Latest news with #ChampionsTour
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Magnus Carlsen shows how Saudi Arabia gobbles up global sports stars
In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year's Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days' work. The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind. Related: Magnus Carlsen v The World: chess champion's 46-day match ends in draw Chess is set to make its debut at this year's edition. The sport has captured a massive new audience in recent years, fueled by charismatic YouTube personalities, platforms like Netflix hit drama The Queen's Gambit, and a pandemic that imposed agonizing periods of isolation. Amid this online resurgence, the centuries-old game of intellectual prowess has remerged as a digital-era sensation. Keen to capitalize on chess's popularity, Saudi Arabia enlisted Carlsen as the global ambassador for the Esports World Cup. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlsen is expected to lend his name and fanbase to the event in the hopes of luring new fans to the Saudi-bankrolled tournament. That public relations campaign seemingly kicked off on the opening day of the world cup, when Carlsen issued a friendly challenge to play a chess match against Ronaldo. 'I personally don't know what Ronaldo has done on the chess chessboard, but what he has done in his life, in his football career, is extremely impressive. So, I would certainly be very honored if I could, you know, meet him or play chess while I'm here,' Carlsen told reporters. Carlsen's decision to peddle Saudi PR came as a bit of a surprise given his limited engagement with the kingdom in the past. He won the 2017 world championships (in rapid and blitz chess) in Riyadh, a tournament that was boycotted by his top female counterpart from Ukraine because of Saudi Arabia's discrimination against women. The closest Carlsen came to criticizing the kingdom at the time was over the refusal to grant visas to Israeli players. 'I hope that if [the rapid and blitz championships] are arranged here several times, that everyone can participate,' Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Carlsen is not known for taking strong stances on human rights issues. On 21 March 2019 – the UN's international day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Carlsen and former chess champion Anish Giri launched the #MoveForEquality campaign to tackle the issue through a symbolic chess match where black moved first instead of white, breaking a longstanding chess rule. However, while Carlsen has largely steered clear of human rights debates, his decision to partner with Saudi Arabia underscores how few sports stars can resist the kingdom's growing influence … or its deep pockets. Though Carlsen's deal is technically with the Esports World Cup, the event is entirely owned by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is part of the kingdom's broader power plays across sports. Over the past nine years, the kingdom has invested unprecedented sums across a wide range of sports as part of an overarching soft power strategy aimed to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a global hub for sports, tourism and entertainment. The vast majority of these investments – including Saudi's foray into boxing, its purchase of English Premier League club Newcastle United, and its securing of the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, have been facilitated by the PIF, which is chaired by Saudi's crown prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Salman – reportedly an avid gamer himself. Carlsen now joins other renowned athletes like Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi as well-paid pitchmen for the Saudi regime. In 2023, I broke a story for the New York Times which revealed the details of Lionel Messi's partnership with Saudi Arabia's tourism authority – a deal valued at $25m over three years, including publicized vacations in Saudi with his family, as well as a series of promotional material and regular social media posts. However, the real revelation was that Messi's contract also included a non-negotiable condition for Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might 'tarnish' Saudi Arabia's image. It is possible, if not likely, that a similar clause is included in Saudi's agreements with each of its ambassadors, including Carlsen. It is a strategy that allows the kingdom to reap the promotional benefits of being associated with some of the world's most beloved athletes while maintaining full control of the narrative being presented, under penalty of litigation. Nevertheless, Carlsen's willingness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia is not surprising. The kingdom's vast investments in sports and entertainment, backed by its seemingly limitless resources, have helped normalize its image, making it more palpable to previously hesitant audiences. Even Saudi Arabia's increasing human rights abuses, from quashing dissent to record-breaking execution rates, have had little impact on those eager to participate in the Saudi gold rush. This including the burgeoning world of esports and gaming. Over the past few years, Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has acquired a large portion of the global esports industry. Aside from holding shares in Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision, Savvy acquired mobile game developer