Popular Florida pro-am that attracts PGA Tour players, other pros turns 50

The Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am reaches a milestone this year. And it will be a bittersweet celebration, without the tournament's namesake.

The holiday staple on the area's golf schedule will be Dec. 14-15 at the Sea Island Resort Seaside and Plantation Courses on St. Simons Island, Georgia. It will be the 50th playing of the tournament, which annually has attracted pros from the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, LIV, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Americas and club professionals from Florida's First Coast and Georgia's Golden Isles.

Each pro is grouped with three amateurs and played 36 holes under a gross best ball.

Early commitments to play are PGA Tour winners Russell Knox, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, Harold Varner III and Taylor Dickson.

Participants in the past have included World Golf Hall of Fame member Vijay Singh, Players Championship winners David Duval, Mark McCumber and Cameron Smith, and PGA Tour winners Len Mattiace, Kenny Perry, Frank Lickliter and Davis Thompson.

Tournament organizers will use its 50th anniversary to honor Tuten, who passed away in March at the age of 97. One of his legacies is more than $100,000 in charitable giving over the last six years to area golf-themed non-profits.