NEWS & NOTES
Week of October 11, 2010
It’s Just About Here – Many of the 144 players who will be competing in the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters will arrive in Ponte Vedra Beach over the weekend and will begin practice rounds this coming Monday.
Open Qualifying Is Monday – While Tour members will be practicing at TPC Sawgrass, a host of accomplished golfers will be grinding in Monday’s Open Qualifying events trying to earn one of the 14 available spots into the field. The host sites will be Marsh Creek Country Club and St. Johns Golf & Country Club, both in St. Augustine. Open Qualifying is conducted by the local PGA Section (North Florida Section) and is open to all professional golfers and amateurs with handicaps of two or less. In the 21-year history of the Nationwide Tour, 19 Open Qualifiers have gone on to win the event they qualified for, the most recent being Kyle Reifers at the 2006 Chattanooga Classic.
Juniors on the Tee! Also on Monday, tournament activities officially get underway with the Junior Clinic. This special event will feature hands-on, interactive instruction from PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour professionals. The event is free for all attendees, and the first 500 junior golfers will receive a free tournament cap. Attendees will also enjoy complimentary hot dogs and beverages. The Junior Clinic will take place at 5 pm on the TPC Sawgrass driving range and putting green. Junior golfers may bring their own clubs or use ones that are provided. The players taking part include: Jeff Klauk, Jason Gore, Hunter Haas, Kevin Kisner, Brad Elder, William McGirt, Garrett Osborn, B.J. Staten, Keegan Bradley, Sam Saunders and Michael Johnson (Junior PLAYERS Champion).
Sponsor Exemption News – Three of the tournament’s four sponsor exemptions have been extended. Sam Saunders and Jason Gore accepted invitations this week. Saunders is the 23-year-old grandson of Arnold Palmer. Gore is one of nine players to earn a three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR (2005) via the Nationwide Tour and one of golf’s most popular figures. Both have split playing time between the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour this year. Michael Johnson, who won the Junior PLAYERS Championship in early September at TPC Sawgrass, received his invitation upon winning that prestigious AJGA event. The fourth and final exemption will be announced in a few days.
Advance Week – This is advance week for the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters. The tournament infrastructure is being finalized, trailers are being put in place, signs are going up, superintendent Tom Vlach’s staff is fine tuning Dye’s Valley Course and tournament volunteer general chairperson Anne Nimnicht is going through last-minute preparations with her committees. Already in Ponte Vedra to head up the Nationwide Tour’s advance team are Orlando Pope of Flower Mound, Texas and Matt Delaney of Jacksonville on behalf of Rules and Competitions and Patrick Nichols of Jacksonville and the Operations staff.
Wine Tasting Events Added to Official Schedule of Events – The Winn-Dixie store on Solano Road in Ponte Vedra Beach will host a special celebration in honor of the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters Thursday through Saturday of next week. The celebration will consist of wine tastings, cuisine samplings, putting contests and more. Nationwide Tour players will be on hand Friday evening (Oct. 22nd) from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m., and the public is invited to meet the players and sample some of the store’s wine offerings.
Grocery Trifecta – Hunter Haas has two wins so far this year on the Nationwide Tour, and both have come at tournaments with grocers for title sponsors: the Price Cutter Championship (Springfield, MO) and the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft (Idaho). By completing the “grocery trifecta” with a win at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters, he would be the first player to “fill his grocery cart” three times and advance immediately to the PGA TOUR under the Nationwide Tour’s “three-win promotion” benefit. (Chris Kirk, Tommy Gainey and Martin Pillar also each have two wins this year and would be promoted to the PGA TOUR with a victory at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters.)
Gators, Bulldogs and Seminoles – Golf fans with connections to several prominent Florida/Georgia colleges will have a handful of golfers to follow next week – U. of Florida (Bubba Dickerson, Camilo Benedetti), U. of Georgia (Paul Claxton, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner), FSU (Jonas Blixt) and Florida Southern (Jeff Klauk, Darron Stiles). A reminder to football fans….the Gators and Seminoles are idle next week….the Bulldogs are on the road for a night game at Kentucky…and the Jaguars are in Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Spend $50 and Save $200! – The Dye’s Valley Twosome Package is proving to be a popular ticket option for golf lovers. The special package includes two weekly tickets to the tournament, free on-site parking, access to the Winn-Dixie Pavilion, TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse privileges and two vouchers for $100 off two rounds of golf at Dye’s Valley (a total of $200 in golf savings). The package sells for $50, and like all of the tournament’s ticket sales, 100% of the purchase price will go directly to a local non-profit. The response to the package by ticket buyers has been strong, and since there is no limit on the number that can be purchased, many fans and organizations are buying multiple packages. The Dye’s Valley Twosome Package is on sale exclusively at the tournament’s website, www.winndixiejacksonvilleopen.com.
Media Credentials & Parking – As a reminder, there is no pre-registration for media. All media will register and receive their credentials on-site at the TPC Sawgrass Media Center, which opens at 8 am Monday. Media parking is on-site, as well. If you have any questions or special requests, please direct them to Darin Linnman. His contact information is listed below.
This Week on the Nationwide Tour – The Tour is 300+ miles due south of Jacksonville at the Miccosukee Championship in Miami.
Did You Know? – Chris Kirk of St. Simons Island, Ga. played in last week’s McCladrey Classic on the PGA TOUR as a sponsor’s exemption. He had a very solid week, finishing T15 in a field of 132. The former Georgia Bulldog and college player of the year is second on the Nationwide Tour money list, trailing No. 1 Jamie Lovemark by $8,763.
KEY TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
- Oct. 18-24
- Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass at PGA TOUR headquarters, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
- Final full-field event of 2010 (28th of 29 events)
- 144 players
- $600,000 purse / $108,000 first prize
- Dole Food Company Pro-Am, Wed. Oct. 20, Dye’s Valley & PLAYERS Stadium courses, 108 teams
- Golf Channel coverage – Thursday through Sunday (10 hours live, 10 hours of re-air)
- Buy your weekly tickets and support your favorite charity via PepsiCo TICKETS Fore CHARITY™, www.winndixiejacksonvilleopen.com. Log on today!
- Weekly and daily tickets available at the gate
- Tournament Management Company – Jeff Sanders Promotions, Inc., www.jspgolf.com
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