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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- While traveling the PGA TOUR for nearly two decades, I have been to some god-forsaken places.

Nearly every week on TOUR, someone can be heard wondering aloud, "Why do people live here?" The answers to this rhetorical question must vary from person to person, place to place. Happiness is one of those things that is impossible to quantify. The happiest person in the country may live three hours outside Fargo, N.D. The grumpiest man could be sitting at Captain Tony's in Key West.

Our John Maginnes is thrilled to have the PGA TOUR in his hometown this week. (Getty Images)

Like a lot of young men, I chose Greensboro, N.C. for all the right reasons. Fifteen years ago, my fiancée told me that was where we were going to live. It had everything that I needed at the time. I was fooled by the word "international" in the name of the airport, though. It means that you can fly to Atlanta or Charlotte and connect to an international destination. But on the up side, if you park your car a half an hour before your flight, you will clear security in time to buy a paperback before boarding.

The golf in this area is as good as any city its size in America. From country clubs who boast designers like Donald Ross, Alister Mackenzie and Pete Dye to affordable resort courses and public courses, the Piedmont Triad is a hidden golf gem.

Those were the reasons that I came to Greensboro. The people are the reason that I will never leave.

I love it when someone says that they love the town they live in because of the abundance of culture. Greensboro may have a symphony, but I would have to check. I have been to plays and shows around town over the years, but I would hardly consider myself a patron of the arts.

There are big events throughout the year. We have a music festival and numerous events commemorating the Battle of Guilford Courthouse which was the turning point in the Revolutionary War. General Nathanael Greene is recognized and honored to this day. The battlefield has been preserved and a statue erected to commemorate the men who fought for our independence. Guilford Courthouse National Military Park was the first National Park in the United States recognizing a Revolutionary War site.

The biggest annual event of the year in Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad is the Wyndham Championship. Like all PGA TOUR events, the buzz surrounding the tournament starts months before in 19th holes and local haunts. The murmurs rise as the tournament gets closer. Volunteers from all walks of life take the week off to help out with the event.

The closest major sports franchises to the Piedmont are in Raleigh and in Charlotte. The Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL have a rabid following -- although the draw from the middle of the state is modest, at best. It seems as if everyone has jumped on the Carolina Panthers bandwagon in recent years, and the team has done an incredible job of making it "the" NFL team of the Carolinas, and not just the Charlotte region. I have heard rumblings about an NBA team in Charlotte but I have never met anyone who has actually attended a game.

Of course we have NASCAR, too. Like golf, the racing circuit only visits the area officially a couple of times a year. But like golf it is ever-prevalent in the minds of Carolina sports fans.

It may be because we don't have a big market sports presence in this area that our golf fans tend to know more about the average TOUR player than most. It could be because there have been a few average TOUR players from Greensboro in the last couple of decades -- present company most definitely included.

As a TOUR player coming to Greensboro for the first time or the 21st time, you are going to be welcome. No matter if you have won two majors or missed 10 cuts, the people of Triad are going to roll out the red carpet and do their best to make you feel welcome.

After having lived here for most of my adult life, I can tell you that polite hospitality is one of the generosities of life in the region. There is a contagious amicability here. Charity is more than fashionable here, it is a way of life. A large chunk of the charitable dollars that go into the community every year are generated right here at the Wyndham Championship -- as if there wasn't enough other reasons to love this event.

If you are here for the first time, welcome to my town.