Akron’s long run as a home for major senior professional golf is officially on the clock. PGA TOUR Champions has announced that the Senior Players Championship will relocate to Southern California after the 2026 edition, bringing an era at Firestone Country Club to a close.
The Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone will serve as the final Akron-hosted Senior Players week, set for July 9–12, 2026, with Miguel Ángel Jiménez slated to return and defend his title. Around the neighborhood, the tournament has long functioned as a summer economic engine for hotels, restaurants, and local vendors, so the news hits well beyond the ropes.
The PGA TOUR said Hoag, the Orange County health system that already sponsors the Hoag Classic, will become the title sponsor and elevate the event to the SENIOR PLAYERS beginning in 2027, moving the major to Newport Beach Country Club, according to PGA TOUR. A five-year agreement will keep the tournament at Newport Beach through 2031, and organizers say the event will shift to a spring window under the new arrangement, per the Los Angeles Times. The tour level change will convert the event to a four-round, 72-hole major with a larger purse.
Final Akron week
The Kaulig Companies Championship’s official site already lists 2026 dates and special events, including an Ambassador of Golf recognition on July 9, as part of what organizers describe as Firestone’s final staging before the move, according to the Kaulig Companies Championship. Tournament officials say the 2026 pro am, hospitality and charity programming will continue as planned, giving area nonprofits one last major week of fundraising.
Local reaction
Reaction around Akron came fast and with plenty of sting. "It's heartbreaking," one longtime resident told WKYC, summing up a sentiment shared across the city. Several business owners noted that the influx of visitors during tournament week has become an important annual boost for restaurants, hotels and vendors, a shot in the arm that will be hard to replace. Local officials and organizers said they will press to preserve the event's charitable partnerships but acknowledged that filling the gap left by a marquee national stop will be a heavy lift.
Firestone's storied past
Firestone’s South Course has been a marquee site for decades, hosting PGA Championships, the Rubber City Open and later the World Golf Championships, according to the club’s history page at Firestone Country Club. The departure of the Senior Players returns the club to a calendar without a PGA Tour level event for the first time since 1954, a sobering shift underscored by memories of Tiger Woods' dominance at the Bridgestone Invitational. He won the WGC stop at Firestone eight times, per coverage by the Golf Channel.
Money, charities and what’s next
The Kaulig Companies Championship has been a local philanthropic engine, with past editions raising more than $1.3 million for Northeast Ohio charities. Industry observers say the move, driven by Hoag’s sponsorship and a multi year agreement, reflects a broader calendar reshuffle across the tours and likely marks an end to a long chapter of national golf at Firestone, per Sports Business Journal. Local leaders say they will use the months ahead to protect the event’s charitable legacy and to pursue other tourism and sporting opportunities for Akron.
Akron will get one last full week of senior major golf when Firestone hosts the Kaulig Companies Championship July 9–12, 2026, before the SENIOR PLAYERS opens a new chapter at Newport Beach Country Club in 2027. The coming months will test how local planners, businesses and charities can turn the loss of a marquee event into new opportunities for the region.
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