MSHOF leader: ‘We cannot fail again’

Rick Beaman: Hiland Dairy is committed to five years as PCCC presenting sponsor.

Ethan Forhetz: Convoy of Hope remains supportive of the annual golf tournament.

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A little more than five months into his new leadership role at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Rob Marsh said the organization is emerging from the financial difficulties that plagued it last year, and preparations are in full swing for the local golf tournament it oversees.

Several events, including pro-am competitions and an auction, are part of the lead-up to the Price Cutter Charity Championship golf tournament, set for July 17-20 at Highland Springs Country Club. The PCCC is one of 26 pro golf tournaments on this year’s Korn Ferry Tour, which is owned and operated by the PGA Tour.

“It is a lot more than just the four days that happen at Highland Springs,” Marsh said. “This Monday [June 23] starts the Springfield Cardinals Classic at Millwood [Golf and Racquet Club], and then we have tournaments, sometimes two a day, leading all the way up to getting Highland Springs ready for the big tournament.”

Marsh started Jan. 6 in his new role after a 27-year career with Pyramid Foods, which operates the Price Cutter supermarket chain. He exited as its chief operating officer and was announced in December to lead the MSHOF, replacing former executive director and CEO Byron Shive, who resigned late last year. Marsh said he and the five-person staff have since been working diligently to address the tournament’s finances and repay debts to charity partners and vendors after waning attendance and participation at the 2024 PCCC tourney.

At a December news conference, former MSHOF and PCCC leader Jerald Andrews, who came on board as interim director following the departure of Shive – his son-in-law – said charities should be receiving over $740,000 from the 2024 golf tournament. Marsh said June 16 the deficit is now roughly $125,000, and he added around 10 undisclosed charities are still owed money.

“My goal is to raise enough from this year’s tournament to be able to pay what they earn in this year’s along with the few charities that we owe and pay the 2024 deficit as well,” he said. “They’ve been great to work with; they’ve been supportive, they’ve signed back on board and the ones that did not sign back up, I’ve still been in communication with them, and they know that I’m working hard to make it right.”

Marsh said the number of charity partners in the tournament, which began in 1990 and for which Price Cutter has served as title sponsor since its inception, has generally ranged 30-50. The tournament has gifted more than $20 million to charities over its history.

“We’ve got close to 40 charities this year, and we’ve worked hard to bring the sponsors back so obviously that we have revenue,” he said. “And then I have spent a tremendous amount of time in reducing the expenses to put on the tournament.”

Financial struggles
Along with Marsh’s introduction at the December news conference, reimbursement checks totaling $325,107 were disbursed at the event to 42 nonprofit beneficiaries, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The total was far less than the more than $1 million awarded to charities in 2023. The nonprofits are typically awarded funds near the end of the year at the PCCC Celebration of Sharing event, which was canceled abruptly last year due to lack of funds.

Most charities pay to participate in the tournament, with entry starting at $5,000, officials say. MSHOF Chair Dan Nelson said about 10 charities participate for free as some of the original partners in the event, according to past reporting.

The tournament distributed $1.025 million to 53 charities in 2023, according to the MSHOF. The total included reimbursement of the charities’ buy-in amounts. The previous year, the tournament grossed around $2.5 million and spent roughly $1.3 million on expenses, distributing about $1.1 million to charities.

But last year, the tournament grossed about $1.8 million and spent around $1.7 million, Andrews said in December, netting less than $100,000.

The MSHOF was also struggling financially, Andrews said, in part because of long illness-related absences of its longtime accountant. Andrews said when he came into his interim role, he eliminated some staff positions, cutting the payroll dramatically. Marsh said he’s since maintained the small staff size.

In December, Andrews said the tournament owed about $500,000 to vendors, including the purse to the PGA Tour, Big Cedar Lodge, Sunbelt Rentals, Silo Ridge Country Club, Highland Springs Country Club, insurance and other expenses.

“I’ve about cut that in half,” Marsh said.

The MSHOF’s Form 990, the most recent filed with the Internal Revenue Service, shows $250,745 in total compensation for former director Shive, as well as total compensation of nearly $1.3 million for former director Andrews in 2023. Marsh previously told SBJ that the money paid to Andrews in 2023 was retirement funds. MSHOF officials declined to disclose Marsh’s salary.

