South Charleston, W.Va. - The West Virginia Division of Tourism and the PGA TOUR announced today that Fred Wilkerson Jr. has created the winning entry in the Nationwide Tour Players Cup trophy design competition. Wilkerson, a glassmaker from Moundsville, Marshall County, said he was thrilled to be named the winner.
"I'm so happy to have won this competition," Wilkerson said from his Moundsville glassmaking company, Wilkerson Glass Company. "I had a strong image of what I felt the trophy for this world-class golf tournament should look like and was able to translate that mental picture into the winning entry."
The glass trophy will be awarded at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup scheduled to take place July 7-13, 2008, at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport. The trophy design also will be used in marketing materials, and copies of the trophy will be displayed at PGA TOUR headquarters and the West Virginia Governor's Office in Charleston.
Wilkerson said the process of creating the trophy was a cumulative one that included glassblowing, hand cutting and carving, and took at least eight hours to finish. The trophy is made of two individual glass pieces that were made separately and fitted together to complete the design.
Wilkerson is a third-generation glassmaker who started in the trade in 1975. His company, Wilkerson Glass Company, produces one-of-a-kind client-driven designs, as well as standard glass pieces like paperweights and small animals. Wilkerson said that even though he doesn't have a catalog, he ships his products throughout the United States. His work is available locally at many stores, including Tamarack and the gift shop at Oglebay Park.
"Although I have items that are reproduced, such as butterfly paperweights and larger sculpted pieces, each one is unique because of the individual efforts put into it," Wilkerson said.
The Nationwide Tour, which is owned and managed by the PGA TOUR, attracts some of the top golfers in the country. The top 25 on the Nationwide Tour qualify to play on the PGA Tour. West Virginia was chosen in December to host the first Players Cup, which offers $1 million in prize money and is the premier in-season event on the 32-tournament Nationwide Tour.
For more information about golfing in West Virginia, visit www.wvgolfing.com.
Fred Wilkerson Jr. can be reached by phone at (304) 845-3552 or by e-mail at glassman442@comcast.net.
304-558-2003, ext. 363