The Constellation Furyk & Friends PGA Tour Champions event picked up stakes and moved at the end of last season after five highly successful years in Jacksonville, Florida, where they raised $5.45 million for charity.
The new home for Furyk & Friends is just a little more than an hour south of the previous one. And it's spectacular. The location is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida. Palm Coast is a lesser known but lovely coastal community south of St. Augustine, the country’s oldest town.
The change is dramatic, switching from an historic Donald Ross course surrounded by huge, sprawling live oaks at Timuquana CC on the St. Johns River to the Jack Nicklaus Ocean Course at Hammock Beach, smack on the Atlantic.
PGA Tour Champions players have visited this course before, but it was almost 20 years ago. That means very few of today’s notables are familiar with it.
“Players are talking to me, calling me, texting me, what can we expect, tell me about the golf course, tell me about the resort,” Jim Furyk said about the new venue. “We've got so many wonderful things to say. All you have to do is look outside, see the ocean, six holes that touch the beach. It's an amazing golf course.”
While they enjoyed the Timuquana CC location in Jacksonville, Florida, the club wanted its course back, and so to follow that up was always going to be a difficult comparison. However, the Furyks found Hammock Beach Resort and think it is the perfect next location because it will allow them to expand their charity footprint and attract fans from additional communities.
“I think it's going to set up great. It's going to look wonderful on television, but more importantly, I think our guys are going to love the golf course. It's a great setup. The Nicklaus Company and Jack did a wonderful job,” Furyk added.
The Nicklaus course should provide every bit as much of a challenge, but in a different way. And several holes are along the ocean, which is unusual in these times. Most developments want the oceanfront for real estate.
“I will say I'll put the 9th hole up as one of the best holes in the state of Florida,” Jim Furyk said. “It may be my favorite. Just from start to finish, it's beautiful. If you're talking about the greatest holes in this state, No. 9 has to be in that discussion.”
According to Furyk, the fairways have a generous width, which he said is needed with the wind from the ocean.
“In typical Jack fashion, second shots are quite difficult. The hole locations, the green complexes,” he continued. “I think from a golf course perspective, it's going to be second to none.
“We have a great history with our event for five years. I think this is going to allow us not only to grow our footprint, say, from a charitable aspect, but I think it's going to allow us to grow our footprint amongst our players, and twice now we've been voted the players' favorite event.”
For a dramatic finish, the final four-holes are called “The Bear Claw.”
Tabitha Furyk, co-founder of the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation, is the beating heart of the tournament.
“One thing I want to emphasize is that we are not leaving behind the charities in Jacksonville. We've had a great track record. We've done some amazing work, started some amazing programs, and we want to keep those going,” she said. “Blessings in a Backpack is one of them. We feed 1,100 kids every week, and that's 60,000 meals that we're able to provide.”
The tournament maintains its relationship with Habitat For Humanity (with Constellation), provides food for 6,000 families with their Hope for the Holidays initiative, supports Wolfson Children’s Hospital and many more charitable organizations. They will add additional charities in Flagler County where Hammock Beach Resort is located.
“About the time that I turned 40, we started our Furyk & Friends event,” Jim Furyk recalled. “How that just kind of morphed 10 years later into having a Champions Tour event, it was just kind of a vision and an idea, and we got a blessing from the PGA Tour and Jay Monahan.” And, he added, great support from their title sponsor Constellation.
This is not the first time PGA Tour Champions players have visited this course. The last time was almost 20 years ago. That means very few of today’s notables are familiar with it. Jay Haas, for one, Furyk said, was a part of the earlier event in 2007 (Keith Fergus, the winner) and 2008 (Bernhard Langer, the winner).
Unfortunately, Jim Furyk will not be able to play. In a Florida Times Union article, he said that he can play recreational golf, but three days of tournament play and two days of pro-am competition is more than his back can handle at this stage in his career. He will spend time visiting with sponsors and fans, making new friends and greeting old ones.
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