based in Birmingham, stepped in as the title sponsor, with Bruno's remaining as a presenting sponsor. At the same time, tournament organizers announced that the site would move to the new Ross Bridge course, approzimately 15 miles (25 km) west of Greystone at the other end of the city of Hoover.
[edit] List of tournament winners
- 2006: Brad Bryant
- 2005: D.A. Weibring
- 2004: Bruce Fleisher
- 2003: Tom Jenkins
- 2002: Sammy Rachels
- 2001: Hale Irwin
- 2000: John Jacobs
- 1999: Larry Nelson
- 1998: Hubert Green
- 1997: Jay Sigel
- 1996: John Bland
- 1995: Graham Marsh
- 1994: Jim Dent
- 1993: Bob Murphy
- 1992: George Archer
[edit] Bruno Event Team
The team that organized and managed the first tournaments drew applause for their efforts, so much so that they were asked to perform the same functions for other events. This led partners Ronnie Bruno and Gene Hallman to form the Bruno Event Team, a sports event management firm that now operates year round. The team currently manages the Women's U.S. Open and United States Senior Open for the United States Golf Association, various championship events for the Southeastern Conference, and races at Birmingham's Barber Motorsports Park.
