Wayne Sanderson Farms’ run as a full partner with Jackson, Mississippi, and its PGA tournament has been a historic one.
However, the 2024 Sanderson Farm Championship will be the 12th and last for the company as the title sponsor of the Jackson PGA Tour stop.
While its contract runs through 2026, the company has decided to move on as the title sponsor, but remain as a major sponsor for the tournament, which is held at the Country Club of Jackson. No financial details were released as part of the announcement.
“Wayne-Sanderson Farms is going to continue to partner with us in the near future to help our charitable efforts for Mississippi charities,” said Steve Jent, the executive director of the Sanderson Farms Championship. “There is a natural evolution on the PGA Tour of title sponsors. This has been an awesome 12-year run.”
PGA Tour official Mark Stevens told the Clarion Ledger that the average time for a Tour tournament sponsor is 13 years. Stevens said that, for the moment, the PGA Tour is leaving all public comments to Wayne-Sanderson Farms and local officials.
Since becoming title sponsor in 2013, the Sanderson Farms Championship has raised more than $17 million for charity including Children’s of Mississippi and other Mississippi-based causes.
“Wayne-Sanderson Farms is proud to be the title sponsor of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson,” Clint Rivers, Wayne-Sanderson Farms President and CEO said in a statement to the Clarion Ledger. “Although this year’s event is our final year as title sponsor, Wayne-Sanderson Farms remains committed to supporting Children’s of Mississippi and other local charities through continued partnership with Century Club Charities and the PGA Tour. “We’re honored to support the championship and its impact on Mississippi families, and we’re excited to continue our involvement with this great event.”
Mississippi has been a PGA stop since 1968 when the tournament was known as the Magnolia Classic and was played in Hattiesburg. The tournament has had several names and sponsors over the years, including the Deposit Guaranty Classic from 1986–1998, the Farm Bureau Classic from 1999–2006 and the Viking Classic from 2007–2011. In 2012, it was called the True South Classic because it didn’t have a title sponsor. Sanderson Farms has sponsored the tournament since 2013.
Sanderson Farms also spearheaded to the move from Annandale Golf Course in Madison to the Country Club of Jackson, which Golfweek has ranked as the fifth-best private course in the state.
The business side
In June, news arose that Wayne-Sanderson Farms laid off 40 employees at its Laurel campus. Many wondered then what that could mean for the future of Mississippi’s only PGA Tour event.
More: PGA Tour’s fall event in Napa gets new title sponsor
Ever since Cargill and privately held Continental Grain formed a joint venture to acquire Sanderson Farms in 2021 for $4.53 billion, questions have swirled about whether the giant chicken company would continue to sponsor the Sanderson Farms Championships at the Country Club of Jackson.
Before the merger, Sanderson Farms had been a Mississippi-owned company, with its home base in Laurel. It had been run by long-time CEO and chairman of the board, Joe Sanderson, who championed the PGA Tour coming to the Magnolia State.
What’s next?
While Jent, the PGA Tour and Century Club Charities all still have a tournament to host this year at CCJ, as construction of bleachers began this week for the event that will run from Sept. 30-Oct. 6, all eyes are definitely on the future.
“For a potential new title sponsor and partner to come in for 2025 and beyond, it was critical for us to get this out in the news so that if anyone were interested, we could use the tournament as an opportunity to host companies during the week of the tournament,” Jent said. “We want them to see the excitement, they can participate and be a part of it. So, the timing for us is that we wanted to make everyone aware that we will be looking for a new partner to be the title.”
Jent said he and others have already had some conversations with companies that could be interested.
“We will work to lock in someone as quickly as we can,” Jent said.
There have also been questions with last year’s news of the partnership between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf that could leave the Sanderson Farms Championship in doubt.
However, Jent believes the future of the tournament is safe.
“I think there has been some great recent announcements from the PGA Tour with companies coming in to make the complete tour of 40 stops safe,” said Jent in reference to new sponsors for tournaments in Lexington, Kentucky, Napa, California as well Charlotte, North Carolina. “I think there is a lot of positive momentum around PGA Tour events, its sponsors as well as events, like ours in the fall. I think we are on a good track.”
The tournament has a $7.6 million purse with a $1.368 million winner’s share. Luke List is the defending champion and the Sanderson Farms Championship has a field of 132 players and a cut to 70 players.
Century Club Charities
Century Club Charities is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 to promote golf for the benefit of Mississippi charities.
Since that time, it has served as the host organization for Mississippi’s PGA Tour event, helping raise more than $24.5 million for Children’s of Mississippi as well as other area charities. The total charitable contribution from the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship were $1.5 million.
This year’s president J.R. Woodall believes the future is bright, even without Wayne-Sanderson Farms
“Sanderson Farms has been the best title sponsor on the tour,” Woodall said. “With the commitment to Sanderson Tower (at Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson), they changed children’s healthcare in Mississippi forever. It’s been incredible. And even exiting as title sponsor, they are staying committed to the hospital for the future. That’s what that means to them.”
Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.