Friday and Saturday are sellouts at THE PLAYERS. Friday’s sellout happened earlier than ever before.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean capacity at TPC Sawgrass.
“We judge our capacity based on the fan experience.”, said Lee Smith, Executive Director of THE PLAYERS.
“We have a number in mind that, once we start to exceed that threshold that the fan experience starts to erode.”, Smith told Jacksonville’s Morning News Thursday.
When they reached the number that is a sellout, organizers say they feel comfortable that they’re maintaining the highest level of fan experience, like management lines for concessions and restrooms among other things.
Marc Hassan, Tournament Chairman at The Players, joins JMN to discuss all the planning and preparation that goes into making this event happen every year, and what’s already in works for next year. He’s been a volunteer and volunteer administrator with The Players for years, so it’s not new -- but that doesn’t mean it’s not a daunting role! There are approximately 2000 volunteers, and +- 68,000 volunteer manhours to coordinate that go into executing the event, and that volunteerism is what makes The Players’ charitable donations possible.
Laura Renstrom is the Vice Chair for Player Services at The Players. She joins JMN to share details of how The Players engages the community through delivering charitable contributions, and how they provide (and sometimes, enforce!) fan code of conduct assistance on the grounds.
Hamilton Neal, Vice Chair of Services at TPC Sawgrass, joins JMN to share how staff an volunteers are working hard to meet guest needs from parking to grounds service, so that all event grounds are ready for use for THE PLAYERS.
St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick and Lieutenant David Zufelt join JMN from The Players, where they assist with crowd control and security. For the most part it’s a fun time, but sometimes guests need to be reminded to party a little more responsibly.
Carla Montgomery, President & CEO of the Child Cancer Fund, joins JMN to share how The Players provides local philanthropy for organizations like CCF, Nemours Children’s Health, Baptist Health/Wolfson’s, MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, The Jay Fund, and so many others. To learn more, visit THEPLAYERS.COM, CHILDCANCERFUND.ORG, and look for the CCF Charity Golf Tournament in March, and Care-A-Thon coming up in August!
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