The Players Championship isn’t just about golf, dining, drinking and socializing.
Save time for shopping.
The Players Fan Shop, located near the Stadium Village, has been expanded to more than 25,000 square feet and has Players-branded merchandise ranging from key chains to dog collars and from visors to high-end outerwear.
There is also a smaller Fan Shop Express in the Sawgrass Square area at the TPC Sawgrass. And for the second year in a row, fans can get a head start on their shopping because the Fan Shop opened on March 7 and again on March 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free parking in the public lot.
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Doing some advance work might be advisable because some hot items sold out or came very close last year — such as long-sleeved jackets, and hoodies, Yeti products and children’s clothing.
Some of the newer items might also go fast. For example, anything branded with the year “2020,” or a line of T-shirts that are locally themed with “Ponte Vedra” or “904” along with the Players brand.
Or the new hat with the logo “137” — combining the par-3, 17th hole of the Players Stadium Course with the scorecard yardage of its signature hole.
Another hot item will be available only on March 10: a Players Military Appreciation Day T-shirt.
Lea Osol, the director of merchandising for the PGA Tour for the last five years, said The Players had a record for merchandise sales last year with more than 40,000 transactions. She’s been working with her team buying and stocking inventory since last May to make sure there’s enough to go around.
“We’ve been working to provide the best experience for fans, and we’ve expanded our assortment for this year,” said Osol, who was hired by the Tour from the New York fashion industry, where she was vice president of sales for the Levy Group.
How much has she expanded the inventory? The Fan Shop will stock more than 30,000 hats, 17,000 T-shirts and 56,000 apparel items.
New product lines include Lily Pulitzer, Peter Millar and Vineyard Vines. There is clothing available from socks to headwear, for infants to adults and even a line of pet items such as collars, water and food dishes and chew toys.
Osol said merchandise at golf tournaments has long since gone beyond the usual hat, T-shirt, golf shirt, logo ball and golf towel.
For example, women’s “performance pieces” — apparel that women can play golf in, but also are comfortable enough to wear when going to lunch or shopping. The line of Lily Pulitzer items fits in especially with the concept.
“Women want something they can wear in many other aspects of their life,” Osol said.
She said there will also be items geared for fans who don’t play golf but enjoy coming to golf tournaments and still want a keepsake of their experience.
“They may not be golfers but they’re here, watching and are part of the excitement,” she said. “They want to buy T-shirts, especially those with creative graphics.”
Apparel also will come with attitude. There will be a line of “Island Time” shirts, which fits into the theme of the 17th hole and the aura of a tournament just a mile from the ocean.
“People are coming here to watch the great golf, but it’s also an atmosphere and the ambiance of where we are,” Osol said. “And we have this really cool Island Green.”
Other lines of clothing include Vineyard Vines and Columbia, along with more traditional athletic brands such as Nike, Under Armour, Puma and adidas.
