Charlotte, N.C. – The eGolf Gateway Tour announced today that it has partnered with the Rex Hospital Open as a means to award two unrestricted sponsor’s exemptions into the Web.com Tour’s 2015 Rex Hospital Open and one unrestricted sponsor’s exemption into the 2016 Rex Hospital Open. The 2015 exemptions will be granted to the champion and 36-hole leader at the tour’s season-opening $100,000 Palmetto Hall Championship presented by Sonesta HHI on February 25-28, 2015, while the 2016 exemption will be awarded to the low eGolf Gateway Tour member in a limited-field Rex Hospital Open Corporate Challenge set to be contested in the fall of 2015.

The three exemptions mark the 24th, 25th and 26th Web.com Tour exemptions eligible to eGolf Gateway Tour players in tour history. In addition, the tour has been granted a total of three PGA TOUR exemptions and four European Tour exemptions.

The 2015 Rex Hospital Open exemptions will be presented to the winner at Palmetto Hall, as well as the tournament’s 36-hole leader. Those two spots will be open to both members and non-members, with ties for each settled via sudden death playoffs.

The next 28 eGolf Gateway Tour members on the final Palmetto Hall leaderboard will be awarded spots in the annual Rex Hospital Open Corporate Challenge, where the low professional will be granted a spot in the 2016 Rex Hospital Open.

“We are thrilled to partner with Rex and be in the position to offer these exemptions to our players next year,” said eGolf Gateway Tour president David Siegel. “In its 28-year history, the Rex Hospital Open has established itself as one of the marquee stops on the Web.com Tour schedule, and has annually produced a bevy of stout winners – including a handful of eGolf Gateway Tour alumni.”

Five former players have won the Rex Hospital Open a total of six times in tournament history, with three-year eGolf Gateway Tour member Chesson Hadley serving as the most recent victor when he claimed his first of two Web.com Tour titles at host TPC Wakefield Plantation in 2013.

Hadley, who won the eGolf Gateway Tour’s River Landing Open in 2012, used the Rex Hospital Open win as a springboard to the 2013-14 PGA TOUR, where he notched “Rookie of the Year” honors after winning the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com.

“We fully realize that these spots can change lives for players on this level,” said Siegel. “But just as important to us is the charitable impact we can make through our association with the tournament charity.”

The entry fee for the 2015 Palmetto Hall Championship will be $1,175 for tour members and $1,375 for non-members. Rex Healthcare Foundation will receive $200 of each entry fee as a charitable donation, with Rex Hospital Open Tournament Director Carson Gilbert onsite during the tournament to issue charitable donation letters for all players who request one.

“This is a great chance to raise money for the Rex Healthcare Foundation while giving these professionals an opportunity to compete at the next level in one of the Web.com Tour’s premier events,” said Gilbert.

Universal membership for the 2015 eGolf Gateway Tour is currently set at $1,750, but scheduled to increase to $2,000 on December 15th. The membership fee covers all events on both the east and west coasts, and offers players a number of incentives, namely an average savings of $200 per event. The 2015 eGolf Gateway Tour season will feature four events with guaranteed $200,000 purses, as well as a number of tournaments highlighted by guaranteed minimum $100,000 purses – including the Palmetto Hall Championship, where the purse will increase based on tournament participation.

The 2015 Rex Hospital Open will be contested on May 28-31 at TPC Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, N.C.

For more information about the Rex Hospital Open please contact:
Carson Gilbert, Tournament Director
(919) 784-4424 or [email protected] 

For more information on the eGolf Gateway Tour, please visit www.egolf.com.

For more information on the Rex Healthcare Foundation, please visit www.rexhealth.com/foundation.