Community Connect: Reconnecting with a Native of Our Community, Bill Oakley
By Sheila Duncan
Reporter
If you’re from Bibb County, you likely either know or have heard of Bill Oakley. Like many of us, Bill grew up here, with strong ties to the community. He is the son of Mr. Jim Oakley and the late Mrs. Shirley Oakley. graduated from Bibb County High School in 1977 and then signed a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Alabama. While there, he became the third player in school history to hit a Home Run in his first official at bat which came in Baton Rouge, LA, against Southeastern Conference rival LSU. In 1982, Bill married Glenda, the daughter of Mrs. Sara Lightsey and the late Tom Lightsey of Brent and also a Bibb County High School and University of Alabama graduate. Now, let’s look at what Bill has been up to since leaving our community.
He began his career at the University of Alabama where he worked on special projects in the Office of University Relations. Later, he became the Public Relations Director for the Hall of Fame Bowl (now the Outback Bowl), in Birmingham, AL, an NCAA football postseason event. In this role, Bill received several awards for managing the Souvenir Game Day Program, Ticket Sales, Business Development, Sponsorships, Game Day Operations, and Volunteer Coordination.
While living in Birmingham, Bill took on additional responsibilities with other major sporting events that were played in Birmingham including working for the NFL’s Washington Redskins to handle the advance promotion and public relations for one of their games at Legion Field. Additionally, he volunteered to work as a member of the organizing committee for the highly-successful 1984 PGA Championship and the 1986 US Amateur Championship, both held at Shoal Creek.
In 1989, Bill was hired by the PGA TOUR, where his responsibilities were in Business Development, Sponsorships, Branding, Media, and Public Relations. His role focused on building strategic partnerships with Media, Title Sponsors, Business and Community Leaders, and Corporations. He helped launch and manage events in five different countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Bill played a key role in securing numerous sponsorships, including Nike, BMW and General Motors. For his efforts, he was recognized as PGA TOUR’s Outstanding Employee in Fall 2000.
In 2007, Bill was appointed to a senior leadership role with the PGA TOUR Champions, formerly the Senior PGA TOUR, to improve its financial stability and add new tournaments. He is credited with bringing major championship golf back to Birmingham, by partnering with Shoal Creek and securing Regions as the title sponsor of a new event, The Regions Tradition. Bill also secured the support of Bass Pro Shops’ Founder & CEO Johnny Morris to sponsor the Legends of Golf, the first PGA TOUR event to be played on both an 18-hole course and a Par 3 course.
While with the PGA TOUR, Bill also served as Project Manager for the PGA TOUR’s renovation of the Founders Course at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham to prepare it for hosting The Regions Tradition.
Bill also made a significant impact on his Ponte Vedra community by volunteering to assist Nease High School, where he was the catalyst for improving the men’s and women’s athletic programs. In 2005, he successfully negotiated with ESPN to nationally televise a high school football game between Nease and Hoover High School in Alabama, which became the highest-rated high school football game in ESPN’s history.
After a 30-year career with the PGA TOUR, Bill used his business development and sports marketing experience to launch his own consulting and management company, specializing in special event production. He brought the President of NBC Sports and the Founder of Bass Pro Shops together to create the Payne Stewart Cup, featuring stars Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose. The event honored Payne Stewart’s legacy and marked the opening of Tiger Woods’ first public golf course.
He used his golf course construction experience gained with the PGA TOUR to launch a successful synthetic turf company in Northeast Florida. Today, Bill’s company now builds and installs putting greens for residential customers, in addition to using synthetic turf in a variety of other applications. In July, Bill worked with Chip Burkes, President of the Choctaw Booster Club, and Head Football Coach Matt Geohagan to install synthetic turf on the sideline of the football field at Bibb County High School to help offset erosion issues.
Bill and Glenda have three children and seven grandchildren and currently live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Glenda, a retired high school math teacher, co-owns Lighthouse Christian Preschool in Atlantic Beach, a Five-Star rated preschool in the state of Florida.
“Exploring your community allows you to uncover its hidden gems and forge meaningful connections with your neighbors.” Thank you, Bill Oakley, for taking the time to answer our questions so that we may get to know you and your family on a more personal level.”
