Students win opportunity to cook at THE PLAYERS Championship

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — Did you ever wonder about all the work that goes into feeding the pros at THE PLAYERS Championship?

Action News Jax caught up with students at Frank H. Peterson Academies as they got to see all the behind-the-scenes prep work it takes to feed professional golfers and their families.

On Monday Frank H. Peterson Academies senior Colun Smith got a taste of what it’s like to cook for THE PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass. It was his first time setting foot inside the clubhouse. “I was very excited. I was like oh it’s huge! I never knew what it really looked like except for pictures so being at the actual front of the building is like wow that’s something amazing,” Smith said.

Last month several culinary students competed for a chance to snag this highly coveted spot. Each team only had an hour to impress the judges. But only two students came out on top.

“The searing of scallops was great, some of the risottos were really good,” Chef Mohammad Azhar, senior executive chef at TPC Sawgrass said.

Smith and her partner De’Cota Allen got this rare behind-the-scenes look. “Each room has a different décor different feel to it, different smells,” Allen said.

Chef Mohammad Azhar wanted to make sure these students got to experience how much planning goes into THE PLAYERS Championship.

“A lot of the time they don’t see the stewards, the dishwashers, people working in the back of the house, the cooks, and there are people supporting us,” he said.

And most importantly what it’s like to cook for all these professional golfers

“TPC is over 1,000 people here. So, it’s like it’s very different,” Smith said.

Chefs at TPC Sawgrass told us planning THE PLAYERS began in November and takes a staff of about 250 people to help feed THE PLAYERS and their families.

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