Blue Wahoos Investor Bubba Watson Furthers Local Impact With Renamed FCA Golf Tournament

Bubba Watson was a teen phenom in local junior golf circles, when he won the Northwest Florida-Fellowship of Christian Athletes High School Golf Tournament, during the event’s early years three decades ago.

It provided a future glimpse that has seen Watson, who is part of the Blue Wahoos ownership team, become one of the sport’s greatest of his generation.

That legacy was honored when Watson lent his name to the revised 30^th annual Bubba Watson FCA Golf Classic, which was recently held at the A.C. Read Golf Course on Pensacola Naval Air Station.

So fitting, too, that in a milestone year, the tournament had a record-setting score by the boys winner, a strong performance by the girls winner and the lowest scores in the boys division in the event’s history.

Pensacola Catholic’s Hudson Mitchell won the boys title with a 5-under-par 67, breaking the old record of 68 in the event. Catholic won the team trophy as well. There were 22 scores in the 70’s from the field of area prep players, making it the best overall scoring in the 30-year history. .

Elizabeth Palmer of Catholic won the girls division with a 1-under-71. Gulf Breeze won the girls team trophy.

Watson, a two-time Masters champion, winner of 12 PGA Tour events, became a Blue Wahoos co-owner in January 2015 and has been actively involved in the past nine years attending games at Blue Wahoos Stadium with his wife, Angie and their children Caleb and Dakota.

“God has allowed me to play golf and bless my family beyond my wildest dreams,” said Watson, who worked with Mike Killam, the long-time, metro director of the Northwest Florida FCA, to rename the tournament.

Watson grew up dreaming to be a baseball player before golf took hold as the main sporting ambition. Bubba and Angie – a former college and professional basketball player -- have supported a variety of FCA events over the years.

He wasn’t able to attend the recent golf tournament due to his own playing commitments on the LIV Golf Tour, which wrapped up its season with back-to-back events the past two weeks.

“I’m a Christian, a Christian athlete,” said Watson, who rose from Milton High golf star to worldwide fame in professional golf. “As a Christian, I believe we should use our God-given gifts and talents to serve God.

“FCA provides a vehicle to use a platform to share my beliefs as a Christian athlete. Angie and I both have played sports – high school, college, professionally – all our lives and feel like the FCA provides great opportunities to share our faith together.

“Angie has been involved speaking and sharing her faith on several occasions with the FCA. And we have always been involved in Bible studies, Christian concerts, mission ministries and serving Christ through our local church. The FCA provides so many opportunities to serve as Christian athletes.”

One of those connections happened in early April, when the local FCA chapter hosted a breakfast event for the Monterrey Sultanes, members of the Mexican Professional Baseball League, who faced the Blue Wahoos in two preseason games in Pensacola.

The Sultanes went on this season to reach the league’s championship series. That morning in April, Killam addressed the Sultanes and mentioned Watson’s involvement and the FCA mission with sports.

Killam, who began working at the Northwest Florida FCA chapter 33 years ago, said the two-day high school tournament that now carries Bubba Watson’s name, is the largest FCA golf tournament of its kind nationwide.

There were 19 girls teams and 21 boys teams from high schools across Northwest Florida competing this year at A.C. Read.

“It’s very special to have Bubba’s name on our tournament,” Killam said. “I’d be willing to say that I don’t know of another high school golf tournament nationwide that has the name of a Masters champion and world golf star that Bubba has become, then add to that he’s a former winner of this tournament.

“It just means so much for a professional athlete to speak up and speak out to say, ‘I am a Christian’ and we’re grateful for Bubba and can’t thank him enough for doing this.”

Killam remembers watching Watson as a high school teenager winning the tournament that year at Hidden Creek Golf Club near Navarre. He was unsure whether it was his junior or senior year at Milton, but he vividly recalls a tee shot that Watson struck on one of the holes.

“Our records unfortunately only go back to 2003, but I distinctly remember Bubba back then and everyone that day knew this kid from Milton was a great golfer,” Killam said “I was standing about 200 yards down the fairway of this hole and Bubba hit this low, liner drive and I just remember the flight of that ball whizzing past me as I stood that far from the tee.

“I start thinking about that now. This is so cool. To have him connected now with our tournament.”