BRADENTON, Fla. — Round one is underway at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession Golf Club.
This tournament was supposed to be played in Mexico City but was moved to Bradenton just weeks in advance due to COVID-19 concerns.
“It was a quick yes, something we have been looking forward to and trying to get for quite a long time, an event of this caliber,” said General Manager Brian Weimann.
After graciously accepting the invitation to host, Weimann quickly realized they had work to do.
“Normally it takes about a year, year and a half, to get ready for one of these, but we had 45 days,” said Weimann. “I think our superintendent didn’t sleep for about three days after we talked about this.”
For The Concession, this just isn’t a golf tournament, it’s an audition.
“It left the PGA Tour with the opportunity to go to a different site, bring the World Golf Championships to a new market and a totally new venue,” said Steve Rintoul, PGA Tour Senior Tournament Director.
“We want them to come back, 100%, we want a seat at the table,” said Weimann.
Dustin Johnson, the world’s number one ranked player, headlines a field of past major champions to compete this week. The course has to be perfect.
“You don’t want the divots on the golf course, the ball marks, so we’ve really limited what our members can do out here the last couple of weeks,” said Weimann.
The greens and fairways are only half the challenge, The Concession looked to outside partners, like USF and the City of Sarasota, to help with all the important tasks surrounding the tournament.
In the end, the entire community stands to benefit.
“It really puts us into 800 million households throughout the world, to be able to see the beauty shots around the area, the beaches, downtown Sarasota, it really showcases what the west coast of Florida has to offer,” said Weimann.
