Jeff Marsh
Imagine asking 28 golf-obsessed celebrities to compete in a tournament that values golf hanging on the golf course, an event that has more to do with the numbers raised for charity than the exact numbers on a scorecard. The result was the 8AM Golf Invitational, hosted by JT and Wynn Las Vegas.
“JT” stands for Justin Timberlake, who is an investor and partner in 8AM Golf, a holding company that owns and invests in 14 golf brands, including GOLF Magazine. The event grew exponentially from year to year two – its field featured eight additional celebrities, and matched four sponsors each inviting between 10 and 50 guests and spectators. Among the friends who joined Timberlake were artists such as Jimmy Fallon, Kathryn Newton, Chace Crawford, and Nate Bargatze; American football superstars like JJ Watt, Michael Strahan, and Travis Kelce; and other famous athletes such as Michelle Wei West, Michael Phelps, and C.C. Sabathia.
Quiet tours were followed by upscale dinners with a “modern rat pack” dress code, a nod to Frank Sinatra’s rich Wynn Las Vegas date, which he frequented when it was called The Desert Inn. The resort knows how to throw a party, and that was on full display when it hosted a blackjack tournament that included all 28 golfers and raised $392,500 for the American Leather Association. The next night, after the crowd deemed Kelce the winner of an epic karaoke contest, Wynn Las Vegas donated $25,000 to the American Skin Society in his name.
The only spectators allowed to join in the fun were those who had been invited by one of the event’s four sponsors: Cabot, CDW/NetApp, Dewar’s, and Grayson Clothiers. Each sponsor had different reasons to align with the event, but the overarching allure was to provide a customer experience unparalleled in the world of golf.
The field of golfers was divided into two teams of 14 players (Team Wynn vs. Team Encore), and each participant was paired with a partner. Each pair enjoyed friendly nine-hole scramble matches over two rounds of golf, along with a post-round shootout. Timberlake and Fallon, who have been close friends for more than 20 years, took home the top prize after winning a playoff against Newton and actor Michael Pena. CDW and NetApp donated $40,000 to the winning teams’ charities, and Dewar rounded out the charitable component of the event by donating $19,000 to the winner of the 19 Hole Shoot-out on Friday. Is it any surprise that major leaguer Michelle Wie West comes closest to that 62-yard kick?
The total charity this year amounted to $451,000. Besides the inaugural event, the 8AM Golf Invitational has raised over $1 million in just two years.
Camaraderie and philanthropy will always be the cornerstones of the event, and that’s intentional — those are the qualities Timberlake values most in golf.