Johnson’s Classic gets a date-change

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Zach Johnson Foundation Classic has made a date-change this year to secure even more PGA Tour players.

The fourth-annual event will be Monday, July 7, at Elmcrest Country Club. It had been the final Monday of July.

'It's John Deere (Classic) week,” said Elmcrest head pro Larry Gladson, who is on the Zach Johnson Foundation board of directors. 'There will be more players in the neighborhood. Where we had five to seven marquee names from the PGA Tour, we're kind of hoping for as many as 15.”

The John Deere Classic is the Quad Cities' annual PGA Tour event played in the second week of July. Besides being its 2012 champion, Johnson is on the JDC's board of directors.

Johnson's agent, Brad Buffoni, called JDC tournament director Clair Peterson to see if that tourney was OK with Johnson holding an event the same day as the Deere has a practice round open to the public.

'It was literally a 10-second conversation,” Johnson said. 'He said ‘Absolutely.' He knows he can get a trickle-down effect. If I can get someone to C.R., then he'll go to Moline.

'But the beauty of it is I'm pretty confident I'll get more guys, and as a result we'll have a great field of professional golfers.”

With this year's date, Johnson's event will be able to fly in players who competed in the Tour's Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on the night before, and shuttle them to the Quad Cities Monday night.

'We'll get them where they need to get to,” Gladson said, 'and hopefully some will play the John Deere who haven't in the past.”

Gladson noted there was a pro-am in Canada held the day after the Canadian Open that was on the same date as Johnson's previous Classics.

'Zach had some close friends who played that, and there won't be that conflict anymore,” Gladson said.

Another possible bonus to the date-change is the availability of NFL players with Iowa ties. Players are in NFL camps in late July, but will be free to attend the Classic this year.

This year's Classic will have free admission.

'We wanted to give back to the community,” Gladson said, 'so anybody can come and watch.”

The money raised from the Classic supports Kids on Course at Van Buren Elementary and Harrison Elementary Schools. Johnson's foundation fully funds the program and developed it in coordination with the Cedar Rapids Community School District and United Way of East Central Iowa.

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