Copley for $4.9bn, which later went on to acquire Niantic, the games business behind Pokémon Go. Saudi Arabia is also building Qiddiya City, a dedicated district that will house regional esports headquarters, clubs, and arenas. It is an exceptional level of investment that makes Saudi impossible to ignore as the major player in the global esports market. And though it would be easy to write off the kingdom's efforts as sportswashing – a term that describes efforts to use sports as a distraction from ongoing human rights abuses – I would argue that the term offers an overly simplistic understanding of the kingdom's aims. It is a multi-pronged strategy that is part foreign policy, part domestic socialization project, a strategy of pacifying the public with entertainment and material goods. With more than two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's population under the age of 35 – a significant number of whom are gamers – the kingdom's heavy investment in gaming has only enhanced bin Salman's popularity among young Saudis, which further stabilizes his regime. As for Carlsen, his role as an ambassador for one of Saudi's spectacles underscores the kingdom's ability to lure almost any athlete across sports and entertainment. Along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Nadal, Carlsen is merely the latest star mobilized to help legitimize Saudi Arabia as a global destination for sports and soften its controversial image among fans. And with every star who signs on, the regime's image gleams just a little bit brighter.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Magnus Carlsen shows how Saudi Arabia gobbles up global sports stars
In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year's Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days' work. The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind. Chess is set to make its debut at this year's edition. The sport has captured a massive new audience in recent years, fueled by charismatic YouTube personalities, platforms like Netflix hit drama The Queen's Gambit, and a pandemic that imposed agonizing periods of isolation. Amid this online resurgence, the centuries-old game of intellectual prowess has remerged as a digital-era sensation. Keen to capitalize on chess's popularity, Saudi Arabia enlisted Carlsen as the global ambassador for the Esports World Cup. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlsen is expected to lend his name and fanbase to the event in the hopes of luring new fans to the Saudi-bankrolled tournament. That public relations campaign seemingly kicked off on the opening day of the world cup, when Carlsen issued a friendly challenge to play a chess match against Ronaldo. 'I personally don't know what Ronaldo has done on the chess chessboard, but what he has done in his life, in his football career, is extremely impressive. So, I would certainly be very honored if I could, you know, meet him or play chess while I'm here,' Carlsen told reporters. Carlsen's decision to peddle Saudi PR came as a bit of a surprise given his limited engagement with the kingdom in the past. He won the 2017 world championships (in rapid and blitz chess) in Riyadh, a tournament that was boycotted by his top female counterpart from Ukraine because of Saudi Arabia's discrimination against women. The closest Carlsen came to criticizing the kingdom at the time was over the refusal to grant visas to Israeli players. 'I hope that if [the rapid and blitz championships] are arranged here several times, that everyone can participate,' Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Carlsen is not known for taking strong stances on human rights issues. On 21 March 2019 – the UN's international day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Carlsen and former chess champion Anish Giri launched the #MoveForEquality campaign to tackle the issue through a symbolic chess match where black moved first instead of white, breaking a longstanding chess rule. However, while Carlsen has largely steered clear of human rights debates, his decision to partner with Saudi Arabia underscores how few sports stars can resist the kingdom's growing influence … or its deep pockets. Though Carlsen's deal is technically with the Esports World Cup, the event is entirely owned by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is part of the kingdom's broader power plays across sports. Over the past nine years, the kingdom has invested unprecedented sums across a wide range of sports as part of an overarching soft power strategy aimed to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a global hub for sports, tourism and entertainment. The vast majority of these investments – including Saudi's foray into boxing, its purchase of English Premier League club Newcastle United, and its securing of the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, have been facilitated by the PIF, which is chaired by Saudi's crown prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Salman – reportedly an avid gamer himself. Carlsen now joins other renowned athletes like Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi as well-paid pitchmen for the Saudi regime. In 2023, I broke a story for the New York Times which revealed the details of Lionel Messi's partnership with Saudi Arabia's tourism authority – a deal valued at $25m over three years, including publicized vacations in Saudi with his family, as