The Tradition is one of the five
major championships recognized by the U.S.-based
Champions Tour, the world's leading tour for professional
golfers aged fifty and older. The inaugural event was staged in 1989.
Unlike the
U.S. Senior Open and the
Senior PGA Championship and the
Senior British Open, it is not recognized as a major by the
European Seniors Tour, and is not part of that tour's official schedule. Unlike the
mainstream major championships, some of the senior majors have title sponsors, and at present The Tradition is officially known as the "
Regions Tradition". It is the only senior major where the winner does not earn an exemption into a
PGA Tour or
European Tour event.
From its inception in 1989 through 2002, the tournament was held at the Cochise Golf Course of the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in
Scottsdale,
Arizona. From 2003 through 2006, it was held at the South Course of
The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in
Aloha,
Oregon, just west of
Portland.
In 2007 the tournament moved to the high desert of
central Oregon, to the Crosswater Golf Club in
Sunriver. The lengthy course sits on 600 acres (242 hectares) of woodlands and preserved wetlands along the
Deschutes River, at an elevation of 4170 feet (1271 m)
above sea level. The par 72 layout played at in 2009.
NBC-TV carried the weekend coverage of the tournament in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
The Golf Channel covered the early rounds (and all four rounds in 2008 while
NBC carried the
Olympic Games from......
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