10 days, three tournaments: Will March 2025 be a festival of golf, capped by The Players?
Get ready for the possibility of a fortnight of golf on the First Coast.
Last week's Epson Tour Atlantic Beach Classic, at the Atlantic Beach Country Club, was the first of a three-year deal to hold the tournament at ABCC. Epson Tour commissioner Jody Brothers, a former Vice-President of marketing for the PGA Tour, praised the response of the ABCC members both in volunteering and attending the tournament and Tour Vision Promotions for running the event efficiently, despite weather plaguing two of the three days.
The winner wasn't decided until the final group on the final hole. Briana Chacon birdied the last on a 6-foot putt to break a tie with Jessica Porvasnik.
"We knew they were going to operate this at a really high level," Brothers said. "All I can say is what our athletes told us all week ... that this felt like an LPGA Tour event."
That said, Brothers said the Epson Tour will explore the possibility of moving the tournament to the week before The Players Championship instead of the week after.
"I think we're going to be aiming at the week before The Players," he said of the 2025 tournament. "There might have been a little bit of Players hangover ... it might not be the ideal spot to be a week after The Players, we'll move it up a couple of weeks and it will be even better."
Combine those sentiments with the success of The Hayt, the invitational college tournament hosted by the University of North Florida at the Sawgrass Country Club played the weekend before The Players. The Hayt, in its 32nd year, has been contested in parts of January, February, March and April but a cooperative effort with The Players and the PGA Tour, proved ideal for the tournament.
Like The Players and the Atlantic Beach Classic, The Hayt had a thrilling finish with North Carolina out-dueling Alabama and Ohio State for the team title, and Virginia's Devin Patel winning the individual title by one shot.
Given that, here's what March of 2025 might look like on the First Coast golf schedule if the Epson Tour event at Atlantic Beach moves to the week before The Players and is played on the same days of the week, and if The Hayt stays in the same slot.
March 6-8: Epson Tour Atlantic Beach Classic, Atlantic Beach Country Club.
March 9-11: The Hayt, Sawgrass Country Club.
March 11-12: The Players Championship practice rounds, Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
March 13-16: The Players Championship competitive rounds, Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
That's 10 days of competition in an 11-day span — if The Hayt stays in the same slot and the Atlantic Beach Classic makes the move Brothers said is under consideration.
Amelia Lewis gets to work on the greens
Jacksonville native Amelia Lewis said the good news about her first three starts on the Epson Tour — other than making the cut and finishing among the top 23 in all three events — is that she's gotten enough at-bats to realize what she needs to focus on in the four weeks before the next event April 26-28 in Beaumont, Calif.
"Putting," she said quickly after he final-round 72 last week at Atlantic Beach that resulted in a tie for 19th. "I've hit a lot of good shots. It's just about making the putts. I know what I have to work on."
Lewis said she keeps copious stats on herself and analyzes them after each round and tournament. She has some numbers that are likely to encourage the 14-year professional veteran:
She is second on the Epson Tour in greens in regulation (hitting 80.3 percent of the greens), fifth in driving accuracy (84.6 percent of fairways), and 15th in driving distance (256.83 yards on measured drives).
Lewis is tied for seventh in scoring average at 71.111 and is one of 57 players to have made the cut in all three 2024 events.
Here's what she's talking about: Lewis is 21st on the Epson Tour in putts per round with 32.11.
However, her last putt of the tournament was a beauty. She drained a 27-footer for eagle at the par-5 18th hole at ABCC, one hole after a double bogey.
"I was very happy to finish well," she said. "It was an up-and-down tournament for me [rounds of 68-73-72] but overall it was a positive experience to play at home."
Wyndham Clark stuck at second
Wyndham Clark, whose circle-the-drain birdie-putt attempt at the 18th hole of the Players Stadium Course kept him from forcing a playoff against winner Scottie Scheffler, returns to the Tour this week at the Texas Children's Hospital Open in Houston. Clark finished second to Scheffler in each of his last two starts, at The Players and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The last player who finished second two starts in a row was Lee Westwood in 2021 at the same two tournaments. ... Scheffler will be trying to become the first Tour player to win three starts in a row since Dustin Johnson in 2017 (Genesis Invitational, WGC Mexico Championship, WGC Dell Technologies Match Play). ... Jacksonville resident Carl Yuan moved to fourth place in the current Aon Swing 5 standings with his tie for fifth last week at the Valspar Championship. Yuan now has three top-fives in his last 10 starts after not recording any in his first 32 starts on the PGA Tour.
PGA TOUR
Event: Texas Children’s Hospital Open, Thursday-Sunday, Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston.
At stake: $9.1 million purse ($1,638,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Tony Finau.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.); NBC (Saturday, 3:30-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1-2:20 p.m.).
Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Bud Cauley, Lanto Griffin, Billy Horschel, Keith Mitchell, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson.
Notable: Finau won by four shots in November of 2022. The tournament wasn’t played last year. ... Also in the field are Players champion and world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark and Peter Malnati. ... The Tour remains in Texas next week for the Valero Texas Open at the TPC San Antonio.
LPGA TOUR
Event: Ford Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Seville Golf and Country Club, Gilbert, Ariz.
At stake: $2.25 million purse ($337,500 to the winner).
Defending champion: First-year event.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 7-9 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m.).
Area players entered: Auston Kim, Mel Reid.
Notable: Nelly Korda's victory last week in the Seri Pak championship was the 10th of her career.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Event: Galleri Classic, Friday-Sunday, Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, Calif.
At stake: $2.2 million purse ($330,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: David Toms
TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 10-12 p.m.; Saturday3:30-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.).
Area players entered: David Duval, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh.
Notable: Toms closed with a 65 and defeated Steve Alker by four shots.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour, Epson Tour, college golf might crowd month of March in 2025
