Our Donors: 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship set for Sept. 27-Oct. 3
Published on Wednesday, September 1, 2021
By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu
The 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship is scheduled to have something that 2020’s PGA TOUR event didn’t: spectators.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic kept the tournament from hosting the luncheons, dinners and socials at the Country Club of Jackson, events that are as much a part of the Sanderson Farms Championship as golf. Spectators had to settle for watching tournament play on the Golf Channel last year.
After careful consideration, the tournament is scheduled to again welcome an audience for the players who will tee off in the tournament, said Steve Jent, Sanderson Farms Championship executive director.
“It’s good to get back to having PGA TOUR fans back,” Jent said. “I promise you, the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship will be a phenomenal event.”
Fans are excited, if team sales are any indication - all available John Soules Foods Pro-Am and Allen Exploration Pro-Am team spots were sold before the end of July.
Popular events, including the Women’s Day Luncheon, are scheduled to be back this year. Katherine and Jay Wolf will share the inspirational story of Katherine’s recovery after a brainstem stroke several months after giving birth to the couple’s first child.
The Wolfs have shared their journey through their two books, “Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and an Overcoming Love” and “Suffer Strong,” and through live and online speaking events. Together they founded Hope Heals Camp, a community for families with disabilities.
Fans are an essential part of the tournament, but of equal importance is Children’s of Mississippi and its patients. Since 2013, the year Sanderson Farms became title sponsor of the tournament hosted by Century Club Charities, more than $7.6 million have been raised to benefit the state’s only Children’s Hospital.
“The Sanderson Farms Championship is a great PGA TOUR event because of the funds it generates for children’s health care in Mississippi,” said Joe Sanderson Jr., CEO and board chairman of Sanderson Farms.
While presenting a $1.45 million donation from the 2020 tournament, Hilary Burroughs, director of marketing for Sanderson Farms, recalled how, in 2020, PGA TOUR events began to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, officials questioned whether the Sanderson Farms Championship could even take place.
After considering public safety, the question, “What does this mean for Friends of Children’s Hospital?” was soon asked, Burroughs said.
What the 2020 tournament meant for Children’s of Mississippi was another record-breaking donation to Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to support pediatric care at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.