Tag: Steve Jent

With PGA Tour schedule changes coming, Sanderson Farms Championship comfortable with fall position

“I honestly think the fall is gonna keep getting better.”

JACKSON, Miss. – There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding the PGA Tour’s fall series schedule beginning next season. Yet for Steve Jent, the Sanderson Farms Championship executive director, he’s comfortable with his tournament’s position.

Although the Tour’s best players have agreed to play against one another in at least 20 events between January and August starting in 2024, the Tour’s nine official fall events are about to receive a demotion, beginning in 2023.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup regular season points race will qualify for the playoffs and retain their cards for the next season. Nos. 71-125? They will battle during the fall to retain playing privileges in what will essentially become eligibility events. Without FedEx Cup points at stake or any punishment for not playing during the fall, the top players have been given the option of an extended vacation from September through December.

That means the fields in the fall likely won’t have as many top stars. It could be something that pushes title sponsors away. The interest in the events may not be as high for the fans, yet for the players, they’ll be some of the most important events of the year.

There has even been some concerns from players about the events and what the future will look like. But Jent is enthusiastic about the future.

Sanderson Farms: Friday tee times | PGA Tour live on ESPN+

“We like being in the fall,” Jent said. “I mean, obviously, we’re always gonna go up against football in the fall, but the fall is the perfect time of year for this golf course with the weather, this community.”

This year’s field is the strongest the Sanderson Farms Championship has ever had, Jent said. Sam Burns, the defending champion, has headlined the field, but former major winner Gary Woodland and 2021 United States Ryder Cup member Harris English were also in town. Scottie Scheffler was in the field last year, too.

“I have 144 of the best players in the world here this week. Right? And the best golf in the world is taking place in Jackson, Mississippi,” Jent said. “So we’re just going to focus on that. Be proud of that. Every year, our field has gotten better. It’s just it’s a great time of year for us and our community.

“I honestly think the fall is gonna keep getting better. I mean, we’ve all done a great job in the fall of making the events awesome.”

Jent said the Sanderson Farms Championship will remain popular because a win can do a lot for players, like earn exemptions into the Masters and the Tournament of Champions.

The growth of the LIV Golf has also raised questions as to whether certain events may jump ship from the Tour, but Jent said his tournament is committed to the Tour and had had no conversations with the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-backed series.

The Sanderson Farms Championship, like other PGA Tour events, has changed names and venues over the years, but has been a part of the PGA Tour schedule since 1968. It moved back to The Country Club of Jackson in the fall of 2014. In the past, it was played as an opposite-field event and eventually moved to the fall.

The purse is up $900,000 this time, matching a trend of other PGA events to get boosted money.

Numerous changes are coming to future Tour schedules, but Jent is comfortable with the position of the Sanderson Farms Championship now and into the future.

“Don’t get me wrong, would I love to have some of the top names come here? Yes. And they’ve been here,” Jent said. “There’s 47 events on PGA Tour. No one can play them all. All we can do is, great golf course, treat people well, great food, put on a great event. I love our spot.”

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Why is the 2022 Sanderson Farms Championship so important for this PGA Tour event’s future?

Will the event stay in Jackson through its contract?

JACKSON, Miss. – The sale of Sanderson Farms to Cargill and Continental Grain Co. was finalized in July, creating Wayne-Sanderson Farms in the process. The sale of the poultry farm, along with Jackson’s ongoing water crisis, creates some questions ahead of Thursday’s first round of the Sanderson Farms Championship, the second event of the PGA Tour 2022-23 schedule.

What happens this week looms large for the event’s future. Tournament executive director Steve Jent will welcome Wayne-Sanderson Farms’ new executives to Country Club of Jackson to see Mississippi’s lone PGA Tour event for the first time. The original contract with Sanderson Farms to sponsor the tournament runs through 2026.

“There’s still five years left in the original agreement,” Jent said. “Their executives are focused on combining two companies into the country’s third-largest poultry company. What we’re excited about is … (we’re) hosting all their new executives who have not been here. They haven’t seen the tournament.

