GCAmTour-Houston, Farewell Friends!

Jeff Zemencsik (Houston, TX) – GCAmTour-Houston Farewell

GCAmTour-Houston Crew

Before I say farewell I would like to share a bit of tour history on how we have arrived to biggest and best tour in Houston.  It’s a simple answer; it’s each and every one of you, the players.

Before I became a Tour Director, I was and will continue to be a player, first.  I’ve always tried to create an experience that I or any other competitive player would enjoy.

Thank you for Memories!

I first started running some small events with 16-24 players of friends getting together in the late nineties and organized the CHOP TOUR.  We named it the CHOP TOUR because we were a bunch of CHOPS!  Mark Johnson, Steve Noxon, and myself were the key players.  The CHOP grew and around the turn of the millennium I organized it a bit more and changed the name to the Mulligan Tour.  With the Mulligan Tour we grew a bit and it started to become something more.  Around 2003/2004 I met Justin Hogue and we decided to bring something larger to Texas and partnered with the American Amateur Golf Tour (AAGT).  The AAGT had a small chapter in San Antonio (Matt) and nothing else in Texas or our region.  So Hogue and I along with a handful of others (Justin, me, Chad Morrison, Phil King, Pat Campbell-replaced Matt in San Antonio) began building Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin.  The AAGT brought some sponsorship along with it, including Michelob Ultra, thus the Ultra Tour and some other major sponsors.  Ultra dropped the sponsorship and the AAGT partnered with the Golf Channel around 2006/2007.  After the first year of sponsorship the Golf Channel liked the tour so much, they bought the entire AAGT network from coast to coast.  Thus the Golf Channel Amateur Tour was born.  Of the original group, Pat Campbell and I were the only remaining founders that stayed.  Doug Bass talked me into to it and still owe him a lunch.  Pat later retired to the family farm in Longview and was replaced by Scott Chilcutt, which left me as the last founding member.  The Golf Channel provided additional resources, marketing, and organization and helped grow the tour to what it has become today.  The #1 Amateur Golf Tour in the Nation!  Thank You to the Golf Channel Team!

There are many people to thank so I hope I don’t leave anyone out.

Thank you GOD, for this amazing journey.

Thank you FRIENDS=PLAYERS! 

Thanks to my family for putting up me away from home all those weekends (Missy, Zoë, Mom, Dad, Tim and extended family). 

Special thanks to the Golf Channel Team Drake, Colin, Kenny, Rick, Joe, Mike and all the great Tour Directors I have met over the years.

My partners in crime at the Houston Tour past and present:  Wife Missy, Brother Tim, Frank Wallace, Gary Gum, Jeff Stahlhut, Shawn Didear, Gil Coppersmith, and Haney Robertson.

Tim, Gary, Jeff (Frank was getting Gary's truck)

Thanks to those whom I was involved with during the early years of the CHOP, Mulligan, and AAGT. 

So for the past 15 years I have been involved with running tournaments, probably 150 or so and I have seen everything from a dozen hole in one’s to a score of 63 on one hole (and everything in between).  These are great memories I’ll have for a lifetime.

So with me, I’ll take my memories, the legacy of creating a great tour, and most importantly, FRIENDS for a lifetime.  

Yes, we have had great times and memories over the years and there will be MORE TO COME.  Welcome Scott with open arms and give him a chance to build on this great foundation.

As for me, I’ll see you on the course, farewell until next time!  Jeff