[Randy Thompson]

Looks like the PGA Tour will be be committing to Latin America in 2012. Nationwide Tour also just signed a four year event in Chile starting in March of 2012. Good news for Latin America, will be interesting to see how golf grows. Full article at
 http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/10/20/pgatour-latinamerica/index.html
 

[Mark Johnson]

So let me get this straight....m

This tour will be a feeder tour to the nationwide tour which is a feeder to the PGA tour.  Does this mean guys that don't make it out of second stage will play here. 

Love the concept but if this is just gateway tour south not sure that it accomplishes it's goals.

[Bill Brightly]

Sounds like a great way to grow the game in Latin America, a place for good local players to hone their game with a gaol of making the big tour some day. I would think it would help strengthen fan interest, as well.

Randy, will they play on any of your courses?

[Bill_McBride]

Looks like the PGA Tour will be be committing to Latin America in 2012. Nationwide Tour also just signed a four year event in Chile starting in March of 2012. Good news for Latin America, will be interesting to see how golf grows. Full article at
 http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/10/20/pgatour-latinamerica/index.html
 

I don't know about golf in Chile, but from my experience in Mexico it's pretty evenly distributed.   The rich play, the poor caddy!   Chile probably has a bigger middle class.  

[Randy Thompson]

What is happening is that the PGA Tour will be more or less taking over the Tour Las Americas which has had several players go onto the PGA Tour. TLA has struggled getting sponsors and decent purses and the PGA Tour should be able to solution this through more international sponsors with bigger budgets. It should also allow for a higher caliber of players than what we normally get to see. Many of the local players come from a caddy background and really would never have the money to go play some of the lower tour events in the US, this new tour should be more accessible to them and the break even point will be more attainable for more players. Who knows what could happen in twnety years, look at what happened to baseball and the latin america invasion! Not likely granted but it all starts by planting a seed.

[Randy Thompson]

Bill,
They have not got into those details yet but I doubt it the first couple of years. They seem to get more support when they go into the older traditional courses in the middle of the cities.

[Mike_Young]

The biggest problem they have right now is that each time they go to make a deal they come in with an attitude and tell you what you need to pay to have an event.  The first move is to impress everyone that they are the PGA Tour  AND then you find out that the other event is paying about half of what they ask and then you find that another site has a completely different deal.  So far it hasn't proved to be viable.  They really need more TV .   It's a good idea if it starts to clikc on all cylinders.   A site can host a big break for 600,000 and get five hours of TV a week for twelve weeks and then get all of the tape to use in other media areas.  The tour want about that much to start and you might get two hours a day for two days for one week if you have TV.  It's all about the money.

[Jon Wiggett]

I am suprised that the PGA Tour is not present futher a field. The European Tour seems to be everywhere these days indeed it would not have suprised me for them to have had an event in the US

[Kris Shreiner]

Bill B,

That's how the game's often been for centuries my friend! At least as caddies the youth and less well off have a chance to earn and learn to play. If they are talented enough they can forge a career as a golf club or tour professional. Cartball and the GPS gang are sure to try and push their real healthy and game growing technology down there in South America.

Let's see how many lessons from the recent economic free-fall are implemented in the new era of course design down there. Judging from the very responsible efforts in China, despite a lot of sustainability lip-service within the industry, it's generally been business as usual.

Cheers,
Kris

[Randy Thompson]

I expect the PGA tour, big boys, will be staging an event in South America no later than 2014 and maybe even by 2013!

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