“That’s really our immediate focus. We really want to get this year behind us, and it’s still too early to talk about an extension. You talk about that when there’s maybe two or three years left. We know we’ve got five years. We’re excited about having them come and see it for this first year as their new title sponsor.”

Pic Billingsley, the executive vice president of retail for Wayne-Sanderson Farms, declined to answer whether the original Sanderson Farms contract was transferable to the new company.

“I can’t answer that question,” Billingsley said.

The tournament impacts the children’s hospital at University of Mississippi Medical Center, along with a variety of other charities throughout the state. In collaboration with Century Club Charities, which promotes golf and philanthropic interests in Mississippi, proceeds from the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship led to a $1.5 million donation to UMMC.

Jent is confident in new leadership continuing to support Century Club Charities, along with the children’s hospital. Phillip Carpenter, president of Century Club Charities, is prepared to continue the company’s contract through 2026 with Wayne-Sanderson Farms.

The tournament is also a massive economic boost for the Jackson area, with about a “$40 million impact,” according to Carpenter. Jackson’s ongoing water crisis, which took a turn for the better Sept. 15 after Jackson’s city-wide weeks-long boil water notice was lifted, never threatened this year’s championship. The Country Club of Jackson has its own well system that provides irrigation and water to the grounds. Jent was also assured by city and state officials that the crisis would be solved in time.

The focus in the short term is showcasing the event to the new leadership and continuing to support charities across the state.

Defending champion Sam Burns is the headliner, fresh off a victory for the United States over the International team in the Presidents Cup. Burns, and a field including former major winners, gives the tournament something to build on.

“There is a totally new group of leaders that have come about because of the merger and that will be their first time to be able to see it and be involved in it,” Billingsley said. “It’s going to be exciting for some of us old timers at Sanderson Farms that are in leadership roles with a new company to be able to showcase Mississippi and showcase what this tournament ultimately does for the people in the state.”

The Clarion Ledger’s Wicker Perlis contributed to this report.

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PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship still planned, despite water crisis

The Country Club of Jackson operates its own self-sufficient water system with water from a nearby aquifer.

JACKSON, Miss. — A Sanderson Farms Championship executive “absolutely” plans to hold the PGA Tour event as scheduled in Jackson.

Steve Jent, executive director of the Sanderson Farms Championship, said the Country Club of Jackson has been unaffected by the city’s water crisis since it operates its own self-sufficient water system with water from a nearby aquifer. The golf course is also in “great shape” despite overflow from a few creeks as torrential rains hit central Mississippi in late August.

While the country club has avoided the issues plaguing most of Jackson, Jent said he’s been keeping an eye on how hotels and restaurants on the city’s water supply are faring to ensure they’ll be able to handle the increased business from tourists. A tourism official says she thinks the hospitality industry will be ready.

The tournament, which runs Sept. 29-Oct. 2, could provide a shot in the arm to the local economy, as the tournament’s expected economic impact in 2021 was $15.7 million, according to Yolanda Clay-Moore, communications director for Visit Jackson.

Jent expects 30,000 fans will visit the course the week of the event, and he said there will likely be several thousand more who come to town but don’t visit the course. “Quite a few” stay just north of Jackson in Ridgeland and Madison County where tap water is safe to drink, Jent said, but many will are expected to stay and eat in Jackson-area hotels and restaurants, both of which are “experiencing a challenge,” Clay-Moore said.

Despite that challenge, Clay-Moore said the hotels are faring relatively well thanks to emergency systems the businesses had in place before the current crisis. The hotels on the city’s water supply are asked to follow the guidelines set by the Mississippi Department of Health which say guests can shower with tap water but should drink and brush their teeth with bottled water.

Restaurants in town have had to get innovative to handle the water crisis, and some have had to temporary close as water pressures dipped below usable levels.

With still no answer from city and state officials on when the crisis will be resolved, Clay-Moore and Jent are hopeful the government will get some things fixed by the tournament’s Sept. 29 start.

“We’re four weeks out,” Jent said. “That’s our advantage, right? So we still have a month before the tournament so the city can get some things fixed.”

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