Improving the experience for fans when they travel to, stay at and depart from The Players Championship is one of the goals for The Players Executive Director Matt Rapp.
"The course can hold about 150,000 people in a day. The question is, how do you get them in and let them have that quality experience?" Rapp said Wednesday during media day at the course.
"If you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in a long line to buy a bottle of water or a hamburger, that's not really a great experience," said Rapp.
To alleviate traffic congestion, Rapp and Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Christie Hyde provided suggestions that could help vehicle flow:
• Purchase parking passes in advance.
• Use The Players' "Four for Free" policy, which allows vehicles with four or more occupants to park at no charge. Guests can visit pgatour.com/theplayers to download the free parking voucher good for the general lot on County Road 210.
"We don't have a good record for carpooling and that could cut our problem in half," said Rapp.
• Use the alternate route along Nocatee Parkway.
"If we could get 10-15 percent of our traffic to come through the southerly route through Nocatee, it would help alleviate a big part of our challenge," said Rapp.
• Use shuttles from Downtown. The City will provide shuttles from several Downtown-area hotels. People also can use the park-and-ride option.
The Players will expand its food venues with its addition of "Taste of Jax," which will add three more local vendors to the food offerings during the event. With the success of Wine & Dine on 9 — a shaded, open-air venue providing upscale food and beverage options — The Players has added Indochine, Metro Diner and Pele Wood Fire.
Mark and John Davoli, owners of Metro Diner, said they did not become involved with The Players to make much money.
"You want to serve food, visit with friends and make some new ones while getting the word out about your business," said John Davoli.
They also said they liked the charity aspect of working the food tent.
"We will pay volunteers from some nonprofits $8 an hour and all that money goes to the nonprofit," he said.
He said they have not yet decided which organization to support.
Metro Diner crossed the Intracoastal Waterway in February 2012 to Jacksonville Beach with its third location and soon will add a location at Roosevelt Square. The diner is scheduled to open July 29.
In addition to the food offerings and traffic suggestions, The Players also are working to improve the fan experience by installing two permanent restroom buildings.
One is between The Patio — a shaded, open-aired seating area with a video board and food and drinks — and the new Astellas Women's Pavilion.
Another feature will focus on children.
The McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation Kid Zone will have a trailer equipped with video game systems, a miniature golf course and an inflatable obstacle course on loan from the Jacksonville Jaguars, which use them for pre-game festivities at EverBank Field.
The course's video boards will allow parents to keep up with the golf.
"We learned a lot last year from the kid zone. We looked at what didn't work. This isn't a place for people to drop their kids off and go watch golf," Rapp said.
"We wanted to provide parents a place to bring their kid and enjoy some activities with them," he said.
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