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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COURSES
YOUR GUIDE TO WATCHING, STAYING AND PLAYING AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
rn by IAN GUERIN
AFTER 25 YEARS OF HOSTING THE PLAY- ERS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Verde Beach, Fla., is getting pretty good at it.
And with everything the annual event brings to greater Jacksonville, it’ s fair to say the area is primed for another big week in mid-May. Despite the yearround attractions available— including the PGA Tour Golf Academy located here with locations at TPC Stadium and World Golf Village, an NFL franchise in the Jacksonville Jaguars and plenty of beachfront locales doing their thing— very few opportunities exist for Northeast Florida to showcase itself quite like this.
“ We’ re probably going stronger than we ever have in the last six or seven years,” said David Reese, the president of Florida’ s First Coast of Golf, the non-profit charged with promoting the area’ s golf scene.“ We have a strategic plan in place to bring the world to Jacksonville.”
According to Reese, 52 percent of the ticket sales for the 2016 Players Championship were purchased by outof-towners. With that type of response expected again, the PGA, First Coast and multiple county and city visitors’ bureaus have gone to work to ensure their product is featured as prominently as during this window of opportunity.
On the flip side of that, visitors— be it first-time Players Championship viewers or long-time fans— can maximize their own trips by following this simple guide. From purchasing tickets to finding lodging to occupying your time between some high-profile golf at TPC Sawgrass, this how-to list will steer you in the right direction.
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