Greensboro, NC – The eGolf Professional Tour will make its first trip to the greater Greensboro area this week for the inaugural Forest Oaks Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club and High Point Country Club's Willow Creek Course.

Forest Oaks hosted the PGA TOUR's best players for 30 years as the site of the annual Wyndham Championship and produced winners such as Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III and Lanny Wadkins. The course underwent a restoration courtesy of Love's design group in 2005 and re-opened to rave reviews for that fall's event.

"Love's design concept mimics those used by Donald Ross, and it is evident in his work at Forest Oaks," said tour president David Siegel, himself a bit of an architecture buff. "He was able to keep the routing intact while installing some of Ross' trademark false fronts and sides and modernizing a classic layout."

While the PGA TOUR moved the Wyndham Championship to nearby Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, the eGolf Tour's move to Forest Oaks is nevertheless a good sign as the tour continues to strengthen its ties to the PGA and Nationwide Tours.

"We have eyed an event at Forest Oaks for quite some time," said Siegel. "We have always stated that we play the best courses in the developmental tour industry. I believe that is now a moot point with Forest Oaks in our rotation."

High Point Country Club's demanding Willow Creek course is a Willard Byrd design that hosted the LPGA Tour's Planters Pat Bradley International for 10 years - an event that was won six times by future LPGA Hall of Fame members, including Nancy Lopez, Betsy King and Patty Sheehan. In addition, the course has hosted 11 Carolinas Golf Association championships, including the prestigious Carolinas Amateur and North Carolina Amateur a combined five times.

"What we found at Willow Creek was a true gem in Carolinas golf lore. It goes without saying that the best LPGA players spent many years walking those fairways, but it is also impressive when you look at the high level of amateur golf they have hosted – it should be nothing short of a true test for our players," Siegel said shortly after visiting the layout tucked just west of downtown High Point.

As with any developmental tour, preparing players to compete at the next level is always first and foremost when selecting tournament sites and setting foundations for tournament operations. What lies ahead for players in the Forest Oaks Classic is an accurate gauge of their abilities measured through their success on these two courses.

"At Pine Needles Resort, we played on the site of three U.S. Women's Opens; at Forest Oaks, we will play on the site of a 30-year PGA TOUR event; at Willow Creek, we will play on the site of a 10-year LPGA Tour event. Couple all of those with the four Nationwide Tour exemptions we have been granted this year, and I think it's clear the direction we're taking this tour in for the foreseeable future," said tour chief operating officer Stewart Moore.

The field at this week's Forest Oaks Classic will be split over both courses on Wednesday and Thursday, with Friday's final round being contested at Forest Oaks.