A McGladrey Update from TPC Sawgrass

We just can’t help ourselves. We have to start this week’s update by letting you know that McGladrey LLP’s very own Tony Ceci, from McGladrey’s Stamford, CT office, had a thrill of a lifetime when he caddied for Team McGladrey Member Chris DiMarco during the PLAYER’S Championship Pro-Am at TPC Sawgrass. Tony won the opportunity by placing the highest bid during a charitable auction. Nice, huh? (Here’s a cool shot of Chris on the 14th fairway, by the way.) Which PGA Tour professional would you like to caddie for if you had the chance? Fellow Team McGladrey members Zach Johnson and Davis Love III are playing in the PLAYER’S Championship, as well, along with Heath Slocum, winner of the 2010 McGladrey Classic and 2011 winner Ben Crane. Sounds like “the McGladrey connection” to us! We’ll be pulling for “our boys!” Before things kicked off at Sawgrass, a few key leaders from McGladrey met with local leaders in Jacksonville, FL to celebrate being “Halfway to The Classic.” A highlight of this red-carpet event included a panel discussion featuring Chris and Davis. It’s hard to believe we’ll be heading to Sea Island for our third annual tournament (Oct. 15-21) in just a little more than five months. We can hardly wait! And speaking of The McGladrey Classic, the Davis Love Foundation announced recently that Southeast Georgia Health System will be the official health care partner of the Foundation and the 2012 McGladrey. SGHS was an important partner for The Classic last year, and we look forward to continuing that partnership in 2012, as they not only provide their medical expertise, but also serve as the presenting sponsor of the Gary Allan Concert and McGladrey Classic Youth Day. If you want to join in the fun of this year’s event, you can purchase tickets and/or sign up to volunteer. We hope to see you at Sea Island!

Halfway to Giving Back to the Community!

It’s hard to believe but it’s already May, which means we’re about half-way to the 2012 McGladrey Classic (Oct. 15-21 at beautiful Sea Island)! To celebrate, a few key leaders from McGladrey will gather with local business leaders in Jacksonville, Florida next week (Tues., May 8) for a “Halfway to the Classic” evening event. One of the highlights will be a panel discussion featuring Team McGladrey members Davis Love III and Chris DiMarco, who will answer questions about The McGladrey Classic and the game of golf in front of about 100 of Jacksonville’s finest. We’re hoping to snag a few pictures from our on-the-ground “reporter” to share with you via Twitter and/or this blog next week, so stay tuned... While we’re really looking forward to the tournament and all of the related activities, we’re most excited about the opportunity The McGladrey Classic provides for us and others to give back to the community, which is a key component of the game of golf – and of the way that McGladrey does business. That’s one of the major reasons golf is such a good “fit” for McGladrey. Just last week, The McGladrey Classic announced a new program to raise dollars for charities – Birdies Fore Love. Learn more here. Giving back is also something that’s extremely important to Team McGladrey which includes not only Davis and Chris, but PGA Tour Professional Zach Johnson and LPGA Tour Professional Natalie Gulbis. In fact, Natalie recently posted a video about what she does when she isn’t touring and, you guessed it, it has to do with community service. View the video here. If you share our passion for giving back to the community, you might want to consider volunteering for the 2012 McGladrey Classic. More than 665 have already signed up to help make this year’s event a success, but we still need more, and would love to see YOU at Sea Island! You can sign up online. And if you need a little inspiration, just check out this Q&A with 2011 volunteer Mark Sertick – pretty cool.

Team McGladrey: Busy and Growing!

Exciting news this week! Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson tweeted that he and his wife Kim are expecting their third child this fall. Congrats to the Johnson family – your friends with McGladrey will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of your new addition! While it’s hard to compete with that type of news, there are a number of exciting things happening in the golf world this week. To begin, in conjunction with the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, the PGA TOUR is encouraging golf enthusiasts to submit questions for 2011 McGladrey Classic Winner Ben Crane via Direct Connect, PGATOUR.COM’s video franchise that helps fans get closer to a PGA TOUR pro each week. Host John Swantek might use YOUR question when he chats this week with Ben! Team McGladrey Member Chris DiMarco will be playing in the Zurich Classic, as well (and says his waist expands each year during this tournament due to all of that good Cajun cooking). You can also read this Q&A with Ben Crane to find out what he has to say about Bubba's shot, the Golf Boys and more. Team McGladrey Member Natalie Gulbis was in Hawaii last week for the LPGA LOTTE Championship. Check out this amazing Twitpic she posted to Twitter. This week she’s in Mobile, Alabama for the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. If you’re in the area, stop by and see her. And next week, the McGladrey team in Charlotte will be checking out the Wells Fargo Championship right here in our own backyard. Chris and Zach are scheduled to be here, along with fellow Team McGladrey Member Davis Love III. We’re keeping our fingers crossed from some of that beautiful Carolina weather for which our great state is so well-known. Finally, we’d like to encourage our readers to check out the PGA TOUR’s commercial for the 2012 McGladrey Classic (Oct. 15-21) in beautiful Sea Island – just six short months away! If you want to volunteer to support this year’s tournament, sign up now, and let us know that you’re going to be there – we’ll keep an eye out for you while we’re there…

Gary Allan Joins The McGladrey Classic…and Other News from Sea Island

Big news this week! Country Music Singer Gary Allan, who burst on the scene with “Her Man,” which peaked at #7 on the charts, will perform at this year’s McGladrey Classic. The concert is scheduled for Wed., Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. You can listen to some of Gary’s songs here. Which is your favorite? Tickets for the concert and for the tournament are now on sale, and can be purchased online, by the way. Get yours now!

