Baltimore Country Club?s East Course will add another chapter to the history of local golf this weekend.
The Senior Players Championship ? held in Dearborn, Mich., last year ? is moving to Baltimore County, bringing a field comprised of the greatest golfers on the Champions Tour. Prior to this season, the Champions Tour, composed of golfers who are at least 50 years old, played the Constellation Energy Classic at Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley and was one of many nondescript stops on the Champions Tour that runs from the second week of January to the first week of December.
But with the Senior Players Championship looking for a new location and Constellation Energy excited about brining a major tournament ? one of the five biggest events on the tour ? to Baltimore, everything fell into place. In January, the Champions Tour announced the Constellation Energy Players Championship would be held this weekend at Baltimore Country Club?s East Course and broadcast nationally on NBC.
“The PGA Tour was in town for the Constellation Energy Classic and they came over to look at our facility,” said Michael Stott, BCC?s general manager. “They have some history with us, and we are known in the golf circles as a nice golfing facility. We recently completed our restoration of our golf course, and an irrigation system that was a multi-million dollar project. That was a big part of it.”
Baltimore Country Club was first organized in 1897, but didn?t formally open its Roland Park campus until 1898. Here, the fifth U.S. Open Championship was held, won by Scotsman Willie Smith by 11 strokes. The East Course at Five Farms on May?s Chapel Road ? where this weekend?s tournament is being held ? was designed by Albert W. Tillinghast and officially opened in September 1926.
The substantial amount of sand bunkers ? 97 of them ? and back-to-front sloping greens are the course?s trademarks that will make it difficult for players to shoot low scores this weekend.
The East Course has hosted four majors: the 1928 PGA Championship, the 1932 United States Amateur Championship, the 1965 Walker Cup Matches and the 1988 United States Women?s Open Championship.
But to make this year?s event work, more than 1,000 volunteers ? along with about 300 employees ? are working together to make sure the tournament runs smoothly.
“The members have really embraced the championship and having great partners like the PGA, Baltimore County and Constellation, and we all benefit from a championship of this caliber and working together,” Stott said. “People have seen that and really rallied together to make this happen.”
CONSTELLATION ENERGY SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
» Where: Baltimore Country Club?s East Course
» Address: 11500 Mays Chapel Road, Timonium
» TV: The Golf Channel (Thurs., Fri., Sat.), NBC (Sat. and Sun.)
» Tickets: Available. Call: (410) 223-3033
» Today?s Pro-Am First Tee Schedule: Morning Portion: 7:15 a.m to 9 a.m.; Afternoon portion: 12:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
» Tournament First Tee Schedule:Today: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Saturday: 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; Sunday: 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
» Gates Open: Today, 6:15 a.m.; Thursday: 7:30 a.m.; Friday: 7:30 a.m.; Saturday: 6:30 a.m.; Sunday: 6:30 a.m.
