You can sit on Via Mizner’s VIP Deck and watch golf pros John Daly or Bernhard Langer hit off the 10th tee. Close up. A sponsor at the PGA TOUR’s Oasis Championship this weekend, Penn-Florida uses that vantage point for VIPs. This year that could include golf icon, Jack Nicklaus. His son Gary Nicklaus is making his pro comeback at the Old Course at Broken Sound. And Jack’s golf design firm is redoing the Via Mizner course in Boca Del Mar.

Photo by Scott Halleran

So Nicklaus could surface at Via Mizner’s digs or their skybox overlooking the 18th hole. “He knows we’re here and he’s invited to be our guest,” said senior marketing director Melissa Myers. The tournament says it expects him. There’s a parking space with his name, Myers said.

Penn-Florida has been a major sponsor since the PGA TOUR started its Champions’ season in Boca in 2007. This year especially. “We go heavy on the Via Mizner signage since the Oasis is on national TV,” Myers said. That presences gets feedback, particularly from locals, she added. The company’s The Residences at Mandarin Oriental condos and Mandarin Oriental hotel and retail are going up on Federal Highway. Via Mizner apartments sit on the corner of Federal and Camino Real. A private golf and city club complete the offerings.

Supporting the golf tournament isn’t only good for business. “This tournament has a special place in Mark’s heart as a passionate golfer,” she said about Penn-Florida president and CEO Mark Gensheimer.  Gensheimer has been a board member since the tournament’s inception.

“It’s also a great way for us to partner with the community,” she said. The Oasis benefits Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the gate. Kids 18 and younger and fans 70 and older with proper ID get in free. Visit the Oasis Championship website.

By Marci Shatzman