A Tournament of Champions

This week on the golf course, several members of our Team RSM family are playing in the Fort Worth Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Team RSM Members Chris Kirk and Zach Johnson will be playing, joined by past RSM Classic winners Austin Cook (2017), Mac Hughes (2016), Kevin Kisner (2015), Robert Streb (2014) and Ben Crane (2011).

Below are their tee times for Thurs., May 24:

PLAYER	TEE #	TEE TIME (CT)
Kevin Kisner	10	8:06 am
Ben Crane	10	12:22 pm
Austin Cook	10	12:44 pm
Zach Johnson	1	12:55 pm
Mac Hughes	10	12:55 pm
Chris Kirk	10	1:06 pm
Robert Streb	10	1:17 pm

Our Team RSM “family” is pretty familiar with the tournament! Sports Illustrated gave a nice shout out to THREE familiar faces below:

The Past Champions: Kevin Kisner won this event last year at 10-under, beating Sean O'Hair, Jon Rahm and hometown favorite Jordan Spieth by one shot. Spieth won it the year before, and in 2016 he finished second to Chris Kirk, so that's three top-2 finishes in three years for Spieth at Colonial. Zach Johnson is a two-time champion of the event (2010, 2012) as is Phil Mickelson (2000, 2008), though lefty isn't in the field this week. Adam Scott took home the trophy in 2014. Other notable winners throughout the tournament's rich history: Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Hogan (five times), Ben Crenshaw (twice), Sam Snead, Lee Trevino (twice).

Now that’s impressive! Best of luck to our “guys” this week!  

And you don’t have to be out on the golf course to be a winner this weekend! In honor of those who served, The RSM Classic is giving away a Memorial Day package! You don’t want to miss out on the chance to win these gifts, which are perfect for summer vacation!

Head over to our RSM Classic Facebook page for a chance to win everything pictured on the right! Once you’re on the page, all you have to do is:

1.       Like our Facebook Page!

2.       SHARE the post (can be found here)!

3.       Tag three friends in the comments! 

The winner will be announced on May 28^th – stay tuned!

Check back next week for more on Team RSM, The RSM Classic (Nov. 12-18, 2018) and other golf-related news.

Advice for Amateurs

This week, our most recent RSM Classic winner Austin Cook had some advice for players who might be newer to the golf scene. Here’s an excerpt from the recent Newsday article:

“PGA Tour pros and their caddies have been in enough pro-ams to know just where all of us mortals continually go wrong. They offer some kindly advice, which basically boils down to: line it up, take enough club and take it easy.

Overwhelmingly, the experts agreed that amateurs never choose to use enough club. ‘They think that a 9-iron can go 190 yards and they think they can hit it like Dustin Johnson, when really, they hit it more like me, where a 9-iron goes 130 yards,” said Austin Cook, winner of The RSM Classic in this, his rookie PGA Tour season.’”

Thanks for the advice, Austin! This got us thinking about other tips that might be helpful for those of us who aren’t professionals (at least not YET). Fortunately, GolfDigest just put out an article entitled, “Golf for Beginners: So You Want to Play Golf,” that provides additional insights:

“We get it. Golf can seem terribly complicated to the uninitiated. So many rules, so many different kinds of clubs. And then there's the lingo: birdies, bogeys, bump-and-runs. At Golf Digest, this may be the language we speak every day, but we also know it's a language that can scare prospective golfers off before they ever pick up a club. That's where this online beginner's guide comes in.”

Whether you’re brand new to the game, or just want to brush up on a few facts, you can find the full article here.

And speaking of newbies, the AT&T Byron Nelson is underway at the tournament’s new home. The Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, is currently making its public unveiling, and has intrigued many in the golf community: 

“Not everyone will understand how to play this links-like test, let alone succeed, because this is not the typical Point A to Point B golf that the Tour pros see each week. The Pinehurst-like domed greens and beguiling fairway contours will redirect what look to be pretty good shots. Imagination and patience will be critical this week.” – Golf.com

Past RSM Classic winners Robert Streb (2014),  Tommy Gainey (2012) and Ben Crane (2011) are playing in the tournament. 

Below are their tee times for Thurs., May 17:

PLAYER	TEE #	TEE TIME (CT)
Ben Crane	1	8:00 am
Robert Streb	1	8:20 am
Tommy Gainey	1	8:30 am

Best of luck to our Team RSM “family” as they play on this new course!

And in case you missed it, volunteer registration for the 2018 RSM Classic (Nov. 12-18, 2018) has started! Click the link here to find out how you can be a part of this PGATOUR event this fall!

