by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
As of Monday, there were 56 days left on the countdown to the 2008 edition of The Players Championship set for May 5-11 at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. With the tournament less than two months from teeing off, the Downtown Rotary Club of Jacksonville invited TPC Vice President and Executive Director Ron Cross to address the club’s weekly meeting.
Cross had quite a personal history with the tournament long before he went to work at the PGA Tour. While a student at Wolfson High School, he was a standard bearer in 1982 at the first Players Championship contested on the brand-new Stadium Course. He went to the University of Florida and earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Administration in 1989 and joined the PGA Tour staff later that year. Since then, Cross has been involved in the operations and management of more than 45 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour as well as several World Golf Championship events.
Cross said in addition to the $2.8 million in charity impact generated by The Players Championship, the tournament has also become an international marketing opportunity for North Florida.
“This year, we will have 22 hours of international television coverage on NBC and The Golf Channel. We’ll be telling our story to 500 million households in 200 countries,” he said, adding the tournament has been aggressively marketed in Atlanta, Orlando and Tallahassee over the winter with the intent to draw even more fans and “grow our economic and charitable impact.”
Cross also said a study conducted at last year’s tournament by the University of Florida determined the event has a $150 million total economic impact and 30 percent of the spectators lived beyond a 75-mile drive from Jacksonville.
When asked about what elements of tournament week will change this year, Cross said it would be hard to top last year’s enhancements. In 2007, The Players Championship got a new date and a new logo. The Stadium Course was substantially improved and the new $7 million clubhouse opened in time for the tournament. With those changes at TPC Sawgrass combined with the inaugural FedEx competition, “Last year was truly an amazing time of the PGA Tour,” said Cross.
He did divulge some changes for this year’s fan experience, including an expanded interactive village that will involve the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. A small-scale replica of the 18th green will be constructed and bleachers will be installed for spectators so fans “can see what the pressure is like to make a six-foot putt.”
Single-person single-day clubhouse passes will not be offered this year, but free parking and shuttle rides will be available from the University of North Florida, Cross also said.
When Cross asked how many people attended last year’s event, most of the hands in the room went up and stayed up when Cross asked who in the group already had their tickets for this year’s event.
“We’re very proud of our more than 2,000 volunteers who make it possible for us to hold the tournament each year. We’re also extremely proud and appreciative of the support the business community gives The Players Championship each year. It’s what made it possible for us to donate $2.8 million from last year’s tournament to 116 local charities,” he said. “We want people to think of The Players Championship as a year-round member of the community, not just during tournament week.”