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Sanderson Farms Championship is One Week Away

One of the biggest sporting events of the year http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/schedules-events/tournament-schedule/">returns next week. Central Mississippi will host the PGA Sanderson Farms Championship at the http://www.ccjackson.com/">Country Club of Jackson.

Tournament week begins on Monday, Oct. 24, but the general public won’t be allowed on the grounds until Wednesday, Oct. 26, which is the http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/herschel-walker-paul-maholm-set-play-sanderson-farms-championship-wednesday-pro/">Allen Exploration Pro-AM.

This year’s http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/herschel-walker-paul-maholm-set-play-sanderson-farms-championship-wednesday-pro/">Pro-Am features two former professional athletes. Former football player Herschel Walker and baseball player Paul Maholm will play when the Pro-Am tees off at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

Walker played college football at the University of Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1982 and was a three-time All-American. The Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft, shortly before the USFL folded that same year.

He played for Dallas until 1989, when the Cowboys traded him to the Minnesota Vikings. The trade was the start of the Cowboys’ 1990s Super Bowl runs as the Vikings struggled.

Walker played in the NFL until he retired at the end of the 1997 season. While still active in the NFL, the star running back competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Since retiring, he took on two Mixed Martial Arts fights and won both. At age 54, Walker is still in fantastic shape.

Maholm, a Holly Springs native who won an amateur golf tournament when he was 14, was a three-time letterman at Mississippi State University and an All-American in 2003. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him that year with the eighth overall pick.

The star pitcher spent time with the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers before his career ended in 2015.

On http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/schedules-events/tournament-schedule/">Thursday, Oct. 27, the Sanderson Farms Championship begins when gates open at 7 a.m., and first tee at 7:40 a.m. The http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/schedules-events/committed-players/">full field of 132 players won’t be announced until Friday, Oct. 21, but http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/sanderson-farms-championship-announces-player-commitments/">several players have already committed to the tournament.

Five former tournament winners will be in the field including 2015 winner Peter Malnati. The other four champions are Nick Taylor (2014 champion), Chris Kirk (2011 champion), D.J. Trahan (2006 champion) and Cameron Beckman (2001 champion).

Several notable names will be in the field, including two-time major winners Angel Cabrera and Retief Goosen. Cabrera won the 2007 U.S. Open and the 2009 Masters, and Goosen won the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open. Other major winners in the field are Stewart Clink, the winner of the 2009 British Open, Lucas Glover, winner of the 2009 U.S. Open, and David Toms, winner of the 2001 PGA Championship.

Several notable names committed to playing are Boo Weekley, Ricky Barnes, Stuart Appleby and Ben Crane. Former University of Mississippi standout and Brandon, Miss. native Jonathan Randolph is also committed to playing.

Friday the tournament opens at 7 a.m. with morning tee times beginning at 7:40. The field will be cut down on Friday with the tournament resuming on Saturday. The gates open at 8 a.m., and tee times begin at 9:30 a.m.

The final on Sunday will begin at 9:30 a.m. The gates open at 7 a.m. On Sunday afternoon a champion will be crowned after four rounds of golf.

Tickets can be purchased on the https://www.cuetoems.com/sfc_2016/OnlineTicketSales.aspx">Sanderson Farms Championship website, and http://www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com/spectators/spectator-faq/">children under 17 years old are admitted free with a paid adult, one adult per child.

For more information visit www.sandersonfarmschampionship.com

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