The race for NGA Hooters Tour Player of the Year honors -- and the perks that go with it -- could be decided in this week's Kandy Waters Memorial Classic at Mount Vintage Plantation.
The 72-hole Waters tournament, which begins today, is the second-to-last event of the 18- tournament series. It has a $200,000 purse, with $30,000 going to the winner.
It will be followed next week by the Woodcreek Classic in Elgin, S.C.
The player of the year receives the use of a leased GM vehicle for a year, a spot into the Nationwide Tour's Chattanooga Classic in early October, and reimbursement of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School fee, which is more than $4,000.
The points standings for the player of the year is a combination of various factors, including a player's finishes and money earned.
With the season winding down, the top three in the standings are entered are Mount Vintage, headed by Todd Bailey, of Spanish Fort, Ala.
Bailey has 3,190 points, followed by Philip Pettitt Jr., of Murfreesboro, Tenn., with 3,072 points.
Matthew Harmon, of Grand Rapids, Mich., the tour's leading money winner, has 3,069 points.
Bailey hasn't won this season, but he's made the cut in his 16 starts, and has nine top-20 finishes, including a tie for second.
Eleven players with area ties are in the 168-player field, including former Aiken resident Hugh Royer III.
Royer, who played on the PGA Tour from 1996-98, now lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The other area players are Scott Parel, Major Manning, Will Claxton, Michael Green, Adam McKenney, William Lanier, Kyle Bradley, Chris Holroyd, Jake Amos and Justin Thompson.
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