The more I delve into this Nationwide tournament coming here in October, the more it looks like we have something good on our hands.

Didn’t believe it. Secondary tournaments have flopped here, as you’ll remember from the Senior Players, the Legends and, yes, the one-off LPGA event way back when. Even the U.S. Amateur, with Tiger Woods winning, drew only a few flies.

The Nationwide is definitely secondary — name one, just one player, please — but several things set it apart:

1. Winn-Dixie. A big company as the sponsor is a key, and a bonus is that it’s a big retail company. They touch people every day. They can get in your face (politely, of course.) They are a massive presence in our community, even with a mega-store like Publix dominating the market. They have the clout to sell pro-am foursomes at a reported $30,000 a pop because their suppliers aren’t going to say no.

2. Peter Lynch. He’s the Winn-Dixie CEO and so what you say. So what is that he was in the Albertson’s company and that grocery chain sponsors one of the most successful Nationwide events, the Albertson’s Boise Open. Lynch is a strong CEO and what he says goes, and he says that a Nationwide event is a good idea.

3. Jeff Sanders Promotions. The Oregon-based company handles the Boise tournament and Lynch made sure they would handle his here, too. Sanders is a former Tour player who has built a well-oiled promotion company and you’ll be impressed by a guy named Patrick Sivers who will run the tournament here with a passion. Part of the problems with past secondary events has been the staff, which have ranged from nonexistent (LPGA) to nonproductive (Legends) to non-interested (Senior Players.).

4. The Nationwide staff. This is all supposition on my part, but methinks the people on the Nationwide staff are considered little brothers to the PGA Tour staff out at 112 PGA Tour Blvd. No one has said that, and you can bet that no one will, but they now have a chance to show off in front of all the big shots. This is their Players.

5. Community outreach. How many charities have asked you to buy tickets? A lot, because they’ve signed on something like 160 non-profits to handle the sales. the non-profits get ALL the money, and they don’t have to wait. Over $40,000 already has been distributed. Helluva idea, as long as you have everything else covered. (Inside stuff: golf tournaments make their money off sponsorships and daily ticket sales add little. Probably very little, once you consider the cost of the sales effort.

Five good reasons and a lot of PGA Tour events wish they had them.

* * *

One more thing about the Nationwide: I’ll have to take their word for this, but they say that 2/3 of the Players field has played the Nationwide Tour. You know them but you don’t know any of the 2/3 who will be in the Players 10 years from now. They’ll be here in October.

* * *

Easy to forget another big event here in October: the Florida State GA’s Mid-Am at Timuquana. St. Augustine’s Steve Carter defends.

* * *

UNF’s Sean Dale is the FSGA champ and he did it impressively with a final-round 69 at bay Hill while everyone else was going way South.

Dale is from here (he won the Jacksonville G&CC club championship in high school) and went to Mississippi, but that program imploded — uneven coaching was the best explanation — and Dale and three other prep hotshots transferred out.



— Fred Seely is editor of the Golf News.