After a one-year hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation will have a completely new look to it when it returns in 2021. The Korn Ferry Tour has announced the tournament will be held May 3-9, 2021 at The Grove – a premier golf course located just south of Nashville in College Grove. The Tennessee Golf Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes golf and its life-enhancing values statewide, will operate Middle Tennessee’s only professional golf tournament.
“As one of the leaders in golf in the state of Tennessee, we were honored that the Snedeker Foundation, the PGA TOUR and the Korn Ferry Tour would look to us to help move the event in the direction they see it going in the future,” said Whit Turnbow, executive director of the Tennessee Golf Foundation. “Brandt [Snedeker] has a great vision for what he wants this event to be and certainly it’s come a long way in the first five years. We look forward to elevating this event to a new level.”
The 2020 Simmons Bank Open was scheduled for April 30-May 3 at Nashville Golf and Athletic Club, which hosted the first four editions of the tournament. Formerly known as the Nashville Golf Open, the tournament was renamed the Simmons Bank Open earlier this year in recognition of its new title partner. Simmons Bank will be entering the second year of an eight-year agreement with the tournament in 2021.
“We are proud to be associated with the Korn Ferry Tour and the Snedeker Foundation,” said George Makris, chairman and CEO of Simmons Bank. “Since 1903, Simmons Bank has been helping our communities realize their dreams – we can’t think of a more appropriate partnership than with the Korn Ferry Tour, which allows professional golfers to reach for their dreams while inspiring others to do the same.”
The Simmons Bank Open will continue to benefit the Snedeker Foundation, which was founded by 2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker and his wife Mandy in 2015 and has distributed more than $1 million to various charities in middle Tennessee during that time.
“I’m really excited to have the Tennessee Golf Foundation involved with my hometown event,” Snedeker said. “It’s a perfect fit. Very rarely do you have two like-minded organizations with a purpose of impacting the local community in a positive way and doing it with integrity. It just so happens the vehicle we are using to raise money and impact the local community is golf. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
The transition to The Grove in 2021 puts the spotlight on another premier venue in middle Tennessee. The Grove is regarded as one of the state’s top private golf facilities. Featuring Zoysia fairways and Bermuda greens, the course stretches 7,300 yards long from its championship tees and seamlessly incorporates the natural landscape into its iconic design.
“We are excited to host the Simmons Bank Open,” said Mark Enderle, partner at The Grove. “Providing the opportunity for young golfers to learn and grow in their game and fostering the next generation of passionate players is core to the mission of The Grove.”
The Tennessee Golf Foundation, located in Franklin, is home to the state’s governing bodies of golf – the Tennessee Golf Association, the Tennessee Section PGA, TGF Junior Golf and the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. Golf House Tennessee also features The Little Course at Conner Lane, a state-of-the-art learning center with a nine-hole, par-three course and driving range, with programming for all ages and skill levels.
The Tennessee Golf Foundation focuses on initiatives for juniors and the disadvantaged, with such offerings as the Sneds Tour – a statewide junior tour – Special Olympics, PGA HOPE, The First Tee, the Tennessee Middle School Golf Association and Scott Stallings Kids Play Free Program.
For more information about the Simmons Bank Open, visit Simmonsbankopen.com
This article was originally published on https://simmonsbankopen.com