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GREENSBORO — Thirty-one years after Greensboro's professional golf tournament moved out, Sedgefield Country Club will play host to this year's Wyndham Championship.


Is a move to Sedgefield from Forest Oaks smart? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.


The club's board of directors approved a deal that brings the tournament back to Sedgefield through 2009 — with the possibility of extending the arrangement through 2017 — according to sources familiar with the deal.


The move ends a 31-year relationship between Forest Oaks Country Club and the PGA Tour, and wipes out the remaining 15 years of a contract between Forest Oaks and the Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation, the group that oversees the Wyndham.


The deal is not official. The foundation will not sign the contract with Sedgefield until it gets out of its long-term contract with Forest Oaks. That should come soon: Sources said the foundation has reached a tentative financial settlement with New York-based Nisshin, which owns Forest Oaks.


Neither Forest Oaks owner Tadashi Hattori nor Greensboro businessman Bobby Long, chairman of the foundation and the driving force behind the tournament's move to Sedgefield, could be reached Wednesday night for comment. Sedgefield President Joe DePasquale also could not be reached.


Tournament director Mark Brazil issued a statement Wednesday denying the Wyndham was returning to Sedgefield for the Aug. 14-17 event.


"A lot of rumors have been flying around for quite some time," Brazil said. "No deals are in place; we are still working on this. Several options are still available, including a return to Forest Oaks."


But sources with knowledge of Sedgefield's negotiations with the foundation said the club's board of directors approved a deal Friday to bring the tournament back to Sedgefield, where the Greater Greensboro Open made its debut in 1938 and Sam Snead won the first of his record eight titles here.


Sedgefield traded the host's role with Starmount Country Club for the first 21 editions of the tournament . In 1961, Sedgefield became the tournament's sole home , its blooming azaleas and looming Tudor clubhouse the perfect backdrop for professional golf's stop in Greensboro each spring.


In its glory days at Sedgefield, the tournament had one of the richest purses and was one of the most popular tour stops with fans.


But by 1976, club members and neighbors had grown tired of the event and hinted to Greensboro Jaycees officials that perhaps they should shop the tournament around. The Jaycees, who ran the tournament until 2006, looked at the Cardinal Golf & Country Club and Bryan Park Golf Course before signing a deal with Forest Oaks, a golf course carved out of farmland in the southeast corner of the city.


Now Sedgefield wants the tournament back.


"Members are incredibly excited over this," said one Sedgefield member, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly for the club. "A lot of us didn't think this would ever actually happen when we first heard about it. Almost everyone is behind it, willing to make it a success."


Sedgefield's deal calls for the club to take more ownership of the tournament than Forest Oaks was willing or able to do.


The club and foundation have agreed to a partnership that allows both groups to share in revenue generated from catering, according to sources. The contract calls for a minimum payout to help pay for course maintenance.


In contrast, the foundation paid Forest Oaks a flat annual fee to use its course.


The arrangement is something of a risk for Sedgefield, given the tournament has struggled in recent years to draw big-name players and, in turn, fans.


But Sedgefield and foundation officials believe the Wyndham has the potential to rise to the class of the some of the tour's premier events.


Tournament officials are banking on Sedgefield's course, created by pre-eminent architect Donald Ross, to lure bigger names to a tournament lacking in that department. The tour currently does not play on any Ross courses.


Sources say the foundation's agreement with Sedgefield ends in 2010, the same year the Wyndham's contract with the PGA Tour ends. If tour officials renew the deal with the Wyndham — hardly a sure thing given the tour's tumultuous state with competing cities — foundation officials can exercise one-year renewals with Sedgefield through 2017.


PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs said the tour was unaware of any deal between Sedgefield and the foundation.


"We're aware of the site considerations, but nothing's been finalized," Combs said. "I'm sure a decision on where to play will be made soon."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com