Sarasota, Manatee community involvement key to Senior PGA Championship success

He is the guy you need to meet.

That’s Eric Nuxol, a new, temporary resident of East County whose job is to deliver a successful Senior PGA Championship for three years running at The Concession Golf Club.

Why should that matter to you?

Start with the fact Manatee County and Sarasota County are both investing $4.5 million apiece over the three years because they believe the event will be a boon for residents of both counties.

The hope is that it also prompts the PGA of America to be so impressed that it brings the PGA Championship, one of professional golf’s four Majors, to our area.

That means even more economic impact.

In July, Nuxol was named the championship director for the 2026 Senior PGA Championship, which will be held April 16-19. He will lead all onsite operations, sales, and community relations for the tournament.

It would appear the Lakewood Ranch-area event is in good hands.

Nuxol, 36, has a lot of PGA of America championship experience. He served as operations manager for the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also managed onsite operations at the 2023, 2022 and 2020 PGA Championships as well as the 2021 and 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championships.

He has plenty of other tournament experience since graduating from the University of West Florida in 2011 with a degree in sports management. 

But this is his first opportunity as a championship director.

Photo by Jay Heater

How do you measure whether Nuxol has been successful? You start with attendance, and that the event generated lots of dollars in the local economy along with promoted the Lakewood Ranch community all around the world.

Still, why should you care about meeting the tourney’s top dog, and don’t these tournament director types usually work in the background in obscurity?

I only spent an hour with Nuxol the other day, and I can tell you his enthusiasm is infectious.

If you end up supporting this tournament in some way, there is a good chance you will cross his path, and you will be excited, too.

Nuxol is going to be making the rounds in Sarasota and Manatee counties, trying to raise the interest level. He is looking for a title sponsor, as well as other potential sponsors.

Most of us don’t fit into that category, so what can we do?

“The easy answer is support,” Nuxol said. “We want people to feel they are involved.”

Here are a few things to get you started.

Volunteer

Volunteer registration for the 2026 Senior PGA Championship went live this month and can be accessed at PGA-of-America-Championships.webflow.io/2026-senior-pga-championship.

Nuxol will be overseeing approximately 1,100 volunteers for the 2026 tournament.

What we have learned from the LECOM Suncoast Classic Korn Ferry Tour event is that people in the Lakewood Ranch area love to volunteer at pro golf tournaments.

The Korn Ferry tournament draws 500 volunteers in the blink of an eye, so you can expect the Senior PGA Championship positions to fill up quickly. if you want to volunteer, sign up now.

While volunteers are required to pay $150 apiece, they receive a volunteer uniform (One Nike golf shirt, one Nike jacket, a hat, and the option to purchase an addtional shirt), meals and bottled water, an official PGA volunteer drawstring bag, complimentary parking, and access to the entire tournament.

Volunteers are asked to commit to three to four shifts with a combined total of 16 to 20 hours. They are asked to act as PGA of America ambassadors during unscheduled times they attend the event.

Attend the event

Let’s face it, the primary way to judge the success of an event is by attendance. If you throw a party and nobody comes, the party is going to shift to someone else’s house.

The 2026 event is going to be a stern test in terms of attendance, especially since the Senior PGA Tour Championship tends to draw more on a regional basis, mostly within a 75-mile radius, which is different than a PGA Championship, where golf fans will travel long distances to attend.

Ticket sales needs to be brisk right here at home.

“We have a short runway,” Nuxol said of generating excitement for the 2026 event. “We found out in late May (that The Concession would host the tourney) and we got here in early August. Usually, the tournament team has 18 to 24 months before a major event to put everything into place. That wasn’t the deal here.”

Tickets for the 2026 event went on sale Nov. 12. Those who are willing to purchase tickets in advance will receive a nice break if they do so before Jan. 1. The PGA of America is offering an Any Day Flex Ticket ($40 for one day of your choice) and an Any Day Flex Ticket Four Pack ($140 for four tickets to used any way you want, such as one ticket each day or use of all four tickets in one day).

Those who want an upgraded hospitality experience can purchase Club PGA tickets as a four-day package.

More ticket information for the 2026 Senior PGA Championship is available at SeatGeek.com/senior-pga-championship-tickets.

Host an event

For all those businesses out there who want to jump on the bus, call Nuxol to see how you might fit into the program or get into the rotation.

“We do a champions dinner, one for past presidents, and we do special events,” Nuxol said of finding restaurants in the area. “We do a lot of planning meetings.

“We certainly are open to knowing where we should be going.”

If the locals embrace the 2026 tournament, Nuxol believes everything else will fall into place.

“The amount of golf that is played here is a huge asset for us,” he said of the region. “And The Concession is a championship course. It will look great on TV and working with Bruce Cassidy (The Concession Golf Club owner) and Brian Weimann (general manager) has been a huge asset. They welcomed us with open arms.”

He expects success to snowball after the first event.

“It’s great we will have the ability to have a three-year run,” he said. “That gives us some huge advantages. We will understand our baseline, and then we’ll watch this build up.

“We’re going to be able to show what these markets can do, and that will allow us to bring in bigger events. The footprint is here for that. We will take what we learn and build upon it.”