Florida tour is shooting to get area players

Hoping to capitalize on local interest, two Hudson men have started The Florida Golf Tour, which will play 18 dates next year and cover Sarasota to Citrus counties.

"We did a lot of market research, and we really don't have any competition in the area," said Steve Ward, who joined John Michalicka to come up with the idea.

The tour will host four promotional events this fall, starting at Beacon Woods in Bayonet Point on Sept. 21. The tour is talking with other Pasco County courses such as Plantation Palms and Silver Oaks.

Each event will include three flights: one for 6 handicaps or lower; one for 7 handicaps or higher, which will use an adjusted gross scoring system; and one for players 50-and-older.

Ward said the tour will have a $99 entry fee to cover play and food but will award $1,000 for first in each flight, $500 for second and $250 for third.

The $5,250 purse offers more financial incentive than most small tours, he said.

One personal touch will be the use of a public-address announcement at the first tee box to introduce golfers.

"It's a guaranteed shank," joked Ward, who hopes the introductions will help bring an air of competition to the events.

Ward wants the tour to draw a variety of players, from juniors to seniors, from scratch golfers in the top flight to all levels of experience in the adjusted gross score flight.

Ward has about 100 players committed for the Beacon Woods event, and will cap each tournament's field at 150 combined.

The tour's closest competition locally is the Moonlight Tour, based out of Seminole.

It has played at Pasco courses such as Plantation Palms and Lexington Oaks but stretches across to the Orlando area.

The Moonlight Tour typically charges $60-80 for an entry fee with a first-place payout of $200, but spreads its purse more over the field.

A quarter of the entrants earn at least their entry fee, according to the tour's Web site.

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