Hooters Tour makes return

The Kandy Waters Memorial Classic lands at another Augusta-area golf course this week, this time at Bartram Trail Golf Club.

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The NGA Hooters Tour event and the Columbia County course agreed to a one-year deal back in June.

Bartram Trail head golf professional Robby Watson said he's received positive feedback from the course's members about playing host to the professional tour event.

"They all wanted to do it," said Watson, who has rounded up about 30 volunteers for the event.

The event is named in honor of Kandy Waters, the wife of L.D. Waters, who owns Bonaventure Discount Golf.

Kandy Waters, who died of emphysema in 1998 at age 65, was an avid golfer and opened the store's first location in Augusta.

Watson said plans were in the works to possibly lock up the tournament for another three years, which would give the event a venue stability it hasn't enjoyed for a while.

Since its debut in 2000, the tournament has been held at North Augusta's River Golf Club, The Monticello Golf Club in McCormick, S.C., and Goshen Plantation Golf Club.

Watson said the tournament should be a boon for area businesses, with 166 golfers in the field.

"They're going to have to stay in hotels somewhere, and they're going to have to eat somewhere," he said. "I think it will have a nice little impact."

Watson said the rough had been grown to three inches from its normal height of around an inch in preparation for the tour pros.

"Some of these guys will go on to play for the PGA Tour," Watson said. "It's good publicity for Bartram Trail."