Honda Classic: Andrew George right man to take over during upheaval

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Andrew George stood among the scaffolding, unfinished suites and hardworking crews behind the 17th tee on the Champion Course at PGA National three weeks before the start of the 2023 Honda Classic.

An anxious time for any tournament executive director, but he could not have been happier and more in control.

"It's definitely a dream job," said George, who is in his ninth month as the tournament's top dog. "When I first came down here, at that time, it was, 'I'm just going to get experience and I'm going to go back to the Midwest.' I had a lot of experience in college athletics and thought this is going to give me a little bit of an insight into sports."

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That was in 2009. But having worked every possible position from intern to tournament director, George, 38, was chosen to succeed longtime director Ken Kennerly and move the tournament through a period that will include bringing in a new title sponsor for the first time in 42 years.

And Kennerly, who remains involved as a senior adviser to the board, has no doubt the tournament has the right man moving forward.

"Andrew is a rock star," Kennerly said. "He has demonstrated leadership skills well beyond his age. I would not have agreed to step back from the day-to-day, nor would I have gone to my board and recommended Andrew take over if I didn't think he was ready."

Nobody could have been more prepared for this job than George. Iowa-born George has undergraduate degrees in business administration and sports management from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and a master's in sports management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He joined Honda as an intern in 2009, but at that time his focus was on college athletics, possibly as an athletic director.

But working in South Florida for a tournament that was attracting world-class fields — part of George's task is working with the tour to try to boost the field to where it was in the mid-2010s — and continues to be a leader in charitable donations as the biggest sporting event of the year in our area, became more than a steppingstone.

Soon, George was taking in the entire experience as the director of corporate partnerships, director of operations, associate tournament director and tournament director. He helped start the Birdies for Children program which has generated nearly $21 million for more than 200 charities.

Charitable donations up to $55 million

George was elevated to tournament director one week before the 2016 event where his role was leading a team tasked with welcoming fans and sponsors from all over the world while focusing on raising money for charities in South Florida. During his six years as director, George increased net revenue by more than 100%, and he has doubled the tournament’s charitable giving total to $55 million.

Honda's economic impact on the community is $65 million.

"For this event, you have to touch all aspects," George said. "Now coming into this job you know what the staff is going through, you know the timelines, you know the challenges that are going to crop up. And you have solutions because we had to go through that as a staffer, as an operations director and have had to figure it out.

"I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't call on some of these jobs and experiences I had. I can kind of see a 360 view of what this event is, and what it isn't."

George's most satisfying job has been understanding the philanthropic side and seeing what that has meant to the charities in the community. Jack and Barbara Nicklaus' Children's Health Care Foundation is the primary beneficiary of the Honda Classic.

Now, George takes over during a tumultuous time, not just for Honda, as it seeks a new title sponsor for the first time in 42 years, and works with the tour to find ways to boost the field, but golf in general with the challenges of dealing with a rival startup league in LIV Golf.

George is the vice chairman of the PGA Tour's Tournament Advisory Council (TAC), a leadership team that comprises a select group of tournament directors, an indication of the respect he has earned from the tour.

"Business is not easy as to what's going to be thrown at you," Kennerly said. "While, yes, he's dealing with a new sponsor, he's dealing with LIV, we're all dealing with it so he's not on out an island by himself."

And George appreciates the support and especially the mentorship Kennerly provided.

"Ken was great with me," George said. "He was hands-off, he was there to help when I needed it, but it was … think of the big picture. We're here for charity for we're here for Jack and Barbara, we're here for a community event. And we're here to set the vision and let all the other aspects kind of come together."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Honda Classic new leader dealing with finding title sponsor, LIV threat