Jeff Borzello talked to anonymous coaches about the American men’s basketball programs that have the most and fewest recruiting advantages.
Three months, give or take a day or two. That’s how long this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree had taken to go from idea to reality. The open date on the PGA TOUR became available on March 9 when the RBC Canadian Open announced that it would not be played for the second straight year due to COVID-19 restrictions. RELATED: Congaree Global Golf Initiative helps pave way from high school to next level The disclosure set off a burst of activity that essentially began with a meeting in South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster’s office. Among those attending was Ty Votaw, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the PGA TOUR; Duane Parrish, director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; and Bruce Davidson, co-director of golf at Congaree Golf Club. As excited as he was about the prospect of partnering with the TOUR to get more exposure for travel and tourism in his state, Parrish admits to some trepidation. “One of my questions in the meeting was can we pull off a golf tournament 90 days?” Parrish recalls. “And the answer was, yes. They said they’d done it a couple of times in 2020 when they had the move tournaments because of COVID. “And so, they gave me a lot of faith and confidence they could.” Within weeks, and with the support of the state legislature, South Carolina, which boasts more than 350 golf courses, had committed $6 million in sports marketing funds to the tournament. The Palmetto Championship at Congaree is the third TOUR event to be held in the state in the past three months, joining the RBC Heritage in April and the PGA Championship in May. Congaree owner Dan Friedkin was also on board. He had a unique golf course to showcase – a Tom Fazio design, which just opened in the fall of 2017 and has quickly climbed Golf Digest’s rankings, clocking in at No. 39 among the 2021-22 list of America’s 100 Greatest. And Congaree is second only to the Ocean Course at Kiawah in the best-in-the-state list. More importantly, perhaps, is the story of philanthropy the club has to tell with its Congaree Global Golf Initiative. The club’s roughly 200 members, who are referred to as ambassadors, are committed to identifying and mentoring deserving, underserved teenagers who want to play college golf in a three-year program that takes the rising juniors from high school to university. With the golf course and funding secured, it was time to make the Palmetto Championship at Congaree happen. The event was announced April 2, which was about the time Meghan Costello, who works for the TOUR’s Championship Management division, learned she would be the tournament director for an event that would begin on June 7. Not that the condensed timeline worried her. Earlier this year, Costello served in the same capacity for the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at the Concession – another one-time event that moved from Mexico City to Bradenton, Florida, due to logistical challenges presented by COVID in February. “Well, I’ll be honest,” she says when asked about her newest assignment. “We had just come off of running the WGC at Concession and we had about 42 days to plan that event. “So, I thought, wow — we have lots of time at about 85 days to get this one done.” Costello made her first site visit to Congaree the week after the Masters. The property, while somewhat remote — located roughly 35-45 minutes or so from Bluffton and Beaufort in South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, – is expansive and offered many options for positioning things like the TV compound and parking as well as routing spectators. The biggest challenge, Costello says, was finding enough volunteers to work as marshals and with the ShotLink scoring system. The RBC Heritage team helped by sending out email blasts to their volunteers to see if they’d be interested in working at Congaree. Turns out more than 750 volunteers have committed, many of whom live in the Sun City retirement community in Bluffton. Spectators will be allowed – and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who grew up in South Carolina, will undoubtedly be among their favorites. Perhaps fittingly for a walking-only course, there are no bleachers, which made set-up easier, but the state and Congaree will have hospitality tents around the 18th green. When the tournament is over, Parrish, who is on the board of the RBC Heritage, expects the economic benefit to the state to be more than $50 million. He says roughly 25% of the SCPRT marketing is centered around golf of some sort – particularly in the Lowcountry and on the Grand Strand of Myrtle Beach. That marketing, though, is normally focused east of the Mississippi River. The Palmetto Championship at Congaree provides national exposure with 32 commercial spots over the four days of the event, 16 each on Golf Channel and CBS. Parrish acknowledges that seeing his state host three TOUR events in three months – along with this week’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation on the Korn Ferry Tour – probably won’t happen again in his lifetime. “Some may see South Carolina, what we have, for the first time,” says Parrish, who noted that rounds played in the state are up more than 20% over the last year. “So that’s a really big benefit for us.” Granted, the general public can’t call Congaree and get a tee time at the course that in 2018 was named Golf Digest’s “Best New Private Club.” But the telecast will offer a glimpse behind the scenes at a course that is fast developing a reputation as one of the country’s best. Davidson, who is from Scotland, compares Congaree to a heathland course like Sunningdale or Walton Heath in the United Kingdom. Think a hybrid of a links and parkland layout, with native grasses and pines and 130 acres of sandy waste areas to navigate. “It’s a Sandy subsoil, but not necessarily as undulating as linksland tends to be because it’s beside the sea,” he says. “It plays firm and fast. It’s fiery and Tom did an outstanding job. Every golf hole is different. Every golf hole is memorable. “And other than a couple of forced carries you can play golf on the ground here, which is unusual in this country.” Friedkin wanted Fazio to build a course that would have an opportunity like this to challenge the world’s best. In fact, a bid was made to host the 2026 Presidents Cup and while Medinah actually got the nod, the groundwork with the TOUR had been laid. The philanthropic