Caves Valley to Host 2017 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship

​BALTIMORE, MD – The PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour and Constellation announced today that the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship will be hosted by Caves Valley Golf Club in 2017 when the major championship returns to Baltimore. The tournament will be played the week of July 10-16, 2017. The announcement was made during a media conference at Caves Valley featuring Champions Tour President Greg McLaughlin, Constellation President Mark Huston, Caves Valley Board Member David Bannister and 2013 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship winner and Charles Schwab Cup Champion Kenny Perry.

”We are excited to return to Maryland with the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship and to be playing a venue the caliber of Caves Valley,” said McLaughlin. “The history of this tournament has included a tremendous list of clubs and golf courses and we are honored to be playing our 2017 event at Caves Valley. The members and spectators in this region will witness some of the greatest players in the game compete at this magnificent golf course.”

This marks the fifth time the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS will be contested in Maryland. The championship was played at Baltimore Country Club from 2007-2009 before heading to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in 2010.

Following the 2016 championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club, Caves Valley will become the twelfth course to host the major championship, which began in 1983 when Miller Barber claimed victory at Canterbury Golf Club in Beechwood, Ohio.

“Constellation hosted its first SENIOR PLAYERS Championship in Baltimore so we are looking forward to spending our eleventh year as title sponsor here at home,” said Huston. “Caves Valley is home to a course that is consistently named among the nation’s best, and we are confident that it will deliver another exciting championship.”

Caves Valley, a Tom Fazio creation which opened for play in 1991, was listed as a par-71, 7,005-yard course during the 2002 U.S. Senior Open won by Don Pooley in a five-hole playoff over Tom Watson. Most recently, the course hosted the 2014 LPGA International Crown.

“Last year, Caves Valley tested some of the best women golfers in the world and our members enjoyed that experience,” said Bannister. “It was 2002 when the best golfers over 50 competed at Caves Valley during the U.S. Senior Open and our members and staff are very enthusiastic about hosting a new generation of Champions Tour players when the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship is contested here in 2017.”

The 2013 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship was Perry’s first major victory on the Champions Tour when he shot a four-round total of 261 at Fox Chapel Golf Club to tie Jack Nicklaus’ tournament record set in 1990 at Dearborn Country Club in Michigan.

“Caves Valley will be an incredible venue for the Champions Tour players and this major championship means so much to all of us,” said Perry. “It’s our championship, the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, and one of the perks of victory is getting back to TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS. Caves Valley will be an excellent test, and undoubtedly the winner here will be an outstanding player. I just hope it’s me.”

Arnold Palmer won back-to-back Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championships in 1984 and 1985. Thirty years later, Palmer’s feat was matched by Bernhard Langer who won at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh in 2014 and defended the title this year at Belmont Country Club in Boston. Langer is the current Charles Schwab Cup champion, a season-long competition which identifies the leading Champions Tour player each year. As one of five major championships, the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship plays a significant role in determining the Charles Schwab Cup champion each season.

_{About the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship
The Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS is one of five major championships on the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour for eligible professionals age 50 and over. Bernhard Langer won the 2015 event at Belmont Country Club in Boston, Mass. against a field of 81 Champions Tour players, one of the strongest of the year. With his victory, Langer earned a place in the field at the PGA TOUR’s THE PLAYERS Championship in 2016. The Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS has generated more than $9 million for charity since 1992.}

_{About Caves Valley Golf Club
Caves Valley Golf Club is a member-owned private golf club in Owings Mills, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Baltimore. The course, designed by Tom Fazio, opened in 1991 and is known for its fast greens, rolling fairways and water hazards. It is set on 962 acres of rolling hills, woodlands, lush valleys and wetlands. It was rated as 47th among America's best modern courses by Golfweek magazine in 1997 and was named in the Top 100 courses in the United States by GOLF Digest in 2011. In 2002, Caves Valley played host to the U.S. Senior Open where Don Pooley bested Tom Watson in a dramatic five hole playoff. In addition, the club has hosted the 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur; the NCAA Division I Men’s (2005) and Women’s Golf Championships (2009); the AJGA Cannon Cup in1997 and 2004), and the Palmer Cup in 2007. It hosted the inaugural International Crown in 2014, a biennial team event organized by the LPGA Tour involving four-woman teams from eight countries.}

_{About the Champions Tour
Collectively, the Champions Tour has the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game, with many of its 32 members in the World Golf Hall of Fame competing regularly in its events. The Tour also counts numerous other major championship winners among its members. The Champions Tour is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour's primary purpose is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays. Points earned in official Charles Schwab Cup events in 2014 determined Bernhard Langer as the Charles Schwab Cup champion, the season-long competition designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s leading player. The Commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Greg McLaughlin is President of the Champions Tour. The PGA TOUR’s website is pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Follow the Champions Tour at facebook.com/ChampionsTour and on Twitter @ChampionsTour.}