News >> Harmon Receives Exemption

Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung
The Georgian Bay Club & The Raven Golf Club At Lora Bay
Ontario, Canada
July 8-11, 2010
$800,099.00 Purse
 
Longs, SC… The National Golf Association’s Hooters Professional Golf Tour continues to prove to be the best tour for aspiring young professionals. The Tour announced today that the Nationwide Tour’s Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung has granted an exemption into the event to the tour, which gives the NGA Hooters Tour “SIX” different tournament exemptions for the year.
 
 The other five exemptions granted are The Fresh Express Classic played earlier this year, The Fort Smith Classic, The Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, The News Sentinel Knoxville Open and The Chattanooga Classic.
 
The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic exemption has been awarded to the current NGA Hooters Tour money leader Matthew Harmon of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Harmon jumped into the top spot on the money list after collecting his second win of the season and fourth of his career this past weekend at the Buffalo Run Casino Classic. Harmon began the season with two missed cuts but the former Michigan State golfer has rattled off eight straight cuts made that include the two aforementioned wins and two other top ten finishes to bring his money total to $79,765.
 
“I missed out on the last exemption by a few hundred dollars, which would have made a lot of people down on themselves,” said the former Spartan. “I knew if I stuck to my goals at the beginning of the season and kept playing the way I was playing then good things were going to happen. I just want to thank the NGA Hooters Tour and the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic committee for giving me this opportunity.”

Although a relatively new tournament, The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic has been a stepping stone for former NGA Hooters Tour players in realizing their dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Past champions include NGA Hooters Tour alumni Justin Hicks (08) and Roger Tambellini (09).

“The #1 goal of The NGA Hooters Tour has always been, and always will be to help professional golfers achieve their dream of playing on The PGA Tour,” said Robin L. Waters, NGA Hooters Tour President. “We are pleased to give Matt this opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing on the PGA Tour and we wish him the best of luck in Canada in a few weeks.”

The 3rd annual Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung provides fans with the opportunity to watch 160 professionals play with celebrities in a pro-am style tournament. As an official Nationwide Tour stop, players compete for one of the year's largest purses ($800,099.00) with all rounds televised on The Golf Channel. Georgian Bay Club and The Raven Golf Club at Lora Bay play host with proceeds benefiting the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.
 
The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and boasts alumni like 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink, 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis, 2003 US Open winner Jim Furyk, two time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen, British Open and PGA Champion John Daly, as well as British Open winner Tom Lehman, PGA Champion David Toms, 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell, 2004 & 2005 Reno Tahoe Open winner Vaughn Taylor and TPC winner Craig Perks to name just a few. All told, the NGA/Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 11 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA/Hooters Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 48% of the players that earned their 2010 PGA Tour card, and 53% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA/Hooters Tour.
 
For more information about the NGA/Hooters Tour, please visit our web site, www.NGAHOOTERSTOUR.com.