Jim Furyk's million-dollar baby: Constellation Furyk & Friends up to $3.5 million in charity

It was another million-dollar effort from the Constellation Furyk & Friends last year.

The PGA Tour Champions event at the Timuquana Country Club, hosted by 17-time PGA Tour winner Jim Furyk of Jacksonville, generated more than $1 million for North Florida Charities through the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation, the third consecutive year that the tournament has passed that figure.

On the move: Furyk & Friends seeking new home after Timuquana Country Club declines to renew beyond 2025

The total amount raised for charity, with $500,000 donated each year from the title sponsor, has now surpassed $3.5 million.

The main charitable partners for Furyk & Friends are the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, First Tee — North Florida, Blessings in a Backpack, St. Johns Riverkeeper and Beaches Habitat for Humanity.

Other charities receiving assistance were Wolfson Children’s Hospital Family Links Program, Operation Shower, Jacksonville Humane Society, Hope for the Holidays, K9s United, Guardian ad Litem Foundation, KIPP Jacksonville Public Schools and Walk Off Charities.

“We are so thankful for the support from Constellation, Circle K, all of our sponsors, partners, volunteers and the fans here in Jacksonville for helping our tournament grow its charitable number in 2023,” Furyk said in a statement. “While the amount is fantastic, it’s the stories of those impacted that drive home how important these incredible organizations are to our community."

"This significant philanthropic impact is an example of what happens when two organizations join forces with a shared and genuine commitment to preserving the environment and improving the lives of individuals and families in the community,” said Jim McHugh, chief commercial officer, Constellation, in his statement. “We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the Furyks and continue our charitable commitments in 2024.”

Among the tangible effects of the Furyk & Friends:

• The Foundation provided the funding for a home for a single mom and her two children through Habitat for Humanity, the second home built with the help of Furyk & Friends.

• It partnered with the Jacksonville Humane Society to expand its education programs for children in our community. Through this partnership, the tournament provided field trips to Title 1 schools and camp scholarships.

• The Foundation and Nemours Children’s Health partnered for a donation that clears a year-long waiting list at existing Blessings in a Backpack schools. The expanded support provides healthy weekend food for 880 children in Northeast Florida during the 2023-2024 school year, resulting in more than 31,000 hunger-free weekends.

• With support from presenting sponsor Circle K and the tournament, the Foundation will provide the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office with a new K9 Officer and bulletproof vests to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to help keep the K9s safe while they are out on the street protecting our communities.

• The 2024 Furyk & Friends will be Oct. 4-6.

Field announced for Bridgestone Invitational

The PGA Tour’s "Pathway to Progression" announced the field for the inaugural Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational March 25-26 at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif, a competitive element of the Bridgestone Collegiate Development Program.

The event features top-level NCAA Division I men’s golf programs and HBCU schools in addition to four high-ranking individual golfers from underrepresented communities. It will be a 54-hole event with team and individual competition, with the individual winner earning a spot in a 2024 Korn Ferry Tour event to be named later.

The participating schools are Florida A&M, Arkansas Pine Bluff, BYU, tournament co-host Central Michigan, Elon, Howard, Nihon (Japan), North Alabama, Sam Houston State and UConn.

In addition, Dalton State College’s Steve Kibare, Tennessee State’s Jared Southerland, North Carolina Central’s Jamal Hutchison and Savannah State University’s Jaden Saunders will compete as individuals. Kibare qualified based on his standing in the 2024 Bridgestone APGA Collegiate Ranking, while Southerland, Hutchison and Saunders earned exemptions based on their development as top-rated underclassmen from an underrepresented community.

The Bridgestone Collegiate Development Program enhances competitive and mentorship opportunities for golfers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and underrepresented communities. Additionally, it offers career development opportunities for both players and coaches.

Among its initiatives are the Bridgestone APGA Collegiate Ranking, the HBCU Coaches Summit presented by Bridgestone, the Pathway to Progression HBCU Performance Day presented by Bridgestone and two new collegiate golf tournaments – the Bridgestone HBCU Invitational and the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational.

Isaiah Salinda romps to victory

Stanford graduate Isaiah Salinda, who earned Korn Ferry Tour status at the PGA Tour Q-School last December, won't have to worry about his status on that tour for the rest of the season, after his eight-shot victory last week at the Panama Championship.

Salinda, who shared the 54-hole lead with Canadian Wil Bateman, shot 65 in the final round and was the only player in the final five twosomes who broke par in finishing 12-under 268.

