Millions at stake as Sanderson Farms Championship tees off

This is Steve Jent's 10th year to be a part of Mississippi's only PGA Tour event.

In that time, he along with all of the employees and volunteers for the event, help to make sure the event brings in more than $1 million for charities every year.

That is not expected to change this year as the Sanderson Farms Championship gets ready to kick off next week at the Country Club of Jackson.

Like the vast majority of PGA Tour events, the Sanderson Farms Championship partners with a charity host organization.

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"At the end of the day, my job is about how much money I can help bring to charity in the state of Mississippi," said Jent, a graduate of Wake Forest, who spent nearly eight years with the Wyndham Classic in North Carolina before becoming the executive director in Mississippi.

The Sanderson Farms Championship host organization Century Club Charities presented a $1 million check to Friends of Children's Hospital last year from funds raised by the 2022 golf tournament.

Overall, the tournament helped raised $1.5 million in charitable impact benefiting Children's of Mississippi and other Mississippi charities, organizers said.

Jent said the amount of money given to charity has gone up every year since he has been a part of the process.

"That is the goal," he said. "This year has been tougher, because of the economy. Everything costs more. But we feel good about where we are right now. We are managing our expenses as best we can."

Since Sanderson Farms and Wayne have been a part of the tournament, Jent said they have raised $16.7 million for charity.

"That's a better number than a lot of other PGA tournaments in much bigger markets," he said. "We are very proud of that."

The event is also one of the biggest revenue generators for the area as the Sanderson Farms Championship estimates the even to have a more than $30 million economic impact.

"Without a great title sponsor, none of these PGA tour events happen," Jent said. "It starts at the top with the financial commitment and in our case, Wayne Sanderson Farms and what they bring to the table."

The 2023 event will be the second since Mississippi-based poultry company Sanderson Farms was purchased by Cargill and Continental Grain Co. and merged into Wayne-Sanderson Farms. The original contract with Sanderson Farms to sponsor the tournament runs through 2026.

Outside of the Wayne-Sanderson Farms title sponsor, there are several groups that will be spending more than $100,000 in sponsorships for the Oct. 5-8 event. Those are BankPlus, Trustmark Bank, International Paper, Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance and Lyle Machinery.

Lyle Machinery is sponsoring the Monday pro-am event.

"From a business standpoint, we want to maximize what we can sell and be good stewards of our expenses, in order to generate as much as we can for Mississippi charities," Jent said.

Jent will also be counting on ticket sales and concessions, but he says there is no way to count on a firm number of how many people will attend the event or how much concessions or how many how hats and t-shirts will be sold.

"I do know we are going to sell a lot of chicken sandwiches next week," Jent said jokingly. "I do think we have the best merchandise tent on the PGA tour with the hats and T-shirts with the rooster on it."

However, this is the culmination of plans that have been ongoing.

"This is really a 15-month process," Jent said. "We have already started work and planning for the 2024 event. But it will be six to eight weeks after we finish this event before we can start plugging in numbers for next year. So, this really is a business trying to raise money for charity."

If you have a story idea, Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or at 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Sanderson Farms Championship makes millions for charity