Looking AHEAD...

Late last week, the Davis Love Foundation announced that AHEAD has become the official headwear sponsor of The McGladrey Classic! We can hardly wait to share their gear with you and sport their hats during this year’s tournament in October!

This week, Team McGladrey members Zach Johnson and Davis Love III are in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for the 2014 Honda Classic. Zach teed off at 7:35am EST on tee #10 and Davis teed off at 12:35pm EST on tee #1. (Did you know it’s been more than six years since Zach last played at the Honda Classic?) Follow along with PGA TOUR’s live coverage online.

Last week, we mentioned that February 24 was Zach’s birthday. To help him celebrate, 2011 McGladrey Classic Winner Ben Crane, posted birthday wishes to Zach, along with a picture of the two of them having fun with fans. We love seeing pictures of our McGladrey “boys” having fun with one another!

And speaking of fun, plans are already underway for the 2014 McGladrey Classic (Oct. 20 – 26). Earlier this month, a small team from McGladrey traveled to beautiful Sea Island to meet with the Davis Love Foundation staff to discuss this year’s tournament. We’ll keep you updated as things progress. In the meantime, be sure to check back next week for more updates.

Deere, Birdies and Trees – Nature in the World of Golf

This has been a busy week in the world of golf.

Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson is in Arizona for the World Golf Championships. Zach started the competition yesterday with a match against Richard Sterne and unfortunately, it wasn’t Zach’s day.  Sterne beat him 5 and 4 to eliminate him from the competition.  Zach will be back in action next week at The Honda Classic in Florida. John Deere released some exciting news on Tuesday (Feb. 18) regarding Zach Johnson as well. John Deere has become a multi-year corporate sponsor for Zach. You’ll notice Zach sporting a new golf bag at this week’s tournament with John Deere’s trademark. Find out more about on this sponsorship in John Deere’s press release. We think the John Deere logo is a nice addition to the McGladrey logo that Zach sports. J

Speaking of new looks, have you seen the PGA TOUR’s new website? They have a new layout and enhanced functionality. If you haven’t checked it out yet, head over to www.pgatour.com and let them know what you think.  

On a somewhat sad note, the snow and ice storm that hit the South last week caused unrecoverable damage to the Eisenhower Tree at Augusta National. “Ike’s tree” was a course landmark, full of history and the subject of hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures over the years. The Atlanta Business Chronicle covered the loss in detail in a recent article. Below is an interesting tidbit on how the tree got its name:

“The…tree got its name because former President Dwight D.Eisenhower often hit into it, and at a club meeting in 1956 he proposed cutting it down. Masters co-founder Clifford Roberts ruled him out of order and adjourned the meeting, and the tree has been linked to Eisenhower ever since…”

Goodbye, Ike’s tree – the course won’t be quite the same without you!

On to happier news, Gavin Martin, 2013 Birdies Fore Love winner, picked up his Buick Encore from Nalley. (Gavin won the car by being the person to most closely guess the number of birdies at the tournament.) Congratulations, Gavin – we hope you enjoy your new “ride!” The McGladrey Classic team is already working on the 2014 Birdies Fore Love program. Watch for details soon on how YOU can enter to win.

Remember: Team McGladrey Member Chris DiMarco takes center stage on SiriusXM’s oPINionated every Tuesday morning. Tune in to listen each week. Want to join the conversation? Call 866.469.0026 to talk with Chris directly.

Finally, before we wrap up this week’s update, we want to let our readers know that Mon., Feb., 24 is Zach’s birthday! You can share your birthday wishes with him via Twitter (@ZachJohnsonPGA) or, if you prefer, you can leave your birthday greetings here on our blog, and we’ll be happy to pass along your wishes!

Check back next week to find out the latest regarding Team McGladrey and the 2014 McGladrey Classic (Oct. 20-26).

Sending “Love” Your Way

Team McGladrey Member Davis Love III is in California this week for the Northern Trust Open. Davis is in group 8 which teed off at 7:53am PST. It’s a great week for Southerner Davis (a resident of Sea Island, GA) to jump across the country, as the South faces an unprecedented snow and ice storm, which is paralyzing (or at least slowing down) much of the Southeast.  

Next week at the World Golf Championship – Cadillac Championship, Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson will be back on the course after taking a break for the past month.

And while February might best be known as the month of “love,” it’s also a pretty big month in the world of golf. Several PGA TOUR professionals including Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Jack Nicklaus, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Bobby Jones, Greg Norman and several others have February birthdays. And while tomorrow is the official “day of love,” it’s also PGA TOUR Professional Tom Watson’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Tom, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our readers! We’ll  be showing our “love” by watching Davis (Love – get it?) via PGA TOURs Shot Tracker. Next Monday (Feb. 17) is President’s Day. The McGladrey offices will be open, but we hope that those of you who have the day as a holiday enjoy the time off, and that you’ll check back in next Thursday for more updates on Team McGladrey and the 2014 McGladrey Classic (Oct. 20 – 26).

The Team McGladrey Family Has a Winning Week!

2014 is shaping up to be a great year for Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson. In a previous post, we mentioned that Zach was up for PGA TOUR Player of the Month. Well… he won – with a staggering 74.24 percent of fans’ votes! Thank you to those who supported Zach, who will use the prize money to positively impact youth and families through his foundation!  Check out the Zach Johnson Foundation to learn more.

Earlier this week, PGA TOUR shared its top five shots from last week’s 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open, and Ben Crane, winner of the 2011 McGladrey Classic (and, by default, a member of the McGladrey “family”), came in at No. 1 for nearly acing a par-4. Check out the video:  

 

This week, Team McGladrey Member Davis Love III is in California for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He’s in group three, which tees off at 10:01am PST on tee #1 of the Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Best of luck, Davis!

To wrap things up, we want to send belated happy birthday wishes to 2010 McGladrey Classic winner, Heath Slocum. Heath’s big day was on Mon., Feb. 3! Happy Birthday, Heath!

Check back next week for more updates on Team McGladrey and the 2014 McGladrey Classic – it’s just a little more than eight months away…