Wearing wireless microphones, Nicklaus, Palmer and Player give viewers a taste of their camaraderie and interaction with guests. The event, sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and organized by Grundy native Jim McGlothlin, founder of The Olde Farm, saw participants pay $100,000 to play one hole with the Big Three.
Nicklaus, Palmer and Player have symbolized excellence off the golf course as well as on, each having successful charitable foundations that have helped millions of individuals, mostly youth. At The Olde Farm, they reunited to help an institution that has a history of remarkable successes and inspirational stories by accepting any child with a legitimate need, whether it relates to economics, abuse, family emergencies, home stability or other issues.
The Big Three for Mountain Mission Kids Presented by Johnson & Johnson focuses on Mountain Mission School, which has 230 resident students ages 18 months to 20 years, attending a private school made of grades pre-kindergarten through 12. In recent years, more than 90 percent of the schools graduates have enrolled in colleges. The campus has grown from a single building when it opened in 1921 to the campus it is today, with an educational building, vocational and fine arts building, campus chapel, administration building and three separate residences for girls, four residences for boys and a toddler hall for boys and girls.