well as a series of promotional material and regular social media posts. However, the real revelation was that Messi's contract also included a non-negotiable condition for Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might 'tarnish' Saudi Arabia's image. It is possible, if not likely, that a similar clause is included in Saudi's agreements with each of its ambassadors, including Carlsen. It is a strategy that allows the kingdom to reap the promotional benefits of being associated with some of the world's most beloved athletes while maintaining full control of the narrative being presented, under penalty of litigation. Nevertheless, Carlsen's willingness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia is not surprising. The kingdom's vast investments in sports and entertainment, backed by its seemingly limitless resources, have helped normalize its image, making it more palpable to previously hesitant audiences. Even Saudi Arabia's increasing human rights abuses, from quashing dissent to record-breaking execution rates, have had little impact on those eager to participate in the Saudi gold rush. This including the burgeoning world of esports and gaming. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Over the past few years, Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has acquired a large portion of the global esports industry. Aside from holding shares in Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision, Savvy acquired mobile game developer Copley for $4.9bn, which later went on to acquire Niantic, the games business behind Pokémon Go. Saudi Arabia is also building Qiddiya City, a dedicated district that will house regional esports headquarters, clubs, and arenas. It is an exceptional level of investment that makes Saudi impossible to ignore as the major player in the global esports market. And though it would be easy to write off the kingdom's efforts as sportswashing – a term that describes efforts to use sports as a distraction from ongoing human rights abuses – I would argue that the term offers an overly simplistic understanding of the kingdom's aims. It is a multi-pronged strategy that is part foreign policy, part domestic socialization project, a strategy of pacifying the public with entertainment and material goods. With more than two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's population under the age of 35 – a significant number of whom are gamers – the kingdom's heavy investment in gaming has only enhanced bin Salman's popularity among young Saudis, which further stabilizes his regime. As for Carlsen, his role as an ambassador for one of Saudi's spectacles underscores the kingdom's ability to lure almost any athlete across sports and entertainment. Along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Nadal, Carlsen is merely the latest star mobilized to help legitimize Saudi Arabia as a global destination for sports and soften its controversial image among fans. And with every star who signs on, the regime's image gleams just a little bit brighter.
USA Today
16 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
This PGA Tour Champions event is moving down the Florida coast in 2026
Tournament will be played at Timuquana Country Club for the final time Oct. 3-5. The PGA Tour Champions Constellation Furyk & Friends is taking an unexpected turn to the south. The fall tournament hosted by the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation since 2021 at the Timuquana Country Club, will move to the Ocean Hammock Golf Resort and Spa in Palm Coast in 2026, marking a return of Champions Tour golf to the Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Flagler County. The tournament dates will be Oct. 9-11, 2026. This year's tournament, the final one at Timuquana, is Oct. 3-5. Rocco Mediate is the defending champion. "I don't know if surprised is the right word," Furyk said about the move to Palm Coast. "We kept an open mind, made a lot of visits and looked at our options. We saw so much opportunity at Ocean Hammock, the golf course, the resort. There was such an upside to moving there." The overall Timuquana membership voted slightly in favor of renewing the contract in late 2023 but less than 50 percent of the founders and life members voted not to renew. The club leadership decided the vote was close enough to sever the relationship when the five-year contract expired after this year's event. The tournament, Constellation and the PGA Tour Champions extended the title sponsorship in October of 2024 through 2030. Ocean Hammock hosted previous PGA Tour Champions event Furyk said the initial plan was to relocate to a Duval County course and Glen Kernan, which recently re-opened after Furyk oversaw a renovation, was the initial favorite. But there was a mutual decision between the Furyk Foundation and Glen Kernan not to move the tournament there, with Furyk saying in March that "the timing wasn't right," since the club was closed for 18 months and only reopened June 1. Furyk said a handful of other courses were considered, but Ocean Hammock emerged as a possibility last fall, after its management approached Furyk. He said the facility has numerous adantages: its location along the coastline (Nos. 9 and 18 run parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, with views of the water from three other holes), accommodations for players and their families on site, generous space for spectator areas, hospitality venues and the annual Furyk & Friends concert and a track record of hosting Champions Tour events. Bernard Langer (2008) and Keith Fergus (2007) won the previous tournaments held at Ocean Hammock. The course was also the site of the 2003 U.S. Women's Public Links, won by 13-year-old Michelle Wie. Ocean Hammock GM: 'Fantastic for the community' Ocean Hammock general manager Brad Hauer said the PGA Tour Champions was a hit for the resort and the community 17 years ago and he has no reason to believe it won't have just as much of an impact now. 