New Sponsor, New Look: PGA Tour Event Gets Some Jupiter Flair

Article By John Pacenti
Photos by Carri Lager

Around the 12th hole fairway at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, some patrons found a familiar eatery: Jupiter’s Little Moir’s Food Shack. It offered something more than your hotdogs and burgers.

Mike Murgio and Megan Murray of Jupiter’s Little Moir’s Food Shack are among the local businesses represented at the tournament. Executive Director Todd Flemming was intentional about recruiting local vendors.

“We were standing there waiting, and I go, ‘These knuckleheads are going to general concessions. They must not know they have a great restaurant service, right here,’” said James Rhinehart. He was taking a breather at the PGA National Resort where 67 golfers on the final Sunday chased a little white ball and a piece of the $9.2 million purse. (Joe Highsmith notched his first PGA Tour win).

Palm Beach Gardens’ PGA tournament got a new sponsor in late 2023, the IT consulting company Cognizant, after Honda had become synonymous with the contest. But with a new sponsor came a new look, and that meant Jupiter and some of its eateries took center stage in the heart of the course.

This year’s tournament created fan activation zones – or villages. There was one for Palm Beach, for Palm Beach Gardens, and yes, Jupiter.

The Champagne Taittinger Lounge is open to the public and a nice spot to sit and sip while players are putting on No. 9 green. Changes included new VIP areas and stands that were moved closer to tee boxes and greens.

“My vision is how do we get all of the locals to feel like they have a place here, whether they understand golf or not? We can do that through food and beverage,” said Cognizant Classic Executive Director Todd Flemming.

One only needs to glance at the menu at Jupiter’s Little Moir’s Food Shack – sweet potato crusted fish, crab cake sandwich – to know it’s not your standard sports fare. Executive Catering Chef Mike Murgio and Catering Supervisor Megan Murray explained, besides the Food Shack, the company also has Leftovers and the Hibiscus StrEATery – all in Jupiter.

“We try to put out the best, freshest product that we can buy and execute every day, and we just try to have fun with it,” Murgio said. And indeed Murgio stuck an Anthony Bourdain profile as he created dishes off that 12th hole fairway under a pine grove.

About 30 yards away, stood one of four Sunset Slush Jupiter carts. The independent operator launched in August 2023 with a secret recipe to make Italian ice taste like creamy ice cream – seriously. Its brick-and-mortar store can be found in the Bluffs Square Shoppes.

Owner Christine Morrell traded a corporate job for slush. She said that Proof in the Pudding, a third party contractor that manages the food and beverages for the PGA, recruited her for the Cognizant Classic.

“So we go with the local businesses, because I feel as big as we are, hundreds and hundreds of traveling circus people here, we’re also still local,” said Shane McCabe, director of hospitality for Atlanta’s Proof of the Pudding. “We brought in the barista, like the husband and wife out here, who are great.”

While Chik Monk Coffee is technically a Palm Beach business – the aforementioned couple Nandini Jayaprasad and David Beil say they roast their beans in Jupiter. And this coffee is single sourced from a farm in India – while most coffees blend their beans from a region, she explained.

“So it comes from a place called Chikmagalur,” Jayaprasad explains. “That’s where we grow the coffee. And back in the days of the monks, they brought the beans from Africa to India, like in the 1600s. So we did a play on the words chick and monk.”

The local touch didn’t go unnoticed. “Because it’s supporting small businesses. I mean I would rather support small business than some other yahoo that’s not from here,” said Madison Quarantiello, who said she was living in the Jupiter area.

J.T. Parris, who lives in Vero Beach, said he has noticed the changes, calling them “fan-friendly.” This year’s tournament was blessed with the kind of

Garden of Eden weather that tourists write home about – a turnabout from last year’s rainy event. It was sunny but not too hot, breezy but not too windy. In other words, perfect.

There were other upscale changes to Cognizant, Fleming said, to update the VIP areas and create new exclusive ones, as well. The stands were closer to the ground to allow spectators closer to the tee boxes and closer to the greens. Then there was the exclusive Yellow Flamingo Club that sports suites on Hole 18 and access to the best food – including the restaurant at PGA National called the Butcher’s Club with a Michelin-star chef.

“I’m on record that I want this to be the London Fashion Week meets Cannes Film Festival meets the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “All of that has to do with fashion, being seen, elegance, upscale sophistication in a really fun environment.”

Yet, there is always room for a burger or a hotdog, right?

In the tent next to Moir’s, mom Tracey Gulick was slinging food to raise money for Jupiter High School seniors to hold an alcohol-free party after their graduation ceremony.

“It’s been a great weekend. Weather’s been great. Golf has been good,” she said. “We have a lot of great volunteers that dedicate their time to pull this off and make a great event for our kids.”

The tournament has been a significant contributor to the local economy. In 2023, the tournament attracted over 200,000 attendees and generated more than $40 million in economic impact for the area. And now, even more of those dollars are going to local businesses.