Congratulations to Carl Pettersson for picking up his fifth PGA TOUR victory last weekend at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, and to our very own Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson for finishing in the No. 2 slot!

Unfortunately, a cracked rib kept Team McGladrey Member and five-time Heritage champion Davis Love III out of last week’s field, but he is confident he’ll be ready to play again by the Zurich Classic or Wells Fargo Championship. You can hear first-hand from Davis about how the bunny slopes in Sun Valley, Idaho contributed to his injury. And while Davis didn’t make it to the Heritage, there was a Love at Harbour Town – Mark Love, Davis’ brother and the executive director of The McGladrey Classic, caddied for Chris Kirk.

This week, The McGladrey Classic announced the 2012 tournament’s Tix4Kids charity program participants. You can stay current on this and other announcements from the tournament website, Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and you can now follow them on Pinterest, as well.

Also this week…a special birthday: Happy 90th to the Texas Valero Open!

We’re closing today with a reminder for those interested in helping with this year’s McGladrey Classic – the volunteer window is now open. Register today to increase your chances of getting your choice of volunteer opportunities. We hope to see you there!

Celebrate Good Times!

Congratulations to Bubba Watson, winner of the 2012 Masters! It was a great tournament, and Bubba’s emotional win was well-deserved. Check out his surprise visit to the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive earlier this week – very cool!

Okay, well…his birthday isn’t actually until Friday, the 13th, but we wanted to begin this week’s post by wishing a very happy birthday to Team McGladrey Member Davis Love III! And speaking of Davis, it was on this very day back in 1987 that he had his first victory at the Heritage Classic – just 25 short years ago. My how times flies!

Davis’ daughter Lexie, who recently graduated from the University of Georgia, is currently working as a tournament assistant with The McGladrey Classic. She recently recounted what it was like growing up with a dad on TOUR. You can read her first-hand account here.

This week (April 9 – 15), Team McGladrey members Chris DiMarco and Zach Johnson are playing in the 44th annual RBC Heritage at the Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island. Of course, we’ll be pulling for them! Check out Chris’ digital press conference on Facebook.

Next week, The McGladrey Classic will announce the 2012 tournament’s Tix4Kids charity program participants, and will also launch ticket sales. You won’t want to miss these important happenings. You can stay current by checking The McGladrey Classic website, Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and you can now follow them on Pinterest, as well. So…if you want to stay “in the know,” you have plenty of options!

Reminder: The volunteer window for those interested in helping make the 2012 McGladrey Classic a success is now open. If you’d like to help, you can sign up via the tournament website. We hope to see you there!

Thanks and Congrats!

We’d like to begin this week’s update with a big THANK YOU to the 500+ volunteers who have already signed up to support the 2012 McGladrey Classic! While the volunteer window for previous years’ volunteers opened a few weeks ago, the window opens April 9 for all other volunteers. If you’re interested in being a part of this year’s excitement, sign up to volunteer now. We would love to see YOU at Sea Island in October!

Congratulations to Team McGladrey Member Natalie Gulbis who finished tied for eighth last week at the women’s first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. We’re proud of you, Natalie!

Of course, the big news in golf this week is that The Masters is underway in August, GA. 2012 McGladrey Classic winner Ben Crane is playing, as is Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson. We’d love to see one of them win. Who do you think will take home the coveted green jacket?

To wrap things up this week, we’d like to offer another congratulations – this one to Dru Love (Team McGladrey Member Davis Love III’s son) on his decision to attend the University of Alabama in the fall. Roll Tide!

Check back next week for another update.

Spring Has Sprung and Golf is in the Air!

Ah, spring – when pollen…and golf balls fill the air! One of our favorite early signs of spring is The Masters, which is coming up next week (April 2 – 8) at Augusta National. 2011 McGladrey Classic Winner Ben Crane is on the invitee list, as is Team McGladrey Member Zach Johnson so, while we won’t be lucky enough to be there in person this year, you can bet we’ll be following closely. Who’s your favorite to win?

Team McGladrey Member Chris DiMarco made a stop at the Shell Houston Open earlier this week. And both he and Zach have committed to play in the 44th annual RBC Heritage the following week (April 9-15) at the Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island. Of course, we’ll be watching things there as well.

The McGladrey Classic recently spoke with Mark Davis, a 2011 volunteer, who was acknowledged by his volunteer chairman for his outstanding volunteerism during the 2011 tournament. You can read the story here. And speaking of volunteers, if you’re interested in helping make the 2012 McGladrey Classic a success, you’ll be able to sign up to volunteer beginning April 9. We’ll remind you again, but wanted to make sure you’ve got it this fun opportunity on “your radar.” You’ll be able to sign up on The McGladrey Classic website.

Finally, we’ll close this week’s update by letting you know that The McGladrey Classic is now on Pinterest, giving you another way to keep up with the latest about the 2012 tournament. Check it out and “like” and “re-pin” till your heart’s content!

’Talk with you next week!