'We hosted two Champions Tour events back in the day and it was absolutely fantastic for the community and everybody associated with us,' Hauer said. 'We're super-excited to bring another Champions event back to Hammock Beach.' Hauer said the fan-friendly nature, positive image and the demographics of the PGA Tour Champions players is a good fit for the resort. 'The age of the Champions Tour players falls right into line with our product and our community and everything we stand for here with our club membership,' he said. 'The players are enjoying life, they enjoy being with pro-am partners and spending time with the fans, having and good time and competing as well.' Tournament won't lose Jacksonville base Furyk said the tournament will not lose its connection with the First Coast or Jacksonville, where the tournament has met with remarkable success in terms of attendance, local hospitality and full fields for pro-ams, which helped raise more than $5 million in charity to date. "Jacksonville is our home, the home of our foundation and it's always going to be that way," he said. "We had such a great start at Timuquana and it will always be important to us." He didn't deny that moving the tournament to Flagler County will bring additional markets and fan bases into play, such as the growing areas of Southern St. Johns County and Flagler County, Daytona Beach and Orlando. "We're always looking to grow our footprint and our impact," he said. "This brings a lot of other areas into play but we're always going to rely on Jacksonville." Jack Nicklaus said course remains a stern test Nicklaus said he was eager for a new generation of PGA Tour Champions to experience Ocean Hammock — although some players such as Langer, Fred Funk, Jay Haas and Mark O'Meara may play in 2026. 'The golf course will test the golfers, but at the same time, I think it will be a fun and enjoyable test for them," Nicklaus said in comments provided to the Times-Union by Furyk & Friends. "The course has some really interesting features. Obviously, there are the views of the ocean, but there are other elements I found to be quite unique. I think the players will truly enjoy the challenge and the beauty of the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach. 'For Florida, I think the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach is a very dramatic golf course," Niclaus continued. "The views of the dunes on the Atlantic seaboard are spectacular.' Tickets for the 2025 tournament are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Information on tickets, pro-ams, hospitality and other tournament activities can be found by visiting Those interested in 2026 sponsorship or hospitality opportunities at Hammock Beach can contact Adam Renfroe at adam@
Irish Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy 'got it wrong' with dismissive comment that irked Open champion
Rory McIlroy has faced criticism for his blunt remarks about not wanting to join the PGA Tour Champions once he hits 50. The 36 year old golf ace, who recently clinched his first Masters title this year, completing a career Grand Slam, is still at the top of his game. After overcoming a tough period post his Augusta victory, McIlroy is now tied for the lead as the final round of the Scottish Open looms. When quizzed before the 2025 Players Championship in March about his prospects on the PGA Tour Champions, the Northern Irishman was quick to dismiss the idea, stating "absolutely not". "I think when I've achieved everything I want to achieve in the game and I get to the point where I don't think I can maybe do that anymore," he said. "I'd also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don't want to be out there embarrassing myself. I'd like to walk away maybe a little before I should. Put it that way. "Look, I've said a lot of absolutes in my time that I've walked back, but I do not envision playing Champions Tour golf. Something has gone terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50." McIlroy's comments sparked a response from several veteran golfers on the Champions tour, including former Open Championship winner Ernie Els. The South African hit back with: "Interesting to read @McIlroyRory comments today. At 35 years old I was also bullet proof saying things about not playing past 50. "I'm 55 now and laughing at my comments from back then. @ChampionsTour golf is so fulfilling with a great bunch of players we all grew up together from junior golf. Our sponsors and partners are wonderful companies and people. Competition is a powerful tool!" With eligibility for the Champions Tour starting at 50, McIlroy has plenty of time to reconsider his stance. And his former agent, Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler, disagreed with McIlroy's implication that senior tour players are still only competing for the money. Chandler told Betway: "That can be from being unsettled at home. It can be because his game's not quite right. It's easy for him to say right now, 'I'm not right'. But I think he'll reset completely, and he'll go again next February with a brand new attitude and mind again. "He owes nobody anything apart from himself. Because he's still an underachiever in a funny sort of way. He should have won his Grand Slam 10 years ago. "So I think you'll find that he comes next year and has a full go at it again, and he'll retract his senior statement in about 10 years' time because that's what he does, isn't it? I mean, the Ryder Cup was an exhibition when he was with me. Look at him now. "He's not bad at turning back as he changes his mind. That senior comment will definitely be like that because they don't play for the cash. "He's got it wrong. He thinks they're playing for the cash. They're not. They're playing because they like competing at golf. "Ernie Els is up for it to be amongst the lads, not to try and earn 50 grand. When Shane Lowry's a senior and a few of his [McIlroy's] peers, like Justin Rose and whoever are around him, then it'll be different." McIlroy on Saturday expressed confidence in his game, saying he is close to recapturing his Masters-winning form after a strong third-round performance at the Scottish Open. He carded a 66 to share the lead with American Chris Gotterup on 11 under. Looking ahead to next week's 2025 Open Championship, 2014 winner McIlroy reflected on his recent dip in form, saying: "I think I've had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. When you do something that you've been dreaming your whole life to do, it was a huge moment in my life, my career. "I think I just needed that little bit of time. And to be back here for the last couple weeks, and feel like I could actually digest all of it, I feel like I came to this tournament with renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of the year." (Image: Christian Petersen, Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
From Norwich to En-Joie: How a Small-Town Kid's Love Affair with the B.C. Open Shaped a Golf Career
From Norwich to En-Joie: How a Small-Town Kid's Love Affair with the B.C. Open Shaped a Golf Career originally appeared on Athlon Sports. How a small-town kid from Norwich, NY, turned childhood memories of the B.C. Open into a PGA Professional career, from En-Joie spectator to golf coach and writer. The Dick's Open tees off this week at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York, and for me, it's more than just another Champions Tour event. It's a memory of where my love affair with professional golf began forty-five years ago, when I was five years old, growing up in Norwich, about an hour north of Binghamton. Advertisement The Magic of Small-Town Golf Norwich, New York, isn't the kind of place that produces many PGA Professionals. It's a quiet town in the rolling hills of Central New York, where Friday night high school football draws bigger crowds than most sporting events. But it was there, at age five, that I first picked up a golf club and felt something I couldn't explain — a connection to this beautiful, maddening game that would become my life's work. My earliest golf memories are tied to the now-defunct Riverbend Golf Course in nearby New Berlin — a modest nine-hole layout that to a young kid might as well have been Augusta National. When I moved to Canasawacta Country Club in Norwich before my teenage years, my passion for golf truly ignited. Canasawacta taught me that golf wasn't just about hitting a ball around — it was about precision, patience, mental toughness, and the endless pursuit of improvement. The Annual Pilgrimage to En-Joie But if Canasawacta was where I learned to play golf, En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott was where I learned to dream about it. The B.C. Open, which ran from 1971 to 2006 as a PGA Tour event, became an annual pilgrimage for my family. I attended my first B.C. Open when I was eight years old, and from that moment forward, it became a tradition I shared every year with my brother and dad. Advertisement The B.C. Open wasn't just a tournament for our family — it was a cornerstone experience that defined my relationship with golf and my understanding of what professional golf could mean to a community. There was something special about watching the world's best golfers navigate the same fairways and greens that I could actually play myself. En-Joie wasn't some exclusive, members-only fortress like many PGA Tour venues. It was accessible, welcoming, and felt like it belonged to all of us in the Southern Tier. My brother Graham and I with Freddy "Boom-Boom" Couples at the 1983 B.C. Open My father served as a scorekeeper for many years, walking alongside legends like Hal Sutton, John Daly, and many other players who graced En-Joie's fairways. Through his stories and my own observations as a young golf enthusiast, the B.C. Open became more than just a sporting event — it became a formative influence that shaped who I am today. I'll never forget watching Hal Sutton shoot that incredible final-round 61 in 1995 to claim his first PGA Tour win in over nine years, or John Daly's dominant six-shot victory in 1992. These weren't just golf tournaments I was watching on television — these were real moments happening right in front of me, on a course I knew intimately, featuring players who suddenly seemed more