IIG players Cameron Percy and Roger Tambellini have secured what millions of golfers around the world can only dream of- a gig on the PGA Tour next season.

The pair were part of the top 25 players on the money list at season’s end on the Nationwide Tour who gain promotion to “the big dance” next year.

Cameron Percy

For Percy, who works with Darren Cole and trains at the IIG, it is vindication of a decision he made in consultation with his family and support team:

“Last year, my advisors and I thought about what would benefit me the most, Q-school or the Nationwide Tour. We decided that a year’s worth of experience and traveling outweighs trying to catch lightning in a bottle during the one week of Q-School and going to the PGA TOUR unprepared. The most important thing to me is not making sure I get to the PGA TOUR, but making sure that when I get there that I am going to stay there. I feel this prepared me for doing exactly that.”

Percy notched 7 top ten finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season with a highlight being a T-5th finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship. The 35 year old from Victoria, Australia finished 8th on the money list.

Roger Tambellini

For Roger Tambellini, who works with IIG co-director Dale Lynch, this year was a great learning experience in terms of understanding strategy and the importance of a positive mindset on the golf course:

“The Nationwide Tour is full of talent and aggressive players. This year I learned how to practice, and how much, so that when I step onto the first tee I am looking for birdies. Everyone says the Nationwide Tour is just like the PGA TOUR but on a smaller scale and that statement couldn’t be more true.”

That aggressive attitude paid handsome dividends for Tambellini this season, no more so than when he won the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. He notched 4 other top ten finishes to end up 9th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

All of us here at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron and Roger, also their coaches Darren and Dale respectively, on a great achievement. Best of luck next year!

Nick Flanagan came to IIG www.iofgolf.com to work with me for 2 days. Nick is preparing for the last 8 events of the Nationwide Tour. Nick has been back in Australia for 2 months recharging his batteries. He has been surfing with his dad and mates daily and as a result his physical condition and upper body strength has improved tremendously. In the picture we are working in our swing catalyst room www.swingcatalyst.com at IIG. We use this room to accurately assess weight distribution and movement, ball trajectory, speed and spin and motion analysis with the combined camera, launch monitor and force platform. We are looking forward to Nick getting back to his winning form.

Six Mile, S.C. (July 14) – IIG student Roger Tambellini shot a final round 2-under-par 69 Sunday to win the second annual Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic on the Nationwide Tour by four strokes. Tambellini posted four consecutive rounds in the 60s and set a tournament record of 20 under par.

Tambellini, 34, who had two prior Nationwide Tour wins as a professional (2003 and 2005) jumped into third place on the Nationwide money list with more than $250,000 in earnings. This victory will almost certainly secure him a return to the PGA Tour where he was a member in 2004 and 2006.

“It all came together for me this week,” said the former University of Southern California All-American.

Tambellini’s game has been rejuvenated since becoming a student of instructor Dale Lynch at the International Institute of Golf at The Cliffs at Keowee Springs during the past year. The IIG opened its American home in April and has developed one of the most successful teaching tandems in golf since its founding in Australia in 1990. Lynch and Steve Bann, are the two principal directors of the IIG and support a roster of clients competing on every major professional tour worldwide.

“Roger is an extremely talented young man and we are proud to know that we have been able to help him achieve success,” Lynch said. “There is no quick fix to find the winner’s circle, but when you have the talent and the will to work hard you can see results.”

The IIG staff currently instructs seven of the world’s 75 top ranked golfers, including U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy and eight-time PGA Tour winner Stuart Appleby. For more information about the IIG, call (864) 868-0477 or visit www.iofgolf.com.

About The IIG
The International Institute of Golf (IIG) opened at The Cliffs at Keowee Springs in Six Mile, S.C., on April 25, with renowned Australian instructors Steve Bann and Dale Lynch establishing a home base in the United States at this academy. The U.S. facility is modeled after the highly successful Victorian Institute of Golf Sport (VIS) in Melbourne, Australia, which Lynch and Bann started 18 years ago.  The duo gained notice at the VIS for instructing well-known students Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, Stuart Appleby, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby and Mathew Goggin since they were juniors.

The IIG staff continues to service their current professional clients at Keowee Springs, but will also welcome amateur players. The staff currently instructs five of the top 75 golfers in the world. The Institute features the latest computer, video and motion analysis technology including an innovative indoor practice area complete with hitting bays and a putting studio. The Institute accompanies a new award-winning Tom Fazio-designed golf course at Keowee Springs – one of eight private master-planned residential developments within The Cliffs Communities, founded in 1989 by Jim Anthony and located in the heart of the Carolina Preserve stretching from Greenville, S.C., to Asheville, N.C. To learn more about The IIG, call (864) 868-0477 or visit www.iofgolf.com or www.cliffscommunties.com.

Contact:
Barrett Wood
(864) 868-0477
(404) 543-3400 cell
bwood@cliffscommunities.com