Adam Renfroe keeps wondering if the novelty will ever wear off.
But if it hasn’t by now, the Constellation Furyk & Friends may well have become a First Coast staple for years in the future.
The PGA Tour Champions event at the historic Timuquana Country Club, hosted by the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation, will be played for the third time Oct. 6-8, with the same trappings it has enjoyed since its inaugural year on the schedule in 2021.
Defending champion Steve Stricker will have to hold off a field loaded with World Golf Hall of Fame members, major champions and Players Champions, at a Donald Ross course that fits a veteran’s game: well-placed drives, strategic approach shots below the hole of the small, push-up greens and creative short games and putting.
Packed field: Furyk & Friends will include six Hall of Fame members, 14 major champions
It’s how Phil Mickelson and Stricker won the first two years and it likely will remain the same strategy for any winner.
At stake is a $315,000 first prize from a total purse of $2.1 million. Golf Channel will air the first and second rounds from 2-4 p.m. and the final round on a tape-delay basis on Oct. 8 from 9:30-11:30 p.m.
Joining Stricker, who is running away from the pack in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, will be players such as Furyk, a 17-time PGA Tour winner and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, Hall of Fame members such as Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els, and major champions David Duval, Mike Weir, Tom Lehman and Mark Calcavecchia.
“We love the golf course,” Furyk said during the tournament’s media day on Aug. 28. “I think we’re fortunate to be here at Timuquana … the course plays a big part. The players love it. They say it’s fair but difficult, which separates a field very quickly.”
Strong field brings in fans
Renfroe, the tournament’s executive director, said the course attracts the players. The loaded list of players attracts the fans. Then it’s up to the tournament to keep the fans engaged with what they’re seeing inside the ropes and what they can enjoy outside the ropes.
“Sometimes the newness wears off a tournament but that hasn’t happened here,” he said. “And this tournament has become a point of pride for Jacksonville and Duval County. Yes, The Players Championship is wonderful for the area, but it’s in Ponte Vedra Beach, in St. Johns County. They have the beach. In this tournament, we can focus on downtown, on…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…