The B.C. Open may have gotten its name from a popular comic strip, but preparations for this year's tournament were anything but funny.

When severe flooding at the En-Joie Golf Club put the original host venue under almost 20 feet of water, the PGA TOUR sought another home for the B.C. Open. The Oneida Nation came to the rescue and saved the tournament by offering the use of their course, the Atunyote Course at Turning Stone Resort.

The efforts made by the tournament staff to successfully pull the event off weren't lost on defending champion Jason Bohn.

"I am so impressed that they could put on a PGA TOUR event in just 12 days when it takes basically 12 months to do it. I thought there would be a little more chaos, because it has been such a rush to get an event here, but the ropes are up, the towers are there, credentials, they are ready to go," Bohn said. "It is very impressive to me."

While Bohn had an opportunity to qualify for the British Open, which is being played this week as well, he chose instead to return to the event that changed his life a year ago when he earned his first TOUR title.

"I wanted to come back and say thanks to the people who put it on. Let them know that they changed my life forever," Bohn said. "I know there will be another British Open, so I felt like this was the right thing for me to do. I have really looked forward to it since I made the decision. I was extremely thankful that the Turning Stone Resort made it so we could play a golf tournament."

Bohn knows defending his title will be harder on a completely new and different course, but he said there are other benefits to being last year's winner besides familiarity with the venue.

"You lose the fact that you are not playing the same golf course, so you lose the memories of last year and all the great shots," Bohn said. "The things that you don't lose coming back to defend your title are all the things that come with being a defending champion -- name on your parking spot, picture on the program, picture in the paper.

"You bring back the memories of playing good golf, playing well that week and coming out on top and that does not matter where you played or where you won. You are the man for a couple of days leading up to the event, and that is a pretty cool thing."

Bohn said the new location, which hosted the PGA of America Professional National Championship less than a month ago, has a great golf course and that the Turning Stone Resort staff have been fully supportive and excited about the event. He also said the firm greens are as good as any he has seen on the TOUR.

Jason Bohn's breakthrough on TOUR came at the 2005 B.C. Open. (Condon/ WireImage)

"The golf course is going to play difficult with strong winds because the greens are kind of firm. The elements are really going to dictate the scores this week," he added.

The field in the tournament is a mix of established TOUR veterans, such as Larry Mize and Bill Glasson, plus hot newcomers like Bill Haas, Jonathan Byrd and Bubba Watson. Joey Sindelar, a two-time B.C. Open winner, returns for his 23rd start in the event. Sindelar has placed in the top 10 an impressive seven times in the B.C. Open and looks to make a run for a record-setting third win in the tournament.

Another notable player in the field is 23-year-old Madalisto Muthiya, a native of Zambia who made headlines last month when he became the first golfer from his country to compete in a U.S. Open. Muthiya, who received the Commissioner's Foreign Exemption into the B.C. Open, started playing golf at the age of nine. Since there were only 17 golf courses in Zambia and no golf coaches, he learned bits and pieces about the game from his late father Peter and television coverage.

The Tom Fazio-designed Atunyote Golf Club opened in 2004. Atunyote, the Oneida word for eagle, was ranked one of the "Top 10 New Courses You Can Play" by GOLF Magazine in 2004. The B.C. Open had been held at the En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y. since the inaugural event in 1971 and had seen such winners as John Daly, Fred Couples, Jay Haas and Tom Kite. Endicott is also the birthplace of Johnny Hart, creator of the cartoon B.C., which has golf-themed comics the week of the event.

Broome County Community Charities, Inc. has sponsored the event since 1974 and has donated over $8 million to local charities over the years. All charitable proceeds from this year's event will go toward flood relief in Broome County.