The Regions Charity Classic, formerly known as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, is an American golf tournament that is part of the 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). The tournament was founded in 1991 by Birmingham-based Bruno's Supermarkets. The event is still managed by the Bruno family under its Bruno Event Team company. Through 2006, the tournament was normally scheduled to end on the first Sunday of May of each year, or a few days close to that day. In 2007, the tournament schedule was moved roughly two weeks later, to May 17-20. 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.
Past Winners Regions Charity Classic 2009 Keith Fergus Regions Charity Classic presented by Bruno's Supermarkets 2008 Andy Bean 2007 Brad Bryant 2006 Brad Bryant Bruno's Memorial Classic 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
Power Rankings: Regions Charity Classic Keith Fergus is the defending champion at this week's $1.7 million Regions Charity Classic at RTJ Golf Trail at Ross Bridge in Birmingham. Fergus fired back-to-back 66s for a 12-under-par total and was in control when the final round was called off last year because of unplayable conditions created by heavy rains. Fergus, a popular Texan, earned $255,000 and soared to No. 2 on the Champions Tour money list. Ross Bridge is the newest of the courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail which winds through Alabama. It features the rolling terrain of Shannon Valley and meanders through indigenous landscape. What sets apart Ross Bridge, a parkland style layout, is its length. From the tips, it measures 8,191 yards, which makes it one of the longest courses in the world. But that's not the length the Champions Tour will see. For the Regions Charity Classic, the length is listed at 7,473 yards. Ten holes play along the bank of two significant lakes connected by a signature waterfall dropping 80 feet between the ninth and 18th greens. This week's Champions Tour Power Rankings: http://www.pgatour.com/2010/tournaments/s564/05/10/rankings.ct.8/
Defending Regions champion Keith Fergus hopes for sunshine this year Champions Tour golfer Keith Fergus has a wish for his return to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Ross Bridge. "Pray for sunshine," he said. One would think that Fergus would welcome the rain, considering he got such good results in the rain last year at Ross Bridge. Fergus beat the rain and the competition to claim the 2009 Regions Charity Classic. He shot a 132 in the rain-shortened 36-hole tournament to beat runner-up Gene Jones by three strokes. But the 56-year-old Texan is not fond of rainy, cool weather. The hotter and sunnier the better for Fergus, even though he still found a way to win the $225,000 prize money in Birmingham last season. http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-sports/2010/05/defending_regions_champion_kei.html
Ken Green Starts Comeback at Regions Charity Classic In the midst of his first comeback on the Champions Tour, an unthinkable tragedy struck Ken Green last June. He was driving home from a tournament in Austin, Texas, when his rv blew a tire, rolled down an embankment and hit a tree. His brother, girlfriend and life-long companion Nip the german shepard, were killed instantly. Green was thrown through the windshield and shattered his right leg. "My only hope of ever playing professional golf was if they cut the leg off," Green Says. "At the time was pretty simple and I'm still glad I did it." For Green, golf was all he had left. "It's what's giving me the hope because when you lose as much as I've lost, you have a lot of bad days, bad moments," he says. "Having something out there, you know, it's kind of like teasing the horse with the carrott. Golf's doing that. Giving me that hope that we can get through all this and move forward." http://www.cbs42.com/sports/story/K...t-Regions-Charity/hCgCu9RfxEOmMR8eH_T0cg.cspx
Chizik, Auburn triumph in Regions Charity Classic putting challenge against Grant, Al For the second consecutive year, Auburn football coach Gene Chizik was part of the winning team in a Regions Charity Classic putting challenge against a team that featured Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant. Is a dynasty developing? "I won't say that yet," Chizik said facetiously. "I don't want to use the 'D' word yet. Could be working in that direction, but it's going to take probably two or three more in a row, which I really feel confident about." This year, the sideshow to the pro-am pairings was called the Alabama-Auburn Putting Challenge. Chizik's teammate was legendary Auburn running back Bo Jackson. Grant's teammate was Jay Barker, who quarterbacked Alabama to the 1992 national championship. Chizik and Jackson won the 18-hole competition by 3 strokes with a score over 5-under-par on the practice green at Ross Bridge. Neither Chizik nor Grant is a golfer, so the competition primarily was between Jackson and Barker. http://blog.al.com/tide-source/2010/05/chizik_auburn_triumph_in_regio.html
4 tied for Champions Tour lead Joey Sindelar, Bobby Clampett, Russ Cochran and Peter Senior shot 7-under 65s on Friday in the Regions Charity Classic to share the lead after the record-setting opening round. The 77 players in the field had a scoring average of 69.519 on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Ross Bridge course, breaking the tournament record of 70.397 set in 2002 when the Champions Tour event was played at Greystone.
Dan Forsman's tournament record 62 puts him in Regions Charity Classic lead Dan Forsman tips his cap after shooting a tournament-record 10-under par 62 on Saturday at the Regions Charity Classic at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Ross Bridge in Hoover. (The Birmingham News / Joe Songer)Low scores are once again the order of the day at the Regions Charity Classic at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Ross Bridge in Hoover, none lower -- so far -- than Dan Forsman's tournament-record 62. Forsman's 10-under par second round puts him in the lead of the Champions Tour Tournament at minus-14.
CLAMPETT SETS 36-HOLE RECORD AT REGIONS CHARITY CLASSIC Making just his second Champions Tour start, Bobby Clampett took sole possession of the lead Saturday with an eight-under 64 at the Regions Charity Classic. Clampett, who was one of four co-leaders after the first round, finished his second round on the Ross Bridge course with a 15-under 129 to set the 36-hole tournament scoring record. He took a one-shot lead over Dan Forsman, who broke the single-round course record with a 10-under 62 on Saturday. Forsman, who was tied for 19th place overnight, moved to 14-under 130. http://www.tsn.ca/golf/story/?id=321661
Forsman cruises to Regions Charity title Dan Forsman posted a six-under-par 66 on Sunday to come from behind and cruise to a three-shot victory at the Regions Charity Classic. Forsman, 51, finished at 20-under 196 and won comfortably over Joe Ozaki (66) and Peter Senior (68) at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Ross Bridge. On Saturday, Forsman established a new course record with a 10-under 62 and his 196 total missed Hale Irwin's 2001 tournament record by a single stroke. The win was Forsman's second on the Champions Tour. He captured last year's AT&T Champions Classic and was a five-time winner on the PGA Tour with his last title coming in 2002. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/...network&page=golf-s/news/news.aspx?id=4311040
