PHOENIX, Arizona – The Korn Ferry Tour bestowed five tournaments, one volunteer, and a charity with its annual season-ending tournament awards Wednesday, December 7 as part of the PGA TOUR’s annual Tournament Meetings.
Following its sixth season as a Korn Ferry Tour event, the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation earned the prestigious Tournament of the Year Award.
The 2022 Simmons Bank Open was hosted by The Grove Club in College Grove, Tenn., this past May.
“We are thrilled to name the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation our 2022 Tournament of the Year,” Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin said. “There is no better time for us to recognize the outstanding work of Mike Hammontree and the team at Tennessee Golf Foundation, Simmons Bank and the Snedeker Foundation over the last two years as their event joins the reimagined Korn Ferry Tour Finals in 2023.”
As the winner of the Tournament of the Year Award, the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation succeeded in putting forth a premier tournament on all applicable fronts, including:
- Exceptional amenities and exemplary hospitality for players, caddies, volunteers, staff, and fans
- Unique and creative approach to social media and digital content across a variety of platforms, leading to a greater influence, reach, and awareness of the event in the local market and beyond
- Supporting and generating exposure for multiple charities through tournament-week initiatives, including a pro-am and early-week sponsor events which were best in class and successfully integrated charities, sponsors, and the community of Nashville
- Engaged in the PGA TOUR’s sustainability initiatives, as the tournament provided all players and caddies with a reusable water bottle to utilize at filling stations across the property, thus significantly reducing the amount of plastic water bottles used throughout tournament week
- Complete engagement with and integration of its title sponsor’s priorities, objectives, and branding into the tournament
- Provided unique fan experience elements such as a new and improved Fan Zone, highlighted by a floating guitar-shape island green which fans attempted to hit
The 2023 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation will be the second of four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, with the season-ending series transitioning from a mechanism through which additional PGA TOUR cards are awarded, to a four-event series featuring elevated purses and points and serving as the culmination of the season-long race for PGA TOUR cards. This will be the tournament’s first year as a Korn Ferry Tour Finals event. The 2023 playing of the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation is set for September 14-17 at The Grove.
The Korn Ferry Tour will contribute $10,000 to the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation.
Here are this year’s award recipients:
Tournament of the Year
Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation
Charity of the Year
Memorial Health Foundation (Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS)
Sales Award
BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX
Truck Award
Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard
Volunteer of the Year
Mary Eve (Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance)