New PGA Tour Correspondent (@CharlieTour) takes TaylorMade’s avid social media audience inside the ropes on the game’s biggest stage
It’s Monday at THE PLAYERS Championship – the “fifth major,” as it’s known in modern professional golf – and I’m in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL to help capture and share the sights, sounds and happenings at PGA Tour headquarters (TPC Sawgrass) with TaylorMade’s avid social media audience of 300,000+ followers on our channels. It’s my 14th week on the road in a new role for our Global Marketing group, called PGA Tour correspondent, and after a morning coffee I set out to track down our PGA Tour Truck.
This week, our PGA Tour technicians (Wade Liles and Henry Luna, also the truck’s drivers) have backed the 42-foot trailer into an area of the property known as “Dye’s Valley,” deep in the heart of TPC Sawgrass cozied underneath some local vegetation. Spanish Moss hangs above, pine straw rests below as we set out for a busy week at the practice facility and especially inside the trailer, where our team of technicians and reps crank out some 150 clubs per week for the largest staff of professionals on the PGA Tour.
The TaylorMade Tour Truck
Many players travel on Monday, so in addition to recapping the prior week (Wells Fargo Championship) with our team in a brief meeting, my first order of business is to set out for the famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. The island green is one of the most iconic stages in all of professional golf and I know, myself a golfer, that the audience craves the “sight on scene” photography and updates from this location the week of the PLAYERS as much as any other. In addition to the immediate capture – I shared a photo from 17 on Monday morning with TaylorMade’s Instagram followers – I save a better shot of 17 to post on Thursday when the tournament starts. Organization is a crucial aspect of success in social media and I’m excited about this capture to start the week on a high note.
After a quick stop at the range to capture some notes with our team – already on Monday morning, Tour manager Paul Loegering was deep into an RBZ driver fitting with PGA Tour player, Joe Ogilvie – it was back to the truck for a quick download and runthrough on our channels. Back in the command center, putter rep Shawn Mullin was hard at work on two new Ghost putters for David Hearn, who wanted to test a couple “long” Ghosts – 48”, to be exact, some 13 inches longer than standard.
The afternoon – a hot one in Florida – continued with a fast pace in and outside the truck and included a special visit to the PGA Tour locker room to deliver special edition “Pink Out” gear for our staffers. In honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13, THE PLAYERS Championship encouraged all golfers to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness. To help this effort, TaylorMade pros were given white hanks with pink accents, special white and pink towels and R11S headcovers, pink tops from adidas and Ashworth golf as well as pink footwear. Organizing all of the accessories can make for a headache in the locker room but together our Tour team transported and stuffed the lockers with the pink gear, much to the excitement of our players.
We’re looking forward to a great weekend at the PLAYERS and hope you enjoyed our look inside the ropes on the PGA Tour. Cross your fingers for a TaylorMade player will be holding the trophy on Sunday.
If you’re not already, be sure to follow our brand channels on Facebook and twitter as well as my personal account. If you have questions or want to know more about our PGA Tour team, just ask. You can email me at charles.kautz@tmag.com. Cheers!
