Several years ago, if you would have told these four First Tee participants that they would have the opportunity to tee it up on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, they probably wouldn’t have believed you.
But on August 15, 2020, each of these golfers fulfilled a dream.
The moment each of them stepped onto the tee box and heard their name announced by Doug Kidd, THE PLAYERS Championship’s longtime featured groups announcer, was more than just a nerve-wracking, heart-pumping experience. It was a culmination of years of hard work, of overcoming obstacles, learning how to bounce back from bad shots and spending hours out on the range, determined to get better.
Ultimately, this moment was symbolic of all of the times when they didn’t want to practice or play, but their coaches and friends at First Tee encouraged them to give it another shot; when they didn’t have the confidence to take the next step, but their First Tee community gave them the nudge they needed; when they didn’t see anyone that looked like them on the range, but they continued to show up and pursue their passion. They kept on setting goals and achieving them, one step, one shot at a time.
Had it not been for the First Tee, this foursome of golfers – representing various nationalities, life experiences and career aspirations – may never have stepped onto the first tee at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. They may never have picked up a golf club. Their lives, their dreams may have looked very different.
The Defining Moment
Each March, hundreds of thousands of fans from across the globe travel to Ponte Vedra Beach to witness the strongest field of professional golfers take on one of the most prestigious and challenging courses on the PGA TOUR: THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. To win the PGA TOUR’s flagship event is to join a list of the game’s greatest players in the modern era who have etched their names on the trophy:
Jack Nicklaus. Greg Norman. Fred Couples. Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Rickie Fowler. Rory McIlroy.
With this list of iconic winners comes some of the most thrilling and dramatic moments that have unfolded over the years at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course.
How could you forget Tiger Wood’s “Better than Most” putt in 2001?
What about Rickie Fowler making birdie on the 17th hole five out of six times on Championship Sunday en route to his victory in 2015?
And, of course, there’s the iconic moment when Jerry Pate and Pete Dye jumped into the lake in 1982, the first year THE PLAYERS was contested on the Stadium Course.
Nearly 40 years removed from Pate’s swan dive, Mombo, Grace, Matthew and Brandon each got their ‘defining moment’ on the Stadium Course…the chance to walk the same fairways as Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and so many others; the chance to land it on the infamous Island Green 17th hole on their first attempt; the chance to make their own history.
“It was amazing to feel like I was one of the players,” said Brandon Fowler when he recalled making the iconic walk from 16 green to 17 tee. “A whole bunch of players have hit where I’m hitting right now. I have a chance. It’s once-in-a-lifetime to come and hit off the tee box.”