AKRON, Ohio — It's been a big weekend in the Akron area for more than 65 years, and next Thursday, professional golf will return to Firestone County Club.
This year, organizers are not just allowing fans again, but also finding new ways to attract them.
"Having won at Firestone, I just know that I can win just about anywhere now," says Jerry Kelly, last year's winner at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
Kelly is coming to Akron hot off a win last week and hoping to repeat, but things will be a little different this time around. Last year, due to the pandemic, fans were prohibited from attending. Even in golf, spectators make a difference.
"The shear amount of energy you get from the cheer and the roars is incredible," Kelly told us.
Despite the lack of fans in 2020, the tournament was still able to raise more than $770,000 for charities like the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and local hospitals. They'll be hoping to surpass that number this year, as they prepare the course once again with stands to welcome back ticket holders.
"With our sponsors that knew what we were going to do with the funds, they said, 'Go ahead and keep the money, even though we didn’t have fans," Don Padgett, executive director of the event, said of last year. "Ticket sales have been great. We know there's a lot of pent up demand."
The tournament is expecting more fans than usual this year, not only because people have been cooped up and are looking for things to do, but they've also added things for them to do. The Bridgestone Senior Players Championship is adding Summerfest to the docket this year, which includes live concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening and local food trucks on site as well.
"It's a little bit of something for everybody," Padgett explained. "We have the great golf fans, but we'll get some other people out as well. We know when they come out, we raise money for charity, so it's a win/win for everybody."
Overall, organizers have surpassed more than $30 million in total charitable giving during the 67 years of professional golf at Firestone. They've also seen their fair share of fantastic and not-so-great-golf shots.
For the returning champ, he has one hole circled on his card that he plans on finally conquering.
"I'm going to hit the fairway on the eighth hole this year," Kelly pledges. "I am, I know I am. I'm going to get it this year, that is my goal."
Firestone previously hosted numerous PGA Tour events from 1954-2019, notably the World Series of Golf and three PGA Championships. That run ended when the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational moved to Memphis, but last year the PGA Tour Champions brought one of its majors to Summit County for the first time.
For more information on this year’s event, click here.