The cast for Golf Channel’s 23nd season of its popular Big Break reality competition series – Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL – was revealed today, featuring 12 aspiring golfers hoping to take that next step in their professional golf careers. Twelve men will compete for more than $120,000 in cash and prizes on the series, including an exemption to the 2015 Barbasol Championship on the PGA TOUR. Taking place at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. – home to the PGA TOUR’s Honda Classic and the famed Bear Trap – Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL premieres Monday, Feb. 2 at 9 p.m. ET.
Among the cast is one African American golfer Clay Myers (pictured above). Myers (24, Orlando, Fla. / Memphis, Tenn., was a member of the four-time Southwestern Athletic Conference championship golf team at Jackson State University. Myers also recorded multiple collegiate victories, highlighted by the 2012 individual conference championship title. In funding his golf career, Myers has participated in several Dick’s Sporting Goods commercials and Golf Galaxy catalogs, and also caddied for Cheyenne Woods in 2014.
Produced in partnership with VISIT FLORIDA, Discover The Palm Beaches and PGA National, Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL features one of the most talented and diverse casts in series history. The cast includes several collegiate All-Americans, multiple-time winners on various mini tours and an Iraq War Veteran looking to become the first amputee golfer to compete on the PGA TOUR. A special “Meet the Players” show will air Monday, Jan. 26 at 10 p.m. ET.
GRAND PRIZE: The competitors are playing for more than $120,000 in cash and prizes during the course of the series. In addition to the weekly challenge prizes on the series, The winner of Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL will receive more than $80,000 in cash and prizes, including:
- An exemption to the 2015 Barbasol Championship on the PGA TOUR
- $60,000 in cash, including $10,000 courtesy of Adams Golf.
- An endorsement contract from Adams Golf.
- $10,000 in car rental credit courtesy of Avis Car Rental.
- $10,000 in travel credit courtesy of Travelocity.
- A return, week-long trip for two to PGA National Resort & Spa, including Suite Accommodations, daily breakfast, select Spa services, daily golf and a Chef’s private dinner at Ironwood Steak & Seafood.
HOST GOLF COURSES:
Filmed on location in September, the series will unfold on four of PGA National Resort & Spa’s award-winning golf courses, headlined by the famed Champion Course. Hall-of-Famer and acclaimed designer Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course in 1990, and then went through a renovation in 2014. A key part of the renovation was an adjustment to the design of No. 14 – the prelude to The Bear Trap (Holes 15-17) – which included bringing the green closer to the water on the right.
“The Champion Course is a thinking person’s golf course,” said Nicklaus. “You’ve got to figure out whether to attack the greens or whether to be conservative. That, to me, is what golf is all about. I’ve always put a premium on accuracy, rather than power. This golf course definitely has those elements, and I look forward to seeing those elements come into play.”
- The Champion – Home to The Honda Classic, the Champion Course features The Bear Trap – a demanding stretch of holes (15-17) that is widely known as one of the toughest in golf.
- The Palmer – Named after its designer, Arnold Palmer, the course is a subtle nod to the game’s Scottish roots and is a true risk / reward layout. Its 18th is one of the most scenic and picturesque par 5s on the property.
- The Fazio – A complete renovation of the resort’s Haig Course, The Fazio was modernized by Tom Fazio II and is a splendid shot maker’s design.
- The Squire – Named after Gene Sarazen and designed by George and Tom Fazio, The Squire is a test of accuracy and precision and is the most exacting of the courses at PGA National.
SERIES FORMAT: Golf Channel’s Big Break show concept pits highly skilled golfers against each other in a variety of challenges that test their physical skills and mental toughness. During Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL, competitors will be subject to skills challenges from tee-to-green, including two of the series’ signature challenges, the popular “Glass Break” and “Flop Wall.” One contestant will be eliminated each week, with the last player standing awarded his Big Break, an opportunity to compete on the PGA TOUR.
For the past 22 seasons, Golf Channel’s Big Break competition series has proven to be the launching pad for many aspiring professional golfers looking to take that next step in their golf careers, including PGA TOUR winners Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey and Matt Every, and U.S.Solheim Cup participants Kristy McPherson, Gerina Piller and Ryann O’Toole, all playing full time on the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour, respectively. Several other past Big Break competitors will be competing on the world’s top tours in 2015, including Tony Finau (PGA TOUR), Mallory Blackwelder, Katy Harris, Sadena Parks and Jackie Stoelting (LPGA Tour), Sophie Sandolo (Ladies European Tour) and Rick Cochran, Hugo Leon, James Nitties, Justin Peters and Mark Silvers (Web.com Tour).
