The mood in Las Vegas is a bit more solemn this year as the PGA Tour rolls into town for Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The city is recovering from the horrifying shooting rampage that took place here on Oct .1, a senseless attack that claimed 58 lives and impacted countless more. But there's also a sense of hope and community fellowship as "Las Vegas Strong" is the motto on Tour this week.
One player who has always been a strong supporter of this event and its title beneficiary is UNLV alum and Titleist Brand Amabassador Charley Hoffman (Pro V1), who is making his 13th start here at TPC Summerlin. Charley and his wife, Stacy, host a charity event each year to benefit the Shriners Hospitals and all the children across the nation that the network serves.
This year, in addition to driving that event, Charley is giving back in another way - he's donating 100% of his earnings this week to the people who were impacted by last month's tragedy.
"The cut is different this year," said Hoffman. "I want to play really well to raise some money. So my focus is way higher here than it has been in the past. I've always put a lot of effort into my charity event, but this year, I've got a huge focus on trying to contend to win this golf tournament for the city of Las Vegas, and I know how much it means to them."
On Thursday, the San Diego native got off to a strong start in his effort. He drove the par-4 15th hole and then made a six-footer for eagle. He followed up with a birdie on No. 16 and finished with a solid 3-under-par 69 .
Charley is also wearing a one-of-a-kind pair of FootJoy golf shoes this week that will also help the cause. Charley will auction off the custom Pro/SL shoes online on Monday and hinted that it may be tough to outbid him.
"We're going to raise some money," Charley said. " Because I know how much I'm willing to pay for them. I think they're really cool, and it would be something cool to have on the trophy case for sure."
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To check out Charley's shoes and place your own bid, and to support those impacted by the Las Vegas shootings, visit CharleyHoffman.com or Charley's Facebook page.
Good luck this week, Charley! And good luck to all of #Team Titleist!
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TITLEIST BY THE NUMBERS
This week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Titleist is once again the overwhelming golf ball choice, with 110 players trusting a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than seven times the nearest competitor with 15 and more than all competitors combined.*
Titleist was also the top choice among players in the hybrids category (27) as well as the irons category with 42 sets in play. Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (180) category and Scotty Cameron putters were the top choice among players with 56 putters in play.*
*Equipment counts provided by Darell Survey
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FAST FACTS:
- The par-71, 7,255-yard layout at TPC Summerlin was designed by Bobby Weed, who also designed TPC Las Vegas, TPC Tampa Bay, TPC River Highlands and the Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, championship layouts which have hosted over 40 PGA Tour events.
- Eight past champions of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open are in the field this week, including Titleist Brand Ambassadors Ben Martin (2014), Webb Simpson (2013) and Kevin Na (2011) and Titleist golf ball loyalist Ryan Moore (2012).
- Titleist Brand Amabassador Charley Hoffman (Pro V1), who participated in his first Presidents Cup this year, finished No. 20 in the 2017 FedExCup, continuing his streak of 11-for-11 Playoffs appearances. He is one of 13 players who have advanced to the Playoffs each season since its inception in 2007, never failing to advance to at least the third Playoffs event (the 70-player BMW Championship).
- Charley is one of four players in this week's field who attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Others include Titleist Brand Ambassador A.J. McInerny and Titleist golf ball loyalists Ryan Moore, and Chad Campbell.
- A.J. McInerney (Pro V1x) will make his PGA Tour debut via a sponsor’s exemption, just a month after surviving the Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. That night, the former UNLV golfer shielded his girlfriend from danger as bullets flew overhead. Later, after evacuating the premises, McInerney returned in his truck to help evacuate other concertgoers. Most recently, McInerney finished No. 97 on the 2017 Web.com Tour money list as a rookie.
- 2012 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open winner and UNLV grad Ryan Moore (Pro V1x) will make his 12th start in this event . He owns nine made cuts and six top-25s (most recently a T15 in 2016).
- Titleist Brand Ambassador Scott Piercy (Pro V1), also a Las Vegas native, will make his 12th start in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, with a T7 in 2015 the best of his six top-25 finishes.
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SOCIAL BUZZ:
Welcome to TPC Summerlin, host of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open!
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A noble gesture from Titleist Brand Amabassador Charley Hoffman to help the victims of the October 1st shooting in Las Vegas.
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Charley also sported some tricked-out FootJoy Pro/SL golf shoes to show his support. These shoes will be auctioned off on Monday to raise additional funds.
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Big news at the Shriners this week was the Tour seeding launch of Vokey Design SM7 wedges.
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Bob Vokey and Aaron Dill worked with scores of players this week in Las Vegas, including Titleist Brand Ambassador Jimmy Walker.
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Titleist Brand Ambassador Zac Blair (Pro V1x) put the SM7s straight in the bag.
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Stay tuned for more Vokey SM7 news in the coming weeks!
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Charley Hoffman was teammates with fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Adam Scott at UNLV and he shared a funny memory from those early days.
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How did Adam choose to attend UNLV? Let’s just say his process was unique.
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Another Titleist Brand Ambassador with Las Vegas roots - Scott Piercy is in the field this week.
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The swing of Las Vegas native and Titleist Brand Ambassador A.J. McInerny.
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On October 1st, A.J. and his girlfriend attended the Harvest Music Festival and he talks about surviving the horrific shooting rampage that shook the nation.
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The gamble paid off for Titleist Pro V1 loyalist Rickie Fowler on this risk/reward hole.
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It was Halloween this week and you know you’ve made it to the big time when kids start to Trick-Or-Treat as you.
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Titleist golf ball loyalist Ryan Armour (Pro V1x) is in the field this week. The recent Web.com graduate started his 2017-2018 season off in the ideal way, capturing his first PGA Tour victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
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Love to the Rescue. Earlier this week, Charley and Stacey Hoffman got a little help from friends like Titleist golf ball loyalists Ben Crane and Aaron Baddeley at an event they hold each year here in Vegas to benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
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The leader after Round 1 here at TPC Summerlin is Titleist golf Ball loyalist Whee Kim (Pro V1x), who has finished inside the top-6 of the leaderboard in his last four rounds on the PGA Tour.
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Good luck to all of #Team Titleist this weekend in Las Vegas!