mission of the club and its ambassadors meshes well with that of the TOUR, which has raised more than $3 billion for charity. Beyond the CGGI, the club, which is located South Carolina’s poorest county, is a big supporter of the local food bank and worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs to set up the Congaree Career Launch Program where high school students can learn about financial literacy and career development to prepare for the future. Congaree also built a driving range and practice area at Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School where more than 250 students now hone their skills. And the Congaree Foundation has purchased and helped refresh Sergeant Jasper Golf Club, nine-hole facility that is open to the public and where three local high school teams can play for free. With an uber-exclusive course to introduce to the world on television and a remarkable charitable story to tell, the partnership with the TOUR and the state of South Carolina was a win-win for Congaree. Now that Johnson, Brooks Koepka, et al, have arrived, the final piece of the puzzle has been played. “When those first fans come through the gate on Thursday, it’s going to be something special,” Davidson says.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Six-time PGA TOUR winner and 2014 FedExCup champion Billy Horschel today announced that he will host a special Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour event bringing 18 top minority golfers to THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on July 29-31. The Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco, will focus not only on the competition but also in providing key development opportunities for players off the course as well. The Advocates Professional Golf Association was established in 2008 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The Tour hosts and operates professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and introduces the game to inner city youth throughout the country. “Growing up in a blue-collar family, I did not always have the same opportunities in golf as some of my fellow competitors. Without some of the success that I had in college, I would have struggled to find financial backing, resources, and industry connections to continue my dream of making it onto the PGA TOUR,” Horschel said. “Through the APGA Tour and The Player Development Program, I want to help support each players’ journey, provide them with some resources, and gain an experience that I hope will benefit each player as they chase their dreams in professional golf. I’m thrilled to have a company like Cisco, who have already shown great support of promoting equality and diversity in golf, to help this event have a massive impact for these young players both inside and outside the ropes.” “I want to thank Billy Horschel for launching this APGA event and giving Cisco the opportunity to support this important initiative,” said Mark Patterson, SVP and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO at Cisco. “At Cisco, we are focused on powering a more inclusive future, and this is another intentional moment where we are proud to step up and provide support for promising golfers, just as we did earlier this year when we welcomed Kamaiu Johnson to Team Cisco. We’re thrilled to be part of this event and look forward to helping more aspiring golfers reach their full potential!” The event will include an initial day of a pro-am, roundtable, seminars and other development opportunities all with key partners and industry leaders. The competition will challenge the players with 36 holes at THE PLAYERS Stadium course, home of THE PLAYERS Championship. “We are grateful that Billy Horschel took the initiative to start this event and for Cisco’s support to help us continue to create unique opportunities for our players to grow and develop as golfers both on and off the course. Billy’s passion to help these young men is beyond incredible,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “The APGA Tour is a special group of players who all have stories of perseverance and determination. Events like this are crucial for the guys in our development program to continue to progress as golfers and also to introduce them to the variety of opportunities in the golf industry as a whole. I can’t wait to see our guys spend three days at the home of the PGA TOUR and take on TPC Sawgrass.” The event will include several rising stars including Kamaiu Johnson and Willie Mack who each have made multiple starts on the PGA TOUR this year. Johnson returned from his PGA TOUR experience to win in his first event back on the APGA Tour at TPC Las Vegas in April. Mack is one of the most successful players in the history of the APGA Tour with six victories and two Lexus Cup titles. Mack has 65 professional victories and won a record 11 times as a member of the Bethune Cookman golf team. Rovonta Young and Jacksonville native Jarred Garcia each won earlier this year in Florida on the APGA Tour. Young was introduced to the game by his grandfather at a young age while his mom was deployed during her military service. Garcia’s victory in Port St. Lucie came at just the right time as both his parents lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other APGA Tour standouts in the field include Marcus Byrd, Joey Stills, Michael Herrera, Davin White and Ryan Alford, who won the most recent event at TPC Scottsdale. The 18-player field will consist of: • Nine players from the APGA Tour Player Development Program – Ryan Alford – Marcus Byrd – Jarred Garcia – Michael Hererra – Kamaiu Johnson – Willie Mack III – Joey Stills – Davin White – Rovanta Young • Five graduates from the APGA Collegiate Ranking – Mulbe Dillard – Andrew Walker – Mahindra Lutchman – Cameron Riley – Prince Cunningham • The top-ranked player in the current APGA Collegiate Ranking – TBD • Three Sponsor’s Exemptions – TBD
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The Sixers have dominated every minute with Joel Embiid on the floor in the playoffs. As long as he can keep fighting through injury, Philly’s got a shot.
The Jazz get 45 points from star guard Donovan Mitchell and the Game 1 victory despite missing 20 straight shots in the first half.
Nikola Jokic became the lowest-drafted player to take home the NBA MVP award, 76ers even things up and Donovan Mitchell remains unstoppable. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sport)
Don’t miss Trae Young Alley-oop to Clint Capela.
Donovan Mitchell went for 45 points as the Jazz take game 1 over the Clippers.
