Taste your way through the celebrity creations and help determine who makes the final cut in this BBQ showdown - a smokin' hot evening of bourbon and BBQ!

Part of the St. Simons Island Food + Spirits Festival.

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EVENT HAPPENS RAIN OR SHINE! NO REFUNDS!

Presented by Bulleit Bourbon, Georgia Crown the RSM Classic and The Local Palate. Star PGA Tour professionals, including Davis Love III, will join celebrity Pitmasters for this lively night of competition. Taste your way through the celebrity creations and help determine who makes the final cut in this BBQ showdown - a smokin' hot evening of bourbon and BBQ!

Participating Chefs & Special Guests

Griffin Bufkin, Harrison Sapp and John Helfrich

Griffin Bufkin and Harrison Sapp, owners of Southern Soul Barbeque unarguably make the best barbecue to be had in the Golden Isles and they also make sure the whole experience is fun at their gas station turned restaurant on St. Simons. Nationally acclaimed for good reason, Southern Soul Barbeque has been featured on the Food Network, The Travel Channel, The Wall Street Journal, Southern Living Magazine, Garden & Gun Magazine and too many other accolades to mention! This is low-key barbecue at its best; know that you will leave reeking of smoke (especially if you sit at a picnic table outside), and that you may have trouble picking a favorite from the four sauces they make!

Jonathan Fox and Justin Fox

Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q is an award-winning barbecue restaurant located just south of Little Five Points in Atlanta. Opened in 2007, Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q is known for their unique Southern-style barbecue with a Texas flair, serving up whole hog, smoked brisket, and wings with original side dishes to the hungry masses. To complement their que, the Fox brothers developed a sauce that mixes the flavors of Texas with the heat of the South. Their “Sweet with Heat” sauce is tomato-based with a hefty splash of vinegar and southern sweetness, with a subtle blast of Texas heat. Today Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q has become a staple for Atlanta natives and visitors alike, and has earned top spots on barbecue rankings from top publications like Eater, USA Today Travel, Southern Living, and Maxim Magazine.

The restaurant has been featured on national news channels including The Weather Channel, TLC, Fox News, and The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”. Co-pitmasters Jonathan and Justin Fox have been invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City in both 2014 and 2015. Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q is the Official BBQ of the Atlanta Falcons and, beginning in 2015, serve up their famous que inside the Georgia Dome to hungry fans. For more information and reservations please call (404) 577-4030 or visit foxbrosbbq.com . Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q is located at 1238 Dekalb Ave. Atlanta, Ga. 30307. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Bryan Furman

Head BBQ Pitmaster, Bryan Furman, is livin’ the dream having left his day job as a welder to pursue cooking his signature-style pit smoked barbeque, chicken and ribs.

What began as a fun idea to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday in 2010 by roasting a hog for family and friends, turned into catering and filling order requests from his co-workers.

One night around their family’s kitchen table in North Carolina, Bryan remembers seeking his dad’s opinion on the idea of opening up his own place. His dad liked his enthusiasm but challenged Bryan to think of what might make his ‘barbeque joint’ stand out. Bryan’s reply was to raise local Heritage hogs and to make his own side dishes using locally-sourced, fresh produce with a blend of unique ingredients.

B’s Cracklin’ BBQ’s first building on Coffee Bluff Villa Road opened in 2014 but tragically burned in June of 2015. The timing could not have been worse as they had just been named to a Top 50 list of The South’s Best BBQ by Southern Living magazine. B’s had also been featured in the June/July 2015 issue of Garden & Gun magazine’s story on ‘Five Barbecue Joints You Can’t Miss’.

Now back in business and humbled by their experience, Bryan and his wife, Nikki, extend heartfelt thanks to some amazingly generous people that have helped to make their return possible.

Rodney Scott

Rodney Scott, of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, SC – nationally recognized and voted as one of Southern Living Magazine’s “20 Best BBQ Joints” and recently named as one of Tasting Table’s 2015 Southern Chefs to Know.

Davis Love III

The game of golf has been central to Davis’ life. He literally grew up around the game and later honed his skills as an All-American golfer at the University of North Carolina. Davis’ amateur career culminated with his selection to the 1985 Walker Cup team. He has racked up 21 career PGA Tour victories, including multiple wins at prestigious events like The Players Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and the Verizon Heritage, now the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island. He also won the 1997 PGA Championship, and is firmly established as one of the all-time money leaders on the PGA Tour.

Consistently hailed as one of the most popular and recognizable players in professional golf, Davis will captain the 2016 USA Ryder Cup team. As a true gentleman of the sport, Davis’ reputation for integrity and his respect for the game have earned him trust among colleagues and fans alike.

Davis has a special talent for golf, but he also has a deep respect and passion for the game. A protector and promoter for the game’s rules and etiquette, his study of golf’s history and traditions have led him to long-term interests outside of tournament golf, including course design and management.

Zach Johnson

The son of a chiropractor, Johnson was born in Iowa City, Iowa and raised in Cedar Rapids, the oldest of Dave & Julie Johnson's three children. Playing many sports as a youth (baseball, basketball, football, and soccer), Johnson took up golf at age 10 and developed his skills at Elmcrest Country Club. He played #2 on the Regis High School golf team and led them to an Iowa 3A state championship in 1992, his sophomore year.

Following graduation from high school in 1994, Johnson enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines. As the #2 player on the Drake golf team, he led the Bulldogs to three NCAA regional meets and two Missouri Valley championships. Johnson has admitted to not being the best player on his high school or college team, but was quoted in his Masters speech saying, "I just kept getting better every year." Johnson turned professional in 1998 and played on the developmental tour circuit, including the now-defunct Prairie Golf Tour, the Buy.com Tour (now called the Nationwide Tour), and the NGA Hooters Tour, where he won the final three regular-season events in 2001. In 2003, he topped the money list on the Nationwide Tour with then record earnings of $494,882, earning an automatic promotion to the PGA TOUR. He won his first PGA TOUR event at the 2004 BellSouth Classic outside of Atlanta. Johnson qualified for the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team, finishing 9th on the U.S. points list.