Last season Keith Nolan only played in two Nationwide events and with a variety of activities off the course on his plate he may only play a handful this year as well in the 2011 Nationwide Tour schedule, which features 26 events in 16 states, plus three stops in Latin America.
The Tour's 22nd season will open February 24th -27th in Panama with the Panama Claro Championship, then travel to Colombia for the Pacific Rubiales Bogotá Open the following week.
The domestic schedule begins in Louisiana with the Chitimacha Louisiana Open March 24-27.
From July through the end of October, the Nationwide Tour will play 15 events in 16 weeks in the run-up to the end of the season. It begins with the second playing of the Chiquita Classic outside Cincinnati, July 14-17, and includes a new addition to the schedule, the Midwest Classic at Nicklaus Golf Club in Overland Park, Kan., Aug. 18-21.
The final full-field event of 2011 will once again be the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters, played at the home of the PGA TOUR, TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. It will be played Oct. 20-23 and set the table for the following week's season finale in Charleston, S.C.
The finale, the Nationwide Tour Championship, returns to the Daniel Island Club where "The 25" leading money winners will be awarded their PGA TOUR cards for 2012 at the conclusion of the Championship on Sunday, Oct. 30th.
"With alumni now having 288 wins and occupying more than two out of every three spots on the PGA TOUR, there is no question the Nationwide Tour is having a dramatic impact on the landscape of golf," said Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee. "The Nationwide Tour continues to grow in stature, and 2010 was our best year ever. I invite you to follow our more than 200 members as they pursue one of golf's most intrinsic and compelling storylines, the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card.
"The Nationwide Tour has a fantastic core of tournaments and volunteers and a solid foundation of tournament sponsors," added Calfee. "A special thanks and congratulations go to them for their hard work, dedication and continued support of the Nationwide Tour."
"We are very excited for another year of world-class golf on the Nationwide Tour," said John Aman, associate vice president of strategic sponsorships for Nationwide Insurance. "Once again, the Nationwide Tour will give fans a chance to see the next generation of PGA TOUR stars in action, and each event provides meaningful support to local charities."
Nationwide Insurance enters its ninth year as umbrella sponsor of the Nationwide Tour and is committed to sponsoring the Tour through 2012.
Golf Channel, which is available in 83 million households in the U.S., continues to be the Nationwide Tour's exclusive television home in 2011. In addition to Golf Channel coverage in the United States, Nationwide Tour events can be seen in 123 countries abroad, reflecting the ever-growing international player membership on both the PGA TOUR and the Nationwide Tour. The first tournament to air will be the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae (April 14-17) in the San Francisco Bay area. Twelve tournaments will air on Golf Channel, including the last three when the competition for "The 25" TOUR cards is rising it to its annual dramatic conclusion.