His victory margin was the largest since Sam Ryder of Atlantic Beach won by eight at the 2017 Pinnacle Bank Championship and ties for the fourth-largest in Korn Ferry Tour history. It also shattered the tournament record for margin of victory (five strokes) established by Jimmy Walker at the inaugural playing of The Panamá Championship in 2004.

Salinda's victory came two weeks after Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa became the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history by winning The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January 2024. Potgieter also earned Korn Ferry Tour status at the Q-School, which was played at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley and the Sawgrass Country Club.

PGA Tour Vision unveiled

The PGA Tour has introduced PGA Tour Vision, a new app for golf fans to experience golf and follow PGA Tour tournaments through Vision Pro, Apple’s spatial computer that blends digital content with the physical world.

PGA Tour Vision debuted at the par-3 7th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links last week, at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and will include additional holes each week leading up to The Players Championship when all 18 holes of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass will be covered.

“PGA Tour Vision for Apple Vision Pro brings golf fans inside the ropes and directly onto the tee boxes and greens of the world’s most iconic courses, no matter where they are,” said Scott Gutterman, PGA Tour Senior Vice President, Digital Operations, in a statement. “Our fans can look forward to more unique, spatial experiences as the FedExCup Season progresses.”

PGA Tour Vision displays key tournament information and video in 2D windows on top of a user's space, while 3D-rendered models generated by Virtual Eye map real-time trails from live shot data captured during the tournament. Within 2D windows, fans can view leaderboards, scorecards, course information, schedule and tournament details, as well as video highlights.

Live shot data is provided by ShotLink powered by CDW and made available to the app using the PGA Tour’s AWS infrastructure.

PGA Tour Vision is developed by Quintar, the Official Mobile AR and XR Developer of the PGA TOUR, with UX and design led by digital product company Work & Co.

Epson Tour to offer more LPGA cards

The Epson Tour will start awarding LPGA cards to its leading 15 players next year, an increase of five over last season and tripling the number from 1999.

The Epson Tour will come to the First Coast March 21-23 with the Atlantic Beach Classic, at the Atlantic Beach Country Club.

The top 25 players and ties from the LPGA’s Q-Series qualifying tournament will get cards. They will be followed on the priority list by the additional five players from the Epson Tour (Nos. 11-15 on the points list), who will be blended in with players who finished Nos. 101-125 on the Race to CME Globe.

LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said the change is to reward the performance over a full season in addition to giving rising talent a chance to compete for LPGA status.

PGA TOUR

Event: WM Phoenix Open, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Ariz.

At stake: $8.8 million purse ($1,584,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4-8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.); NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).

Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Bud Cauley, Harris English, Lanto Griffin, Brian Harman, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Keith Mitchell, J.T. Poston, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Carl Yuan.

Notable: Scheffler shot 65 in the final round to beat Nick Taylor by two shots and win the WM Open for the second year in a row.

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

Event: LIV Golf Las Vegas, Friday-Sunday, Las Vegas Country Club.

At stake: $20 million purse ($4 million to the winner).

Defending champion: First year event.

TV: CW (Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m.

Area players entered: Cameron Smith.

Notable: Joaquin Niemann won last week’s 2024 opener at Mayakoba, Mexico, making a 12-foot birdie putt off the fringe on the fourth playoff hole to beat Sergio Garcia. Niemann shot 59 in the first round.

KORN FERRY TOUR

Event: Astara Golf Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Bogota Golf Club, Bogota, Colombia.

At stake: $1 million purse ($180,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Rhein Gibson.

TV: None.

Area players entered: Dawson Armstrong, Chris Baker, Fred Biondi, Chandler Blanchet, Dillon Board, Jonathan Byrd, Russell Knox, Rick Lamb, Doc Redman, Jared Wolfe.

Notable: Gibson shot 64 in the final round and beat Kevin Dougherty by four shots.

ROAD TO THE PLAYERS

Dates: March 14-17.

Site: Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach.

Purse: $25 million ($4.5 million and 750 FedEx Cup points to the winner.

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.

Days until the first round: 36.

Tour events until The Players: Six.

Notable: This will be the 50^th Players Championship.

Players trivia: Viktor Hovland is the career scoring leader in The Players (with at least 10 rounds) at 70.5 who will be in the field for the 2024 tournament. The Nos. 1 and 2 players, Bryson DeChambeau (69.67, 12 rounds) and Abraham Ancer (70.42, 12 rounds) are in the LIV Golf League and ineligible.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Constellation Furyk & Friends reaches $3.5 million in charity in three years