Check back next week for more on Team RSM, The RSM Classic and other golf-related news.

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Important Dates to Remember

This week, we have a few important dates for you to add to your calendar!

First, as we inch closer to the weekend, we wanted to remind our readers that Mother’s Day is this Sun., May 13! If you’re still in need of a gift for any of the mothers in your life, Golf Digest has you covered! Read their gift guide here for a selection of golf (and non-golf) gifts.

Second, tickets for The RSM Classic (Nov. 12-18) will be available for purchase beginning Sun., July 1. Tickets will be sold directly through the tournament website – We hope to see you at beautiful Sea Island this fall!

Next up, St. Simons Island has been nominated for the Best Coastal Small Town on USA Today’s “10Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards in 2018” list! Sea Island Golf Club, which is situated on the southern tip of St. Simons Island, is the host venue for The RSM Classic. Therefore, St. Simons is especially near and dear to our hearts! If you also love St. Simons Island, feel free to vote now until Mon., May 14 here!

Last but certainly not least, we also wanted to commemorate an important date from earlier this week! Tues., May 8 was Team RSM Member and 2013 RSM Classic Winner Chris Kirk’s birthday! We hope you had a great day, Chris!

This week in tournament news, we’re headed to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where Team RSM Members Zach Johnson and Chris Kirk are both playing in The PLAYERS Championship. They are joined by a number of past RSM Classic winners including Austin Cook (this is his first time playing in the tournament!),  Mac Hughes (2016), Kevin Kisner (2015) and Robert Streb (2014).

Below are their tee times for Thurs., May 10:

PLAYER	TEE #	TEE TIME (ET)
Zach Johnson	1	7:54 am
Chris Kirk	1	8:05 am
Kevin Kisner	1	8:27 am
Robert Streb	1	12:35 pm
Mac Hughes	10	1:30 pm
Austin Cook	1	2:03 pm

Best of luck to our Team RSM “family” this week!

Check back next week for more on Team RSM, The RSM Classic and other golf-related news.

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April Showers Brought May Flowers

Happy May! This brings us one month closer to The RSM Classic – there are only 193 days left until we are back in Sea Island, Georgia for this one-of-a-kind PGA TOUR event! We loved watching the 2018 SEC Men's Golf Championship at Sea Island Resort's beautiful Seaside Course earlier this week, and it made us even more excited for November. Fun fact, RSM Classic Tournament Director Todd Thompson’s son, Davis, is a freshman at The University of Georgia and participated in last week’s SEC Men’s Golf Championship!

This week in tournament news, we’re headed to Charlotte, where the forecast is calling for beautiful weather for this week’s Well’s Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club!  Team RSM members Davis Love III and Dru Love are playing in Charlotte this year, and they’ll be joined by a number of past RSM Classic Winners, including Austin Cook (2017), Mac Hughes (2016), Kevin Kisner (2015) and Robert Streb (2014).

According to the PGA TOUR’s website: “This week’s event is the last chance for golfers to qualify for the TOUR’s signature event, THE PLAYERS Championship. For those not already qualified, there are two ways to get in: (1) win at Quail Hollow, or (2) move inside the top 10 in the FedExCup standings.”

Below are the tee times for our Team RSM “family” for Thurs., May 3. Best of luck to each of them this week!

PLAYER	TEE #	TEE TIME (ET)
Davis Love III	1	8:20 am
Dru Love	1	8:50 am
Mac Hughes	1	8:10 am
Austin Cook	1	8:20 am
Robert Streb	10	12:20 pm
Kevin Kisner	10	1:10 pm

In other golf news, the PGA of America is expected to relocate its headquarters. GolfDigest.com provided more information about the news in their recent article:

“Last August, while the PGA of America was revealing its plans to shift its oldest event, the PGA Championship, from August to May starting in 2019, leaders of the organization were deep in the planning stages of another move—one potentially far bigger in scope and impact.

In the coming weeks, the 100-year-old association is expected to announce that it is moving its national headquarters from its longtime home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to new environs, most likely in Texas, though the location still is in doubt. A Golf.com report last month indicated that the PGA was eyeing Frisco, Texas, near Dallas, but PGA of America spokesman Julius Mason told Golf Digest that a couple of bids are under consideration, including others in South Florida.”

It will be interesting to see what happens next!

Check back next week for more on Team RSM, The RSM Classic (Nov. 12-18, 2018) and other golf-related news.

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