Players appreciate sponsor of series

As the recent Regions Cup Matches were winding down earlier this month, player after player stopped to shake Jimmy Rigsby's hand and offer their thanks.

Rigsby is the face of the series sponsor, Regions Bank, during the season-ending matches. He attends every function, and follows as many of the matches as he can.

The Regions Cup Matches feature 28 amateurs - 14 from Georgia and 14 from South Carolina - who play two days of match play for state bragging rights.

The players make their teams by earning points during the regular season Regions Cup tournaments (there are nine events each year and they're open to all amateurs).

As the series sponsor, Regions Bank has the right of approval for tournaments, but other than that, the series pretty much runs itself, with the help of executive director Brooks Blackburn.

It's at the season-ending matches where Regions Bank makes its presence felt.

During the weekend of the matches, the bank picks up the tab at a banquet for the players and their wives at Belle Meade Country Club in Thomson on Friday night, then takes care of all expenses for the two weekend rounds of the matches, including green fees, carts, specially designed shirts for the players and food.

It's the bank's way of thanking the players for participating in the tournaments.

When it's over, it's the players who are thanking Rigsby and Regions Bank.

"It makes me feel awfully good to know that the guys who are involved in this really enjoy it," Rigsby said. "The competition is what it's about and none of them could have been any nicer to me and to our bank for what we've done in the last few years about sponsoring this thing."

Owensby Cadillac-Buick, formerly of Aiken, was the original sponsor of the series, from 1988 to 1997, when it was called the Cadillac Cup. There was no sponsor in 1998, then Regions bank stepped forward in 1999 to save the series and change the name to the Regions Cup.

Prior to Regions Bank taking over, the year-end matches alternated between area courses. The permanent site is now Belle Meade, though the matches were held at Houndslake Country Club in Aiken the past two years. It will return to newly renovated Belle Meade for good in 2006.

To cover the expenses for the matches, the bank pays out "around $5,000," Rigsby said.

"It's not a lot of work involved in it; it's just a commitment of a little bit of time for the game and I think for the whole CSRA," Rigsby said. "We enjoy doing it."

Count Georgia team member Rhett Baker as among the most grateful.

"This series has been around for a while and I hate when people take it for granted," Baker said. "I lived in Greenville, S.C., for several years and there's no outlet to play tournament golf (there). What the Regions series has done in Augusta, it's just a great thing for golf."

Rigsby said the bank's sponsorship is as strong as ever, which says something considering the state of the sport.

"Overall, except for certain pockets, golf is down nationally," Rigsby said. "I think what this does is help keep the interest up. The guys enjoy playing in it and they talk about it and I think it's good for us."

Said Baker: "For Regions Bank to put this on, they don't have to do this. It's good for golf. The way things are, golf as a whole is not growing. I don't know if it's struggling, but it's not growing. You see people trying to hang on to what they have, then you've got Belle Meade and Houndslake giving space and time they don't have to do.

"I think it's a privilege to come out here," Baker said after the matches, which were won by Georgia.

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.