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In a matter of only a few years, the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs has proven itself to be the premier event on the Nationwide Tour. From venues to hospitality, the tournament is considered by many to be the closest thing to experiencing the PGA Tour, without being on the PGA Tour.

“It’s my favorite event of the year,” says IMI-sponsored Nationwide Tour Pro Kyle Thompson, a native of the Greenville, S.C., area who played in the precursor to the pro-am event as a senior in high school in 1998.

“I love playing in it. The crowds are always really good. The amenities are unbelievable and probably the best we have all year. Everything about it makes it great.”

The event planners are clear that their goal is to emulate — both in style and substance — the venerable AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which was popularly known as the Bing Crosby “Clambake” when it started on the Monterey Peninsula in 1947. Just like Pebble Beach, professionals partner with celebrities and corporate executives in a first-class golf environment that is competitive, yet fun.

The similarity between the events at The Cliffs and Pebble Beach has not been lost on observers and participants, drawing favorable comparisons for The Cliffs to its Pacific Coast muse. That’s saying something, considering the Nationwide Tour event doesn’t have the benefit of an oceanfront locale or 60 years of experience. “This is the Nationwide Tour’s AT&T,” says Thompson, a Cliffs regular who also played in his first Pebble Beach event this year.

Like the Pebble Beach event, the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs is played on three dramatic championship courses set against the backdrop of breathtaking scenery and regal homes — the Ben Wright-designed Cliffs Valley, the Tom Fazio-created Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards and the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove.

Each course has drawn rave reviews as being among the best the Nationwide Tour plays all season. “The Vineyards course, in my mind, is the best course we play all year,” Thompson says.

Jay Delsing, who started playing in the BMW in 2005 and who has played in every Pebble Beach event since 1985 says the Walnut Cove course, which joined the tournament roster in 2005, is among the most beautiful he’s ever played.  “I was blown away,” Delsing says. “Once I drove over those hills and saw the beautiful homes and golf course, it was absolutely amazing. These properties just get prettier and prettier.”

The combination of high-caliber courses, A-list celebrities and first-class amenities has been well-received by tournament participants, sponsors, and fans alike. The kind of success the event has generated doesn’t happen by accident and requires sponsor commitment as well as a volunteer corps of 1,400 — the majority of whom are Cliffs property owners. Since adopting the celebrity pro-am format in 2001 and moving to The Cliffs rotation of courses, the event has raised more than $3.7 million for its charities in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, making it the leading charitable donor on the Nationwide Tour.

“We worked to set ourselves apart,” says Scott Beville, the senior vice president of sales and marketing for The Cliffs Communities. “It’s all about the quality of the courses, the participants’ experience and the tournament’s ability to help other people.”

Aside from the three golf courses where the tournament is staged and the unique format, what sets the event even further apart from others on the Nationwide Tour are the non-golf amenities.

“They do a lot of little things that make it special,” Thompson says of the services. Players and their families get to stay in luxury homes overlooking the mountains. BMW helps supply courtesy cars. Gourmet, catered meals are provided every day. Some of the celebrities take advantage of helicopter shuttle service between the venues.

“The tournament is so well-run and they do a lot of nice things for you as a contestant,” Delsing says. “That’s important on the Nationwide Tour where there’s not that many opportunities like that. When you’ve got companies like The Cliffs, IMI and BMW involved, you’re going to take things to a different level.”

Those differences have attracted roughly 200,000 fans, including 45,000 in 2003 who came to see the rarest of all Golden Bear sightings — Jack Nicklaus and all four of his sons playing in the same event for the first time.

Like the annual “Clambake” at Pebble Beach, the BMW Charity Pro-Am is laced with a mixture of celebrities and corporate leaders. Kevin Costner and Tin Cup co-star Cheech Marin are regulars, as is Kurt Russell, John O’Hurley and “J.A.G.” actress Catherine Bell. Retired sports superstars such as Wayne Gretzky and John Elway are on hand, as well. And musicians from Hootie and the Blowfish to the Gatlin Brothers also tee it up. Former Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers is one of four celebrities who has never missed a chance to contend for the amateur title.

“The people who play in the event at that level, it has to be one of the highlights of their year,” says veteran Nationwide and PGA Tour professional and IMI-sponsored golfer Jim McGovern. “They get such a better feel for what it’s like and they feel the pressure. It would be like me going out to pitch at Yankee Stadium.”

Says Delsing: “It’s a really big deal for the celebrities and executives, as well. As many opportunities as these folks who play in that tournament have to do different things, I guarantee they like that as much as anything they do all year.”

McGovern got the chance to play in Costner’s group last year to get a real sense of the celebrity attraction. “I can’t imagine what he goes through,” McGovern says. “He puts on a great show and he signs about a thousand autographs.”

At its core, the Nationwide Tour is designed to be a training ground for aspiring PGA Tour pros. It certainly was for Clemson University standout Charles Warren, who went straight from college to the PGA Tour in his first season as a pro. His 2002 victory at The Cliffs was not only a career first but the first of three in his five seasons on the Nationwide, leading him back to the PGA Tour in 2005.

“It was obviously a dream come true,” Warren says. “Winning my first Nationwide event was something I knew would be a special moment, but to do it here in Greenville, 45 minutes from Clemson, and to do it at The Cliffs, which I now represent, it was definitely a thrill.”

Ultimately, that win proved to be a turning point in his career. Two more victories in 2004 elevated Warren back to the PGA Tour, where he’s made consecutive cuts at Pebble Beach including a tie for 16th in 2005. “I felt like it got me over the hump at a professional level where I felt like I could compete, and I think my career has been on the up-and-up ever since that first win,” he says. “Any time you can win on the Nationwide Tour, you’ve definitely proven yourself in a great field.”

The Cliffs event gives the players a taste of what it’s like to play in the participation pro-ams held every year both at Pebble Beach and at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in Palm Springs, Warren and others say. Even for young players growing accustomed to weekly pro-ams with sponsors at every venue, it’s different when you get in between the ropes with amateurs and every shot you take counts.

Thompson says his experience at The Cliffs, where he plays every year with fellow University of South Carolina alum George Rogers, helped him handle his first time at Pebble Beach playing with USGA president Walter Driver. “The biggest thing you have to be ready for is the pace of play,” Thompson says. “You go into it mentally prepared for that and just deal with it.”

While a field filled with Oscar winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners and Heisman Trophy winners certainly makes The Cliffs Pro-Am unique, it’s a couple of major championship winners who have really stood out on the scoreboards. How many other Nationwide Tour events have been graced with the presence of both Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player — two of only five golfers in history to complete the career Grand Slam?

 “That’s a tribute to the weight that tournament carries when you get a guy like Jack Nicklaus — the greatest player in the world, who doesn’t really play much any more — to come. That’s impressive,” Delsing says.

Player — a nine-time major winner himself who announced a partnership with The Cliffs to build a seventh course in the region at The Cliffs at Mountain Park — has played in each of the last four tournaments. Player recently announced plans to move his corporate headquarters from Florida to a 300-acre pedestrian village at The Cliffs at Mountain Park in Travelers Rest, S.C.

It is this commitment to quality and the level of talent it attracts to The Cliffs golf courses year after year that makes the BMW Charity Pro-Am a major-league experience.