MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s a big day at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where amateur golfers, better known as Sunday hackers, got a chance to play against some of the world’s best at Southwind.
There were a lot of big name golfers in Memphis this week, but Wednesday was largely about amateurs being getting to tee it up with the pros.
Now, when we say amateurs we mean people like you and me.
But we’re also talking about some pretty famous people – most notably Penny Hardaway and Mike Norvell.
The two Tigers coaches got some time off the court and field to go on the course. While Hardaway has played the Pro Am before, this was his first time playing as the U of M basketball head coach.
He says it was a whole new experience and the best he’s ever played at this event.
“It’s much more different being the Memphis coach, because you have more supporters. Even though I’ve always had fans when I was in the NBA. Now being the coach at Memphis, it brings a different element. More people are wearing blue and wearing the Tiger colors,” Hardaway said.
Hardaway and Norvell played with PGA tour veteran Charles Howell III and NFL coaching legend Joe Gibbs, which was really fun for Norvell who idolizes Gibbs.
“That was probably one of the highlights of my life. One of my plays is directly from his play book. To be able to go back and forth and hear some of the things that they did with it, that was pretty special,” Norvell said.
Ole Miss Football Coach Matt Luke was also playing in the Pro AM.