Brandon Brown Goes “Big Time”

Myrtle Beach, SC, June 16, 2012 --(PR.com)-- If you don’t have dreams, then you have nothing to chase. It’s a simple mantra, but many fall short of fulfilling their imaginings due to a lack of talent or time. Brandon Brown is not one of those people.

After spending the last five years on the NGA Pro Golf Tour, Brown of Shelbyville, Ky., will get a chance at the “Big Time” by competing in the Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreux in early August. The event will be Brown’s first start on the PGA TOUR.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Brown, a six-time NGA TOUR winner. “It’s amazing what the NGA TOUR has done over the last few years for its players. All the guys on the Tour want to get to the next level, and I’m honored to be given the opportunity.”

Brown wasn’t “given” anything.

Thanks to a partnership between the NGA TOUR and the Reno-Tahoe Open, the Eastern Kentucky alumnus earned his position in the field by being the leading “member” on the NGA TOUR Pro Series money list at the season’s midpoint.

Brown’s inaugural start on the PGA TOUR couldn’t come at a better time, considering the two-time All-OVC Team selection has been playing remarkable golf over the last two years, racking up a Tour-high five wins.

“I’ve definitely been playing well over the last few years,” said Brown, who has 10 Nationwide Tour starts. “I’ve always felt like I had the ability to play on any tour, but I’ve made great strides in the mental side of the game and that’s helped my consistency. The last year and a half, I’ve just played golf and not gotten too far ahead of myself.”

Brown hopes the Zen-like focus will ease the butterflies when he tees it up against some of the best in the game.

“I’m going to treat it like any other event,” said Brown. “I’m super excited about being able to play in the Reno-Tahoe Open, but I can’t dwell on it because it would be easy to get overwhelmed. I’m not trying to treat the event any different and hopefully I can be in contention.”

The Reno-Tahoe Open is truly '"Big Time" as one of just 47 PGA TOUR events worldwide, and now the only event on the PGA TOUR calendar with a Modified Stableford scoring format. This year’s Reno-Tahoe Open takes place July 30-August 5, 2012 at the stunning Montrêux Golf & Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design course and one of the longest on the PGA TOUR.

The NGA has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA TOUR, Euro, Nationwide and Champions Tour cards. In fact, NGA alumni have won an incredible 15 “Major” championships.

NGA alumni include: 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson; 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley; 2010 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and 2003 U.S. Open Champion Jim Furyk; 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink; 2009 U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover; 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson; 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel; 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis; two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen; British Open and PGA Champion John Daly; British Open Champion Tom Lehman; PGA Champion David Toms; 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell; 2010 NGA Player of the Year Michael Thompson; 2011 PGA TOUR winners Sean O'Hair, Scott Piercy, Scott Stallings, Mark Wilson, Gary Woodland and many, many more.

At this year’s PGA TOUR Qualifying School, 52 percent of those earning fully-exempt status on the PGA TOUR and 67 percent of those earning fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour were past NGA Professionals. Another 16 NGA Professionals advanced to the PGA TOUR for 2012 by finishing inside the Top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list, including 2011 NGA members Ted Potter Jr, Russell Knox and Billy Hurley III.

The NGA Pro Golf Tour, established in 1988, predates the Nationwide Tour as the longest running developmental tour in golf. For more information on the NGA or the NGA Pro Golf Tour, please visit the website at www.NGATOUR.com or contact the Tour Office at (800) 992-8748.