Pleasant Valley Country Club to host annual
Charles Schwab Cup playoff event
LITTLE
ROCK, Ark. and PONTE VEDRA
BEACH, Fla., Aug. 31,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new PGA TOUR Champions
tournament, the Simmons Bank Championship will debut in
October 2024. The competition will be
held annually at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Arkansas. A five-year agreement
establishing the event was announced today at the Arkansas Sports
Hall of Fame, with Simmons First National Corporation Executive
Chairman George Makris, PGA
TOUR Champions President Miller
Brady and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders in attendance. To
download photos from the announcement, please click here.
The Simmons Bank Championship will serve as the second round of
PGA TOUR Champions' annual Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, with the
top 54 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings competing to
earn their spot among the top 36 and gain entry into the final
event of the season. The inaugural Simmons Bank Championship will
be held from October 21-27, 2024.
"We are ecstatic to announce the addition of the Simmons Bank
Championship to the PGA TOUR Champions schedule," said PGA TOUR
Champions President Miller
Brady. "Simmons Bank has
been a tremendous title sponsor on the Korn Ferry Tour and we are
thrilled to have them join PGA TOUR Champions to sponsor one of our
playoff events. Bringing a tournament to their home in Little Rock shows Simmons Bank's commitment to supporting their
local community using the platform of professional golf to
highlight the state of Arkansas
and all that it has to offer."
Simmons Bank was founded in 1903
in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Today,
Simmons has approximately $28.0
billion in assets and employs almost 3,100 associates across
six states. Since 2020, Simmons Bank
has served as the title sponsor of the Korn Ferry Tour's Nashville
event.
"Since our inception 120 years ago, Simmons Bank has had a long-standing commitment
to being a strong community partner and making life better in the
communities we serve," said Simmons
Bank Executive Chairman George
Makris, Jr. "In addition to bringing hall-of-fame
caliber golf to Little Rock featuring some of the greatest
ambassadors of the game, the Simmons Bank Championship will serve
as a catalyst for supporting local nonprofits while also providing
an economic benefit to businesses throughout the area."
The Simmons Bank Championship will be the first-ever PGA TOUR
Champions event held in Arkansas,
and the first PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament held in the state
since the Korn Ferry Tour's Fort Smith Classic, which was last
contested in 2010. In markets where PGA TOUR Champions events are
held, tournaments generate upwards of $15
million dollars in local economic impact. Net proceeds from
the Simmons Bank Championship will benefit several qualified
501(c)(3) non-profit organizations in the state of Arkansas. To
date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.64
billion in charitable donations.
"The best job I have as Governor is to be the chief salesperson
for Arkansas. This Tour is just one
more thing to give our state an advantage," said Governor
Sanders. "We want to grow our outdoor economy and events
like this that have a $15 million
impact are exactly the type of thing that we're looking to bring
and highlight here."
Pleasant Valley Country Club was designed in the late 1960s by
world-renowned architect Joe Finger.
He brought on future World Golf Hall of Fame members Jimmy Demaret and Byron
Nelson to serve as consultants. Demaret won 31 times on the
PGA TOUR, including three victories at The Masters, while Nelson
holds 52 victories, including five major titles. To download an
image of Pleasant Valley, please click here.
A 27-hole golf course, Pleasant Valley features oak and pine
tree lined fairways, eight ponds on the property and primary
turfgrass of 419 bermudagrass. In 2009, all the putting surfaces
were changed to ultra-dwarf bermudagrass. In addition to the
course, the Country Club features a 40,000 square-foot hitting
area, as well as 10,000 and 4,500 square-foot practice putting
greens.
"We are truly excited to enter a multi-year partnership with the
Simmons Bank Championship and the PGA TOUR Champions," said
Pleasant Valley Country Club Board of Governors President
Jason Garner. "The
opportunity to bring the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs and top PGA
TOUR Champions golfers to Little Rock puts our historic course on a
national stage. More importantly, Pleasant Valley Country Club is
able to support the tournament's charitable goals and create
lasting community impact. On behalf of Pleasant Valley Country
Club, we would like to welcome the Simmons Bank Championship to
Arkansas."
PGA TOUR Champions features several golfers with Arkansas ties. John
Daly – a current resident of Dardanelle, Arkansas – won the 1984 Arkansas
State Amateur and played collegiately at the University of Arkansas. Glen Day is a current resident of Little Rock and has served as Simmons Bank ambassador since 2021. Ken Duke – also sponsored by Simmons Bank – was born and raised in
Arkansas, winning the Arkansas
High School Medalist at Pleasant Valley Country Club in 1987. He
also played collegiately at Henderson University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he was a
four-time Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Golfer of the Year
and earned NAIA All-American honors in 1992. Both Daly (Class of
2006) and Duke (Class of 2014) are members of the Arkansas Sports
Hall of Fame.
The Simmons Bank Championship will be managed and operated by
Pro Links Sports, a nationally recognized sports marketing and
event management firm that assists in running several PGA TOUR and
PGA TOUR Champions tournaments. Executive Director Ken Kennerly and Tournament Director
Mike Harrison will oversee the
event, working closely with Simmons
Bank, Pleasant Valley Country Club, and the PGA TOUR
Champions to host a world-class event for the Little Rock community
and the great state of Arkansas.
For more information about the Simmons Bank Championship, visit
the tournament website (www.simmonsbankchampionship.com) and follow
the Simmons Bank Championship on Facebook
(@SimmonsBankChampionship), Instagram (@sbgolfchamp), X [formerly
Twitter] (@sbgolfchamp), TikTok (@sbgolfchamp), LinkedIn
(@SimmonsBankChampionship) and YouTube
(@SimmonsBankChampionship).
To download the Simmons Bank Championship logo, please click
here. To download the Pleasant Valley Country Club logo, click
here.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a
membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older,
including 35 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour's
mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players,
entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its
partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate
significant charitable and economic impact in tournament
communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, on
Facebook, on X [formerly Twitter] (@ChampionsTour), on Instagram
(@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
All events are televised in the United
States on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television
partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Internationally, PGA TOUR Champions
coverage is available in more than 170 countries and territories
via 22 media partners.
About Simmons Bank
Simmons Bank is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ: SFNC), a
Mid-South based financial holding company that has paid cash
dividends for 114 consecutive years. Simmons Bank operates 231 branches in
Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
Founded in 1903, Simmons Bank offers
comprehensive financial solutions delivered with a client-centric
approach. In 2023, Simmons Bank was
recognized by Forbes' as one of "America's Best Midsize Employer"
and among the "World's Best Banks" for the fourth consecutive year.
In 2022, Simmons Bank was named to
Forbes' list of "America's Best Banks" for the second consecutive
year. Additional information about Simmons
Bank can be found on our website at simmonsbank.com, by
following @Simmons_Bank on X (formerly Twitter) or by visiting our
newsroom.
About Pro Links Sports
Since 1993, Pro Links Sports has worked with companies throughout
the world to implement customized, full-service golf programs to
fit their particular needs and objectives. Companies turn to us for
our knowledge of golf, our unparalleled service and our attention
to every detail.
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SOURCE Simmons Bank