EMC World Championship

PGA GOLF COMES TO VALLARTA BIG TIME!!!

Puerto Vallarta hosted its first major PGA golf championship and the whole town is still buzzing about it! The EMC World Cup Championship was hosted by the Vista Vallarta Golf Club December 10-15th, 2002.

For those of you not familiar with the format the two top ranked players from 24 different countries (including Mexico) are invited to play, and so we saw players like Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, the best of the British Isles players, and a host of other top world players. The official rankings were announced on September 23rd, and those players holding the number one and two spots in their respective countries were invited to attend. The tournament had media from many of the player's countries as well as major network coverage in the US and Canada and Mexico.

The tournament was held on the Nicklaus designed course at Vista Vallarta, a 7,073 yard par 72 course that proved to be quite a challenge! Having toured the course, I can say that it is truly a spectacular setting – high up, with the Sierra Madres as a stunning backdrop, surrounded by tropical vegetation speckled with radiantly colorful bougainvilleas, and cooled by the gentle ocean breeze. A golfer’s paradise! This year's tournament was won in spectacularly dramatic fashion on the 18th hole by the team from Japan. Congratulations!! Thanks, also, to the over 600 people, both locals and people traveling to Vallarta to be at the event, who enlisted as volunteers to help with the tournament.