PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Before The Players Championship gets underway with 49 of the world’s top 50 golfers at TPC Sawgrass, visitors will celebrate Military Appreciation Day at the Ponte Vedra Beach course on Tuesday.
The celebration begins at 4:30 p.m. and is free for all active-duty military members. Veterans are also eligible for discounted tickets for the event, which includes a concert on the famed No. 17 hole by country star Riley Green.
Starting Thursday, the golfers will try to nab a chunk of the biggest purse in the PGA tour season: $25 million. The winner gets a $4.5 million share.
The one notable absence at this year’s tournament is last year’s champion, Cam Smith, who now plays for the LIV tour and won’t be back to defend his title.
There are also a few things fans and spectators should know as they prepare for the tournament this week.
RELATED: Changes await fans heading out to Players this week
Jared Rice, senior vice president & executive director of The Players, said the tournament is bigger and better than ever.
“I think when you arrive on property, you’ll see that our overall build, the structures, the magnitude of the build-out is appreciably larger,” Rice said. “So that’s always kind of cool to come out and say like, ‘Wow, this is a temporary city.’ And I think that’s on full display.”
Rice said more than 200,000 golf fans and visitors will come through TPC Sawgrass over the next week, watching some of the best players in the world compete for the Tour’s biggest prize.
Nearby businesses are also getting ready for the swell of out-of-town revenue.
“We’re super excited. We hope that we will get some overflow from the tournament. Usually, all the locals steer clear because of the traffic, obviously, but we’re really excited and we hope to get some impact from all the out-of-town visitors,” said Cathy Jenkins, owner of A’propos Boutique.
For fans at the tournament, there’s a new PGA tour app that the association has reworked and fine-tuned to include more robust stats, faster loading times and scoring updates. It also features a more detailed map of the course which is said to be a little more fan friendly.
This year there are free fan lockers on-site. That means fans can store their goods safely in a locker, without a charge.
Also, a big reminder about cash, you can leave it at home. The event and its vendors are all cashless.
All tickets are still digital and must be purchased in advance, likewise with parking.
Friday and Saturday parking are sold out but you might be able to find some through the secondary verified market at Ticketmaster.
For more information: THE PLAYERS Championship.