The Players Championship surprises senior center after computer lab hit by vandals

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — Seniors at a Ponte Vedra community center received quite the surprise Thursday morning from The Players Championship: a brand new computer lab.

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The lab at The Players Community Senior Center has been a crucial resource where visitors can connect with friends and family and stay informed.

The center was vandalized in 2020, including the theft and destruction of every computer in its computer lab.

Thanks to The Players Championship, new desktops, laptops and a color printer were purchased.

The Senior Center is managed by the St. Johns County Council on Aging, which operates five senior community centers in the county.

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“Someone broke in, and they broke the monitors,” said Tom Torretta with the St. Johns County Council on Aging. “They broke the PCs and they left.”

They’ve been without a lab since then, which many sure have missed.

“Exciting and just wonderful,” one woman said. “That’s all I can say. I have no words for it.”

Marian Ashton has been coming to the center since 2011.

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“The copy machine is from heaven,” Ashton said. “They sent that down for us, because it’s something we never had before.”

She expressed her gratitude for the renovation.

“I’m thankful to The Players, who’ve always been there from day one — and that’s why we’re called The Players Club.”

Tournament leadership and the Red Coats, past volunteer chairs, watched the reveal in action.

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“Oh it’s great,” said Cynthia Gagne. “I love that we have a copier now too — a printer. That’s great.”