The Tradition starts over

When it was announced last summer that the Jeld-Wen Tradition was bolting Aloha, its home the past three years, for Central Oregon, it would not have been an unreasonable reaction to say, “Huh?”

During its time at the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club, it had been a nice enough tournament. Organizers always said they were seeing progress, growing the tournament, especially sponsorships. And the Tradition did donate $500,000 from last year’s event to Oregon charities, the largest of its three donations.

But the people never came. When The Golf Channel cameras would flash on, they would capture a sparsely attended tournament. The Tradition is a “major” on the Champions Tour, but it didn’t feel like a “major” at all.

 – Excerpt from The Oregonian, April 1, 2007