The PGA Tour has cancelled the Web.com Tour Championship due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew, ending the 2015-2016 Web.com Tour season.

“It is unfortunate that we’ve had to cancel our season-ending event; however, our first priority is the safety of our players, fans, volunteers and staff,” said Web.com Tour President Bill Calfee. “With Hurricane Matthew on the horizon, it is critical that we make sure everyone involved with the Web.com Tour Championship has ample time to evacuate the Northeast Florida area and return home.”

The Web.com Tour Championship was to be played October 6-9 at Atlantic Beach Country Club in Atlantic Beach, Fla., located about 10 miles north of PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, a suburb of Jacksonville.

On Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide emergency, and an evacuation of Atlantic Beach was issued late Wednesday by the city of Jacksonville.

The 13th green at Atlantic Beach Country Club.

Related: Our photos from the 2016 Web.com Tour Championship

The Tour Championship was the last of the Web.com Tour’s Finals, a four-event playoff series that determines playing privileges for Web.com Tour and PGA Tour players. With the tournament cancelled, all earnings through the first three events of the Web.com Tour Finals are deemed official.

The cancellation is the first since 2005 on the Web.com Tour, when Hurricane Wilma forced the cancellation of the Miccosukee Championship.

Preparations for Hurricane Matthew were underway prior to the cancellation of the event, with the Golf Channel removing towers and staff from the property, and hospitality tents being broken down to prepare for the anticipated dangerous weather.

According to the National Weather Center, tropical storm conditions are expected to reach parts of the Florida Coast by early Thursday, with hurricane winds likely in certain areas later in the day. Flooding, power outages and damaging winds are likely.

Hurricane Matthew’s projected path and intensity (Weather Channel).

On Wednesday, Hurricane Matthew reached wind speeds of more than 120 mph over the Bahamas, making it a Category-3 hurricane. Forecasters predict it could strengthen to a Category-4 hurricane by the time it hits Florida. Its predicted path also includes Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, which it is expected to strike sometime between Thursday evening and Saturday before turning east into the Atlantic Ocean.

“I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday. “That means people have less than 24 hours to prepare, evacuate and shelter. Having a plan in place could mean the difference between life and death.”

Hurricane Matthew made landfall earlier in the week in the Caribbean, accounting for at least 11 deaths, five of them in Haiti.