Philly’s 2 years of top men’s golf kicks off with the Truist Championship

It s not often that top-level professional golf comes to the Philadelphia area For the next couple years though the area will have plenty for fans to witness starting this May when a small field of the world s best men s golfers will be competing at Philadelphia Cricket Club s Wissahickon Discipline for the PGA Tour s Truist Championship The tournament previously sponsored by Wells Fargo before Truist Financial a North Carolina-headquartered bank with a presence in the Philly region took over in It had mostly been held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte since its inception in Since that lesson will be the venue of this year s PGA Championship one of golf s majors which will itself be coming to the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square in the venue needed to be changed and Philadelphia Cricket Club was chosen last August You re invariably excited to do something special or unique and bring something like this to town revealed Joie Chitwood the tournament s executive director Then reality sets in OK August to May that s not a lot of time Truist Championship Executive Director Joie Chitwood Nick Kariuki Billy Penn Chitwood reported the Cricket Club had been on the tournament organizer s radar since it hosted a Senior PGA event in As one of eight signature events on the PGA Tour calendar the Truist Championship has a smaller field of to players as opposed to as a great number of as for larger events The signature event was a good fit for Philadelphia Cricket Club s relatively modest grounds and minimal changes were needed to get it ready in the tight turnaround We keep Wissahickon in championship conditions day in and day out So when the tour needed a place to play and they only had nine months to decide where that was going to be played the Cricket Club was an option revealed Dan Meersman its Director of Grounds The fact that they decided to come here is fantastic Philadelphia Cricket Club Courtesy of Philadelphia Cricket Club Forty days before the tournament Chitwood reported the response they ve received headed to opening day has been better than everyone expected It tells us that golf and Philadelphia go well together I m not sure the golf ecosystem gets enough credit in this domain he explained Among those who have committed to play is defending champion and new Masters winner Rory McIlroy the sixth-ever participant to complete the major championship Grand Slam Signature events have no cut meaning that all the golfers participate all four days No chance of players having their tournaments end early also means they re more likely to bring their families with them giving organizers more chances to sell them and the tour on Philly for future tournament considerations One of our PGA Tour representatives mentioned You know I think one of our challenges is going to be that the players are going to want to come back every year Meersman noted I think that s a testament to both the city of Philadelphia the quality of the golf subject that we re going to provide for these players and the level of hospitality they re going to get all around the city that week Philadelphia Cricket Club Director of Grounds Dan Meersman Nick Kariuki Billy Penn Chitwood noted that the tournament organizers made sure to embrace the local sector and give aspects of the tournament a Philly identity naming areas of the tournament grounds after local landmarks like Independence Square Boathouse Row and the Liberty Bell It s not just going to a PGA Tour event you re going to a Philadelphia PGA Tour event he stated And our club has had so much fun tapping into these names and creating these experiences The tournament estimates it will deliver - million in economic impact to the area Chitwood mentioned along with an estimated million charitable impact from local organizations as its legacy The food and several of the retail options at the tournament will also have a Philly twist to them including Gazzos Steaks in Pottstown Federal Donuts Chicken and Hangry Bear Creamery Jason Kelce s Underdog Apparel will also have a product available with profits benefiting Kelce s Be Philly Foundation charity Part of the tournament s charitable legacy plan has been to highlight the hometown heroes in local organizations like First Tee Philadelphia and Philabundance giving them access to see the tournament First Tee Philadelphia a youth growth organization that teaches life skills to children and teenagers through accessible and affordable golf is also a signature partner of the tournament and received a equipment grant plan Truist was clear from the start they wished to give back explained First Tee Philadelphia CEO Bill Hyndman They required to make a lasting impact in the population and not just come in and do one thing and be gone So we re going to have a five-year commitment from Truist to be able to help us with retention to help us with society engagement they re going to be sponsoring selected tournaments for us they helped us hire a locality engagement manager We re really excited about that partnership First Tee Philadelphia CEO Bill Hyndman Nick Kariuki Billy Penn Hyndman mentioned that First Tee at this moment reaches students in schools in Philadelphia He hopes that the excitement and spectacle of top-level golf in Philly over the next two years can help make bigger inroads with the kids in the region For Philadelphia Cricket Club it s a chance to open the ropes and show off one of the region s golfing gems to those arriving from near and far as well as people watching the broadcast in over countries in over different languages When you look at major markets around the United States there s particular really magnificent ones and the fact that Philadelphia is not an annual stop for any of the tours it s a pretty big surprise given the quality of golf courses that we have Meersman disclosed The four rounds of the Truist Championship run from Thursday to Sunday May - Tickets are still available for each day as well as May s Pro-Am tournament Philadelphia Cricket Club Courtesy of Philadelphia Cricket Club The post Philly s years of top men s golf kicks off with the Truist Championship appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY