Professional golf is once again returning to Northwood Country Club in Meridian as the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series will hit the course for the Community Bank Classic Oct. 1-6. It is the third consecutive year for Northwood to host an Adams Tour event.

The Adams Golf Pro Tour Series, the so-called ‘Triple A’ of professional golf, is a developmental series on par with the Hooters Tour and a step below the Nationwide Tour, which the PGA Tour owns.

There are about 50 alums of the Adams Golf tour who are currently on the PGA Tour and another 75 alums that are on the Nationwide Tour, said Adams Tour president Gary Deserrano.

“We’ve been around 14 years and are best described as the ‘Triple A’ of golf,” Deserrano said. “The only difference is that in baseball, if you have talent, you get called up by the professional teams. Out here, you have to earn your spot on the PGA Tour through qualifying school. We have a lot of players out here who could do well on the PGA Tour who are just waiting for their shot. Until then, they are stuck here.”

The Adams Tour plays 12 tournaments a year, mostly in small to medium sized towns such as Texarkana, Texas, Houma, La. and Gulfport.

The Meridian event is the 11th tournament of the year and, according to Deserrano, the most popular.

“The players love this event,” Deserrano said. “The course is wonderful and the people are great. People put the players up in their houses during the week and feed them and the club does a great job with having events to go along with the tournament.”

The popularity of the tournament is evident just from the number of golfers who sign up to play. Desserrano said the usual Adams Tour event has about 75 entries while the Community Bank Classic is expecting about 80-90 entrants.

Leading Edges tournament director Lynn Combest said the hospitality of Meridian is what keeps the players coming back.

“It’s a good draw because all the players love coming to Meridian,” Combest said. “We like to keep them entertained and show them Meridian’s hospitality.”

The tournament is also good for the Meridian economy, Combest said.

“The players will bring their wives, girlfriends and families into Meridian,”Combest said. “There will probably be 150-200 people here associated with the tournament so it is very big for the city.”

The tournament events will begin on Monday, Oct. 1 with a skills competition at Briarwood Country Club. Players will have a break glass competition and a shootout. There will also be a pro-am drawing party on that Monday, where amateurs who have signed up to play in the pro-am find out who their professional partner will be.

The pro-am event will be Tuesday at Northwood with a gala that night. The actual professional tournament will begin Wednesday and continue through Saturday.

There will also be a Southern Barbecue cookout on Friday after the third round is completed. The final round will begin Saturday morning and should conclude at about 2 p.m. The awards presentation will begin shortly thereafter.

The total purse of the event is $32,000 with the winner receiving $20,000.