What is the Masters logo doing on a football helmet? And how did the Jaguars score it?
Among the many features of the Jacksonville Jaguars' new Miller Electric Center practice and office facility are a variety of college football helmets along two walls.
One stands out, on the top row, fifth from the left — a gleaming white helmet with The Masters tournament logo.
Before anyone jumps to conclusions, the Augusta National Golf Club is not likely to issue a cease-and-desist order to the Jaguars. Indeed, the club gave its blessing to making a select few of the helmets in November 2020 when The Masters was played in the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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That was the week Augusta allowed ESPN to air its College GameDay show from the Par-3 Course. In addition to several golf-football cross-promotions (Jack Nicklaus was the guest predictor), the club consented to its logo being put on a few football helmets.
So how did the Jaguars score a piece of memorabilia for which many golf and football fans would possibly sell their souls?
Let’s say it pays to have friends.
Tucker Petre, a former member of the Jaguars equipment staff, is now a vice president of sales for Schutt, one of four companies that manufacture helmets used in the NFL. Petre worked for current equipment manager George Pellicer (who has been with the Jaguars since he was a ball boy in 1999.
Petre was able to score one of the Augusta National helmets and gifted it to his old buddies with the Jaguars.
Pellicer said plans are for his staff to arrange the top rows of the helmet display in the order of the week AP college poll. The goal is to have a helmet from the colleges Jaguars players attended.
The team also has a number of helmets from Football Championship Subdivision and NCAA Division II teams.
“Really, any helmet that looks cool or colorful, we’ll hang it up,” Pellicer said.
And he’s got the room: the Jaguars equipment room space has tripled from its location at EverBank Stadium.
Hall of Fame winding down
The World Golf Hall of Fame's St. Augustine location is tentatively scheduled to close at the end of the day on Sept. 1. The World Golf Foundation announced last year that 2023 would be the final year for the Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, with a select number of the assets going to the United States Golf Association's new headquarters in Pinehurst, N.C.
The IMAX Theater also is scheduled to close that day, but Greg McLaughlin, the CEO of the World Golf Foundation, said all the theater and projection equipment will be left behind if someone wants to take it over.
McLaughlin said he and his staff would meet to decide if the closing of the Hall of Fame would merit any special activities, or if the admission prices would be reduced. As of this week, no decisions have been made.
PGA Tour Entertainment, which is housed in an adjacent building, will move into its new headquarters near the PGA Tour Global Home in early 2025. St. Johns County will take over ownership of the Hall of Fame building, but the PGA Tour Entertainment building remains with the World Golf Foundation.
The primary museum assets that will be sent to Pinehurst are the lockers and their contents, one for every Hall of Fame member. Most of the other items are being sent back to the Hall of Fame members or their families.
Smith’s jug went home
Defending British Open champion Cameron Smith, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident, didn’t forget his home course when it came to take the Claret Jug for a tour.
He also got a lucky stroke of timing: the night he took the jug over to the Wantima Country Club in Brisbane. It was the same night that the club had its annual awards banquet, including a trophy for its player of the year.
Smith said during his pretournament news conference at Royal Liverpool on Tuesday that he and the club members “had a ripping night."
“For a little country club outside of Brisbane to have the Claret Jug in it, I think was a pretty cool moment,” he said.
PGA TOUR
Event: Open Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, England.
At stake: $16 million purse ($3 million and 600 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Cameron Smith.
TV: USA (Thursday-Friday, 4 a.m.-3 p.m.); Saturday, 5-7 a.m.; Sunday, 4-7 a.m.); NBC (Saturday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.).
Area players entered: Harris English, Brian Harman, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, David Lingmerth, Trey Mullinax, J.T. Poston.
Notable: Smith shot 64 in the final round and beat Cameron Young by one shot. The next nearest player was Rory McIlroy, five behind Young. … Leading the field is world No. 1-ranked and Players champion Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion Jon Rahm, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. … In addition to being the final major of the season, this is the final tournament of the year in which players from LIV Golf will be in the field with PGA Tour and DP World Tour players. In addition to Smith, the LIV contingent is led by three-time 2023 winner Talor Gooch, PGA champion Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson.
Event: Barracuda Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Tahoe Mountin Golf Club (Old Greenwood Course), Truckee, Calif.
At stake: $3.8 million purse ($684,000 and 300 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Chez Reavie.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m.).
Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Jonas Blixt, Russell Knox, Keith Mitchell, Doc Redman, Greyson Sigg, Carl Yuan.
Notable: Reavie scored 43 points under a Modified Stableford format, beating Alex Noren by one point.
LPGA TOUR
Event: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland (Mich.) Country Club.
At stake: $2.7 million purse ($405,000 to the winning team).
Defending champions: Jennifer Kupcho-Lizette Salas.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday, 3-6 p.m.; Friday, 12-3 p.m.; Saturday, 1-3 p.m.); CBS (Sunday, 4-6 p.m.).
Area players entered: Amelia Lewis (playing with Paula Reto, Mel Reid (playing with Bronte Law).
Notable: Kupcho and Salas shot 61 in the final round under a better- all format and won by five shots.
KORN FERRY TOUR
Event: Price-Cutter Charity Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Highland Springs Country Club, Springfield, Mo.
At stake: $1 million purse ($180,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: David Kocher.
TV: None.
Area players entered: A.J. Crouch, Philip Knowles, Jared Wolfe.
Notable: Kocher opened with a 63 and never hit the brakes on the way to a six-shot victory.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Masters-branded football helmet finds its way to Jaguars new digs
