PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It takes a lot of manpower to put on such a large-scale event like The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Thousands of fans will walk around the course watching some of the best golfers in the world. Scattered throughout the course are more than 2,000 volunteers who make The Players possible. One of those volunteers is Jacksonville resident Kevin Copeland who started volunteering eight years ago because he loved how The Players had a strong philanthropic background.
“A friend of mine approached me and said there is a new way of giving back that I’ve been doing for years that I had no clue about,” Copeland said.
Nearly a decade later, Copeland still loves volunteering at The Players. Throughout the years, he has become good friends with other volunteers.
“It’s a busy week, but it is phenomenal seeing people that I haven’t seen in a year,” Copeland said. “It is the most wonderful experience.”
There are many jobs that people in the Northeast Florida community volunteer to do every year during Players week that would not make the tournament possible without them.
“It is just such an honor to be here to work with and do all these things with these volunteers,” Copeland said. “There’s 2,000-plus volunteers that help to put this event on. I know that we are just a piece of this major thing, but we are just such a happy part of making this entire wonderful event happen.”
It’s not all work all the time. Sometimes the volunteers even get to meet the golfers, which creates a moment they will remember forever.
“I was able to have a brief interaction with Jon Rahm,” Copeland said. “He was such a gracious person. He was all smiles and he stopped to talk to everyone. Shake everyone’s hand and it was just wonderful to see someone that has done so well be able to interact and have such a great time.”
Just like how Copeland is giving back to the community by volunteering at The Players, he is also proud to be part of something that also gives so much to the local community by spotlighting Northeast Florida on golf’s world stage.
“This is just such a wonderful opportunity. The ability that the PGA Tour has given both us and the city of Jacksonville to just grow and give more back to the city of Jacksonville is fantastic.”