The Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) unanimously voted against moving forward with a proposal to host a PGA Tour tournament, despite a significantly reduced price tag and a presentation from Tourism Director Matt Algarin outlining the benefits.
The decision followed months of internal discussions, contract negotiations, and public comment that highlighted deep divisions among commissioners, the Tourism Development Council (TDC), and Walton County residents over the event’s financial implications and overall value to Walton County.
The Professional Golf Association (PGA) was, again, a topic of discussion at the latest Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting. The Tourism Director, Matt Algarin, came forward to present a proposal under consideration for Walton County to host a PGA Tournament.
Over the last seven months, internal discussions have been on the BCC’s agenda and have also been a major topic for the Tourism Development Council (TDC).
Contract negotiations, however, with the PGA discussing basic terms for bringing the Tour to Walton County, have been few and far between until recently.
PGA representatives attended early meetings and even gave a presentation to the BCC, proposing the benefits of hosting the event in Walton County, for a proposed price tag of about $30 million over five years.
Commissioner Brad Drake expressed some reservations – but ultimately defended hosting the Tour event if the PGA afreed to certain tenets of a proposed contract.
The items presented by Matt Algarin,Tourism Director, included:
Algarin told the commission the PGA was willing to take the four contractual items as a starting point for formal contract negotiations. This report was a surprise to many because of the possibility of actually seeing the ‘price tag’ decrease by half of the “original ask” by the PGA.
“We have beat [sic] this dead horse to death,” said Commissioner Danny Glidewell, “I think it’s obvious this is not the right fit at this time for Walton County. Instead of just keeping on – dragging it and dragging it and dragging it…I would just say that…I make a motion that we tell the PGA thanks, but not at this time, and move on about our business.”
Commissioner Dan Curry seconded the motion.
Chairman Donna Johns (District 4 ) said in a conciliatory tone, “I am disappointed, but I understand it has been going on for a long time, and it is unfortunate that we couldn’t come to an agreement with them.
Rick Hileman, the Executive Director of Golf at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, seemed perplexed by the commissioner’s motion. “The entire community would benefit from this [hosting the PGA].” Then his tone changed and he became more confrontational, saying, “..Then you [the BCC] continued to kick the can, and kick the can, and kick the can…until you got to this point and said, ‘No, we’re out. You did not do your due diligence on this. Nobody did. None of the commissioners.”
“I damn sure did, sir,” Commissioner Drake responded quickly.
Hileman responded, “Well, thank you, Brad. I appreciate that. My apologies. But some of the commissioners did not. And I’m very disappointed in the relationship that seems to exist between the TDC and the Commissioners because there was a ‘barrier put up’ and y’all did not listen, in my opinion, to them [the TDC]. And I don’t think you listen to the public.”
Chairwoman Johns responded to Hileman and inquired, “We didn’t listen to the TDC?” Hileman responded, “Correct.”
Commissioner Glidewell replied to Hileman, “My understanding is the TDC said no.” Glidewell was referring to the TDC’s vote. Glidewell referred to the 7-to-1 vote most recently taken by the TDC not to move forward with the PGA Tournament in June.
The County Attorney, Clay Adkinson, brought clarity to the misunderstanding saying that in April 2025, a motion to recommend negotiating a deal with the PGA passed the TDC.
On June 3, 2025, the consensus and posture for support of the PGA Tour changed. Adkinson referred to the minutes of the TDC meeting and said, The TDC declined to add the PGA tournament to the County’s tourism plan by a 7 to 1 vote.” Adkinson said that there were only two TDC actions taken (in total) regarding the proposed PGA Tournament.
Commissioner Drake also serves as the TDC’s Chair and was present for much of the discussions regarding the potential event.
“I am in favor of keeping it on the table to pursue, if there is some perceived value to our community in paying for part of it and others paying for part of it,” he said.
Commissioner Glidewell returned to his initial remarks, which supported his motion to end efforts to host the PGA Tournament. He indicated that there had been no active movement in months, and more importantly, he said, “I find it not advantageous to our citizens.”
Melissa Forberg spoke at the meeting about the risks associated with the PGA contract. She referred to the potential loss of millions of dollars of revenue from hurricanes on the proposed week of the contracted PGA Tour event. She indicated that the September time frame is during hurricane season. She remembered from earlier meetings that if Walton County were under contract with the PGA for a scheduled tournament date and a hurricane or natural disaster hit our area, the PGA could relocate the event to another location. This could result in the loss of all the county’s investment in the event for that year.
Bob LaCasse, the General Manager at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and a member of the TDC, advocated for the Tour event, calling it a golden opportunity. “There’s risk involved in any business that you do. And this is a good, solid risk with a proven track record,” LaCasse said, “So when you say ‘no’ today [to contract negotiations with the PGA,] I hope that at least going down the road you put the right people in the right place to spend the money in front of them to drive more tourism to our area.”
The final speaker was Suzanne Harris, a resident and bed tax collector in Walton County. She began with a question to the Tourism Director, saying, “Matt, when you said that it [PGA Tour] was voted down 7 to 1 by the TDC Council…Is that what you said?” Mr. Algarin responded with ‘yes.’ Ms. Harris then said, “Mr. LaCasse was the ‘1’ [indicating the only TDC council member] to vote for it.””
Earlier in the BCC meeting regarding the proposed Executive Director of Tourism (EDT), Ms. Harris expressed strong dissatisfaction that the BCC is not listening to the TDC. In that portion of the meeting, she said that the TDC (a council of volunteers for tourism development) is not being heard and its direction is not being considered by the BCC. Harris said regarding the PGA and the direction they offered, “You [BCC] have already thumbed your noses at the TDC, who put in for an executive director in their budget. Y’all approved the budget for one, and then today said, ‘Oh, no. We don’t want one.’ So, you’ve thumbed your nose at them [TDC] once. They don’t want it. [the PGA Tour]. I’m getting texts from them because I’m texting them [and] saying what’s happening [here]. Why do you [BCC] even have a TDC committee?”
Harris continued, “…and if Sandestin wanted this [PGA Tour] so bad, why haven’t they come before today and said, ‘Hey guys, we’ll put some money in.” Ms. Harris then addressed the County Attorney, saying, “Now, Clay, I thought when I talked to you, you told me you had met with them [Sandestin] and they weren’t interested in putting money in at that time.
Mr. Adkinson responded, “We’ve received no indication they wish to be a co-sponsor [or] that they wish to do in-kind contribution, or spend their money towards the acquisition of the tournament, not as a co-sponsor.
Ms. Harris concluded her remarks, saying that “There is a reason the bed tax collectors don’t think this is going to work. They are smart. They do bed tax. Yes, I’m sure Sandestin will benefit a lot from this. But the majority of bed tax collectors down on 30A aren’t going to benefit a dime from this. If they were, your TDC council would be up here telling you, “We’re for this.” They thought this was all over, and they – some of them – didn’t even know this was going to be on the agenda today. So, I’m just telling you, I think y’all need to stop and think. That’s why you have bed tax collectors…If Sandestin wanted this so bad [sic],[then] they sat around and wanted it for free. They didn’t want to pay.
The BCC voted on the motion, and the vote was unanimous – all four Commissioners that were present (Commissioner Tony Anderson was absent) voted to not move forward on the PGA Tour sponsorship.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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