It Was Perfect Weekend For Inaugural PGA Golf Tournament

The inaugural Greater Gwinnett Championship finished with a flourish on Sunday in nearly ideal weather conditions for galleries to enjoy the Champions Tour event held at the TPC Sugarloaf golf course.

A rainy Friday didn't deter the 25,000 or so golf fans who came to watch the three day event held April 19-21 on the Greg Norman-designed golf course in Duluth.

"We were hoping for over 40,000," said Stan Hall the executive director of Greater Gwinnett Championship foundation which heads up the operation and control of the new tournament. "If it hadn't rained on Frdiay, we would have easily met our goal," he added.

Hall said nearly 800 volunteers, some who had worked at the AT&T Classic (formerly the BellSouth Classic) had returned to help.

The PGA tournaments count on the many volunteers who donate countless hours to help ensure the tournament runs smoothly.

Count Dennis Malone from Lilburn, Ron Taylor of Dacula and Adam Hudson from Johns Creek among those who returned to volunteer their time to guard the clubhouse on Sunday.

And volunteer Christopher Schrader of Canton had more challenging duties. As standard bearer he spent the weekend walking the hilly fairways carrying the sign showing the scores of the three players in his group.

So how was the course, Patch asked the 13-year-old? "Long," was his one-word answer. 

Germany's Bernhard Langer was the winner capturing the first event with a 10-under 206. Tom Lehman (71-71-67) and Tom Pernice, Jr. (71-68-70) tied for second three strokes back.