human and accessible than they ever could on TV. Advertisement Walking in the Footsteps of Champions As a junior golfer, I had the privilege of playing En-Joie Golf Club on multiple occasions. Those rounds were special beyond measure — I was able to walk the same fairways and play the same holes where my golf heroes had competed. Every time I stepped onto those grounds, I felt connected to something larger than myself — to the history of the game, to the community that supported it, and to the dreams that golf could inspire. The B.C. Open Legacy: More Than Just Golf The B.C. Open's impact on the Southern Tier extended far beyond four days of tournament play each July. From 1971 through 2006, the tournament became woven into the fabric of the community. The event was operated by Broome County Community Charities, Inc., and by 2003, it had contributed over $7.4 million to local charities, proving that professional golf could be a force for good in small communities. Advertisement The tournament's connection to local culture was evident in its partial naming after the comic strip "B.C.," created by Johnny Hart, who was born and raised in Endicott. This wasn't some corporate-sponsored event that happened to land in upstate New York — this was our tournament, created by our community, for our community. The Transition: From B.C. Open to Dick's Open When the PGA Tour announced its schedule revamp based on the introduction of the FedEx Cup, the B.C. Open was eliminated after the 2006 season. But the story didn't end there. Broome County Community Charities wasn't ready to give up. In 2007, they launched the Dick's Sporting Goods Open (now simply the Dick's Open) as a Champions Tour event, bringing professional golf back to En-Joie Golf Club. Advertisement The transition from a PGA Tour event to a Champions Tour event might have seemed like a step down to some, but for those of us who understood what En-Joie and professional golf meant to this region, it was a triumph. The Dick's Open has thrived since its inception, becoming a two-time recipient of the prestigious President's Award, the highest honor on PGA Tour Champions. The tournament has maintained its commitment to charitable giving, with Broome County Community Charities contributing over $21 million to local causes since the organization's inception. Champions Tour Magic at En-Joie The Champions Tour format has brought its own special magic to En-Joie. Watching legends like Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples and, more recently, Pádraig Harrington compete on the same course where I learned to love professional golf has been incredibly meaningful. Harrington's recent dominance at the Dick's Open — winning three times in the last three years (2022, 2023, and 2024) — has created new memories and storylines that rival the best moments from the B.C. Open era. Advertisement The Dick's Open has also maintained one of the most beloved traditions from the B.C. Open era: The Concert on the Green. From Maroon 5 and Luke Bryan to Kenny Chesney and Bon Jovi, this concert series has transformed the tournament into a community celebration, blending golf with music. The Personal Impact: From Fan to Professional After graduating from SUNY Delhi in 1996, I decided to pursue my golf career by moving to Orlando, Florida. While I've now called Florida home for nearly three decades—longer than I lived in Norwich — my roots in Central New York and the Southern Tier remain deeply embedded in who I am. Advertisement Today, I serve the golf community as a PGA Professional with my own academy here in Orlando, where I pass on my love for the game to the next generation of golfers. In addition to coaching, I've built a career as a freelance golf writer, contributing to numerous respected outlets throughout the golf industry. My work appears regularly on and in PGA Magazine, and I write extensively for GolfWRX and MyGolfSpy. Most recently, I've joined Athlon Sports as their senior golf writer. Every article I write, every lesson I teach, and every conversation I have about golf is influenced by those formative years spent at En-Joie. The B.C. Open taught me that golf could be more than just a game — it could be a community builder, a charitable force, and a source of dreams and inspiration. The Enduring Legacy When the Dick's Open tees off this week, I'll be watching with the same excitement I felt as an eight-year-old at my first B.C. Open. Different names, older players, but the magic of professional golf at En-Joie hasn't changed. Advertisement The tournament represents something increasingly rare in professional sports: a genuine connection between an event and its community. En-Joie Golf Club isn't just hosting a golf tournament — it's continuing a tradition that's been part of the Southern Tier's identity for more than five decades. The Dick's Open isn't just a golf tournament — it's a celebration of everything that makes golf special, and a reminder that sometimes the most important victories happen not on the PGA Tour, but in the hearts and minds of young people who dare to dream. Related: Why Links Golf and Britain's Ancient Courses Hit Differently Than Anything We Have in America Related: The Story with Rory: McIlroy's Post-Masters Struggles Show Human Side of Greatness Related: What's Not to Like About Robert MacIntyre? My Pick to Defend at the Scottish Open This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
