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The Melwood Prince George's County Open golf tournament will tee off in a new location next year, as the PGA Nationwide Tour event moves from the Country Club at Woodmore in Mitchellville to the University of Maryland Golf Course in College Park.

In announcing the move Friday morning, tournament director Teo Sodeman said the event had a hard time attracting fans in the three years it was held at Woodmore. While he did not have precise attendance figures, Sodeman estimated the tournament drew between 20,000 and 25,000 fans in 2007 and 2008, and about 18,000 this year. He added the University of Maryland's accessibility was a key factor in the decision as organizers hope to grow the tournament, which will be held the first week of June.

"We looked around at other areas, but we felt the possibility of growing the event and making it bigger was overwhelming," he said. "Space and accessibility were becoming concerns, and we wanted to stay in Prince George's County."

The original contract between title sponsor Melwood and the Nationwide Tour was for five years. The tournament will be held in College Park during the remaining two years of the contract. Sodeman said the hope is to keep the event in Prince George's County for a long time.

University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. said hosting the tournament gives the university a chance to showcase its newly renovated golf course to an international stage. The 2010 tournament will be broadcast on the Golf Channel in up to 33 countries.

All 18 greens on Maryland's course have been reconstructed, and five new tee boxes were created on each hole. Thirty new bunkers were added, and the cart paths were rerouted. Sodeman said some of the fairways haven't grown in all the way because of the weather, so the PGA Tour ergonomic staff will come in and help fix the problem.

"Supporting the community is part of the university's mission, and this is just a great example of the partnership we have with the county," Mote said. "This gives us a chance to showcase the campus and bring tens of thousands of visitors that we hope will keep coming back."

The University of Maryland also could benefit financially by hosting the tournament. The university will sell tickets for the tournament under the Tickets Fore Charity program, which allows any nonprofit organization to keep 100 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales. The university could then use that money in whatever way it sees fit.

Terry Hasseltine, director of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, said the hope is for the tournament to generate anywhere from $10 million to $12 million for the local economy in its new location.

E-mail Joshua Hudson at j

hudson@gazette.net.