ELEANOR, W.Va. -- Eleanor glassmaker John DesMeules hit a hole in one with his design entry for the Nationwide Tour Players Cup trophy design competition.

As the top winner, DesMeules, owner of Glass Dimensions in Eleanor, received a $2,000 stipend to cover the costs of labor, materials and expenses used to create the trophy, along with tickets to the tournament and exhibit space at the event.

The glass trophy will be awarded at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup, which concludes June 28 at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va. The design also will be used in marketing materials and displayed prominently on the Golf Channel's coverage of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup.

In a press release from the West Virginia Department of Commerce, DesMeules said he is impressed that the PGA TOUR is featuring a West Virginia artisan, and he feels honored to have been chosen to design the Players Cup trophy.

"I'm just tickled to death. I think it's great," he said, adding that the trophy design gives him the opportunity to use the relatively new glassblowing technique that he proposed.

"I start with a core center of blue. I drop on my pipe a chunk of solid blue glass, and I start blowing that out. Then I cover that in crystal, blow it out more and cover it in crystal again," he said. "There will probably be three or four layers of crystal on top of the blue."

The top portion will be sandblasted through, creating the illusion of hills to represent West Virginia's terrain, he said.

DesMeules has been in the glass blowing business for 17 years. His company, Glass Dimensions, produces standard glass pieces and custom designs such as the sand-blasted divider panels inside the restaurant at Tri-State Greyhound Park.

The artist's work includes vases, mirrors, awards and other gifts. His specialty is a combination of blown glass and sandblasting, a technique he employs in his bestselling design, a West Virginia-themed paperweight.

"I call them silhouette paperweights," he said. "They're smaller, and I sandblast silhouettes of the state and add color in the middle. I've sold a lot of those."

Glass Dimensions creations are available at Tamarack and at gift shops throughout the Kanawha Valley.

The Players Cup is considered the tour's premier in-season championship and was the first Nationwide Tour event in history to host a $1 million purse.

For more information on the tournament, visit www.playerscup.net or call 304-848-2027.

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Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Department of Commerce

Eleanor glassmaker John DesMeules displays his winning entry in the Nationwide Tour Players Cup trophy design competition. The trophy will be awarded to the winner of the Players Cup tournament in Bridgeport, W.Va., which concludes on Sunday, June 28.

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