Web.com Tour’s Midwest Classic coming to Overland Park in July

Members of the Kansas City Crusaders gathered in the Champion’s Room at The Nicklaus Club at LionsGate on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the upcoming Midwest Classic in Overland Park.

The Kansas City Crusaders is the host organization of the Midwest Classic, a Web.com Tour professional golf tournament that opens the gates for 50 of the 156 golfers to earn their PGA Tour card for the next season.

The Midwest Classic, the only professional golf tournament in Kansas City, runs four days from July 24-27 with other events starting on July 21.

“Kansas City has a long history of embracing professional sports,” said Matt Henderson, Kansas City Crusaders chairman of the board. “We truly believe there is a place for pro golf in our city. We want to continue building the Midwest Classic into a cornerstone sporting event for our community.

“We know there’s a passion for golf in this town, as we’ve seen our attendance grow to an excess of 20,000 spectators.”

In the past, the Web.com Tour has been the origin of careers for the likes of Bubba Watson, Ernie Els and Steve Stricker. This year, Byron Smith and Adam Hadwin are two of the featured golfers vying for a PGA Tour card.

Bill Calfee, president of the Web.com Tour and a former PGA Tour player from 1976-85, spoke highly of Hadwin and Smith, who are fifth and 10th on the Web.com Tour money list respectively.

“People like to think of this as developmental or minor league, and I can assure you it is not,” Calfee said. “These players have the game to play the PGA Tour, and they prove it every single year. … These are two gentlemen you’re going to hear a lot about in the future.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2014 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Web.com Tour’s Midwest Classic coming to Overland Park in July."