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The 'Redcoats': Players Championship past chairs have made lasting contributions
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- The 'Redcoats': Players Championship past chairs have made lasting contributions
Players Championship fans have often taken notice over the years of the men and women wearing bright red sportscoats at The Players and other golf- and charity-related functions on the First Coast during the rest of the year.
It's simple: they're "The Redcoats."
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But their contribution to The Players is lasting.
The Redcoats, or the Honourable Company of Past Chairmen, have served one-year terms as the head of the volunteer force that in recent years has numbered 2,000 or more.
Without the volunteers, The Players and the PGA Tour would have to pay outside contractors to do jobs such as monitoring the parking lots, pounding the stakes and stringing miles of rope on the golf course, handling small construction jobs, manning the practice facilities, checking players in, scorekeeping, standard-bearing and any number of tasks.
The Players Championship has donated more than $100 million in charity since it began on the First Coast in 1977.
The money saved is then plowed into charity — more than $100 million on the First Coast since the Players came here in 1977.
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A committee of past chairman also reviews charity request applications, decides on the final list and then, usually in the fall, delivers the checks personally to a handful of recipients.
Chairmen have already served for years
Becoming a Players chairman is a lengthy process.
Chairs have served for years as volunteers, sometimes beginning with the most menial or tedious jobs, such as parking lot detail. They then become committee chairmen.
Eventually, they are elevated to one of four major committees: Volunteer Services, Facilities, Player Services and Spectator Services. A first vice-chairman is selected from those four, who then succeeds the chairman the following year.
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One and done? Not quite
The concept of chairing The Players volunteer committee goes back to the days of the Greater Jacksonville Open (1965-1976).
The first five GJO chairs, John Tucker, Wes Paxson Sr., John Montgomery, Lester Varn Jr., Eugene Cowan and Karl Ambrose were among the area business leaders who convinced the PGA Tour to return to the First Coast.
Two past Players Championship chairman, Anne Nimnicht (second from the left) and John Tucker (second from the right) have received the Deane Beman Award for service to First Coast golf.
Their efforts in selling tickets and corporate hospitality, resulting in huge crowds at the GJO, eventually convinced Tour commissioner Deane Beman that the area would be an ideal landing spot for the PGA Tour headquarters, construction of its signature golf course (the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course) and the home of its marquee tournament, The Players.
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Tucker, who was the first GJO chairman in 1965 and later hired by the PGA Tour to manage The Players, had the idea for chairs to serve one-year terms. He said each new chairman, almost always drawn from the First Coast business community, brought a whole new list of clients, customers, employees, contacts and family members who may buy tickets or corporate hospitality. Yea
Year after year, chairman after chairman, the constituencies grew to the point where The Players has grown to its status today.
For a time, the GJO also had a volunteer chairman and a president, which also was an unpaid position. But whether they were a chairman or president of the GJO or a chairman of The Players, they are all considered Redcoats.
Hardly any of them stop serving after their one year as chairman. In addition to assisting with The Players charitable efforts, many Redcoats still pitch in during the run-up to The Players and during the week.
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Family and football ties
The Nimnicht family has produced three Players chairmen: Ed Nimnicht (1978), his sister-in-law Anne Nimnicht (1997) and his nephew and Anne's son Lee Nimnicht this year.
Rufus Dowell (1991) is Tucker's son-in-law.
Fred Robbins, left, and his son Kevin Robbins, walk down a path at the Tournament Player's Club earlier this week. Fred Robbins of Ponte Vedra Beach was tournament chairman of the Greater Jacksonville Open, the precursor of The Player's Championship, in 1975. Kevin Robbins is this year's TPC tournament chairman. They are the first father/son redcoats. Photo by Magggie FitzRoy/staff
Father-son GJO/Players chairmen are Fred Robbins (1976) and Kevin Robbins (2004); and Fuller Tresca Jr. (1983) and Tim Tresca (2007).
Nine past GJO or Players chairmen have also served as the volunteer chairs for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Tucker, Paxson, L.C. Ringhaver, Dick Stratton, Gordon Thompson, Peter Kirill, Tommy Gay, Don Davis and Mike Hartley. In addition, Brian Goin, who was The Players executive director, was a Gator Bowl chairman.
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Here are the men and women who have served as volunteer chairs for the Greater Jacksonville Open and The Players Championship:
Greater Jacksonville Open
Past chairmen
1965: John Tucker
1966: Wes Paxson Sr.
1967: John Montgomery
1968: Lester Varn Jr.
1969: Eugene Cowan
1970: Karl Ambrose III
1971: Richard Martin
1972: George Utsey Jr.
1973: Henry Tuten Jr.
1974: J.D. Beckwith
1975: Fred Robbins
1976: Hamp Walker
Past GJO Presidents
Peter Kirill
L.C. Ringhaver
Dick Stratton
Bob Feagin
Gordon Thompson Jr.
William Drennon
The Players Championship
1977: Tommy Gay
1978: Ed Nimnicht
1979: Donald Zell
1980: James Addington Jr.
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1981: Campbell Smith
1982: Charles Renfroe
1983: Fuller Tresca Jr.
1984: James Wilkerson Jr.
1985: Donald Rose
1986: Bob Martin
1987: Bob Olson
1988: Don Davis
1989: Buster Browning
1990: Lad Daniels
1991: Rufus Dowell
1992: Tom Perry
1993: Hank Haynes
1994: Hugh Dunn
1995: Tom Healy
1996: Gerry Hurst
1997: Anne Nimnicht
1998: Mike Hartley
1999: Therese Greene Hazel
2000: Murray Beard
2001: Lynn Stoner
2002: Jack Garnett
2003: Marc Smith
2004: Kevin Robbins
2005: Tommy Lee
2006: Rusty Pritchett
2007: Tim Tresca
2008: Ron Natherson
2009: Tommy Douglas
2010: Harold Tool
2011: Jim Fuller
2012: Curtis Hazel
2013: Robert Davis
2014: Andy Baggs
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2015: Brian Franco
2016: Michele McManamon
2017: Kevin English
2018: Damon Olinto
2019: Adam Campbell
2020: Andy Carroll
2021: Troy Smith
2022: Matt Welch
2023: Houston Bowles
2024: Lee Nimnicht
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Past Players Championship chairs have been key component of tournament
