PALM COAST, Florida – Champions Tour Furyk & Friends Tournament Director (TD) Adam Renfrow has to be one of the happiest guys on the planet on this second Sunday in October.
In his sixth year as TD, and first at Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa, Renfrow put on a clinic in how to run a hugely successful professional golf tournament, despite facing dozens of tenuous decisions over the three-day, 54-hole contest offering a purse of $2.2 million, in a field that included 16 Major winners and 6 Hall of Famers.
This tournament was memorable in many ways but let’s begin with the exciting two-hole playoff won by Vaughn Taylor over Alex Cejka, who birdied the par 4 eighteenth hole, knocking in a 10-foot putt to seal his first victory on the senior circuit.
Both players finished regulation at 17-under par on the spectacular Ocean Course at Hammock Beach, a par 72 stretching out to 7,149 yards, that feature five holes fronting the waves & surf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the closing four holes herald the start of a tough Ocean course climax, especially in a freshening breeze, and fondly earned the nickname “Bear Claw.”
“Making a winning putt is a heck of a feeling,” Taylor said after the trophy presentation. “”I’m in disbelief, to be honest. I keep just thinking about the whole week, the whole day, the whole year, just everything. I can’t believe I’m standing here right now, to be honest.”
Michael Wright posted a dreaded double-bogey on the final hole to finish second at 16-under, after the Australian pulled his second shot left over the cliff onto the beach area adjacent to the 18th green grandstand, stunning the boisterous fans in the corporate boxes behind the green.
Of course, Mother Nature played a big part in the golf & fan engagement events planned during tournament week. The Wednesday Pro-Am was reduced to 9 holes due heavy rain and Hurricane Isaias cruised up the Gulf of Mexico with wide-ranging rain showers hitting parts of Palm Coast daily. One of Renfrow’s big decisions that worked out perfectly was to start tee times all three days at 8 a.m. off both tee No. 1 and No. 10.
A Friday night concert featuring country/rock musician Billy Currington started at 7 p.m. and had some Florida-style rain showers move in shortly after the show started. The concert had a big crowd and was sponsored by the Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation, which has raised over $5.45 million for local Northeast Florida organizations.
A vital part of running the tournament is based on volunteers and they showed up in droves, some commuting as far away as Port St. Lucie and The Villages. The estimated 600 volunteers, mostly seniors, enjoyed three great days of record-setting scoring and each will receive a voucher for a free round of golf at the Ocean Course or Conservatory Course, located about 10 miles north.
This year is the first of a two-year contract with PGA Champions Tour Furyk & Friends and all indications show this as the beginning of a long-lasting relationship that was embraced by players, fans, Palm Coast community, vendors, sponsors, volunteers and media. All three rounds were broadcast on Golf Channel, despite competition in the final round from pro football.
With players allowed to “lift, clean and place” all three days, scoring records were shattered as Matt Goggin posted a mind-boggling 16-under after 36 holes. Rod Pampling was 15-under after 36 with Vaughn Taylor and Michael Wright sitting at 13-under. It was conflicting to watch every player hop in a golf cart and scatter on the soaking wet fairways, then proceed to “lift, clean and place” the golf ball. Why not cart path only?
The sixth edition of the star-studded 78-player Champions Tour Furyk & Friends had a bit of everything that is good about golf. Congratulations to Vaughn Taylor on his first victory on Champions Tour. And keep up the good work Jim & Tabitha Furyk raising money for local charities.
There’s a reason that Furyk & Friends has been voted ‘tournament of the year’ by the players for two of its six years and that credit goes to tournament director Adam Renfrow.