Still supportive
Aside from Price Cutter inking a new five-year deal in October to remain as title sponsor for the golf tournament, Springfield-based Hiland Dairy Foods Co. LLC is its new presenting sponsor. Financial terms of the deals were undisclosed. MSHOF officials said sponsorship dollars are in a three-party agreement in which the title sponsorship and presenting sponsorship dollars are paid directly to the PGA Tour. Once the PGA Tour deducts funds for the event’s purse and other expenses, the remainder is paid by the PGA Tour to the tournament, according to past reporting.

Like Price Cutter, Rick Beaman, president of Hiland Dairy, said his company made a five-year commitment.

“We’re in it for the long haul. Committing to five years shows we’re serious about supporting this event and the good it does across southwest Missouri,” he said via email. “We’ve really enjoyed working with Rob Marsh. He brings fresh energy to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame team, and we’re excited to partner with him as this event continues to grow.”

Beaman said Hiland Dairy has been a part of the tournament for over 20 years, whether through product donations, event support or sponsorships.

“We’ve always believed in the cause, and this year we simply took it to the next level,” he said. “Springfield isn’t just where we do business; it’s where we live. This community has supported Hiland for generations, and we view this tournament as an opportunity to give back in a significant way.”

Children’s Smile Center is among the handful of nonprofits still owed money from the 2024 tournament. However, Jackie Barger, executive director of Children’s Smile Center, said the MSHOF’s financial struggles didn’t give him any pause to have the Christian County-based organization participate in this year’s tourney. He estimated the nonprofit has been paid back around $50,000 to date and is still owed approximately $13,000.

“We’ve been involved for 14 years,” Barger said, adding MSHOF officials, including Marsh, have assured him they will receive all money owed to them. “I’m not pounding my fist to say when, and I’ll trust that they will. I’m not worried at all about the rest of that coming in.”

Barger said the organization has annually sponsored the Children’s Smile Center Poker Run Golf Classic, a PCCC fundraiser held in October.

Convoy of Hope has traditionally sponsored one of the holes at the PCCC, said Ethan Forhetz, vice president of public engagement and national spokesperson. He said the global crisis and humanitarian nonprofit also remains committed as a charity partner.

Still, Forhetz said he attended meetings with Marsh and other PCCC leadership to learn more about its financial situation and tournament plans, noting he emerged from those feeling optimistic.

“The Price Cutter Charity Championship has been a huge part of the Springfield community for many years,” he said via email. “We want the tournament to continue to help local charities who serve children, and I am hopeful that, after making mistakes and recalibrating, the PCCC is headed in the right direction.”

Being a hole sponsor has allowed Convoy of Hope to help coordinate volunteers to serve as marshals, Forhetz said. He didn’t address a follow-up question about how much the organization spends for its sponsorship or if it is still owed money from 2024’s tournament.

“We have some volunteers who have done it for many years and love it,” he said. “But more importantly, it gives Convoy of Hope a chance to partner with a local golf tournament that does so much year after year to support incredible local organizations that work every day to serve children and families in need.”

Calendar additions
Marsh said one of his goals upon taking charge at MSHOF was to boost its calendar of events, including bringing back its outdoor sports luncheon series. He said three of those events, related to sports such as hunting and fishing, have been held so far this year, with each exceeding expectations for revenue while keeping costs down. However, he declined to disclose year-to-date revenue performance for the organization.

“I added a full calendar of events to help obviously bring the revenue back in line and continue to help us climb out of this deficit,” he said, noting that includes a Kansas City enshrinement ceremony and a fishing tournament at Table Rock Lake planned for later this year.

With nearly 30 years at Price Cutter, Marsh said he wouldn’t have left his executive position at the company if he wasn’t confident he could turn around MSHOF’s financials and avoid a repeat situation with the charities that annually support the golf tournament.

“I know we cannot fail again, and I have no intention to,” he said. “I understand that people had concerns about 2024. I’m a longtime business guy, and I know that it has to make financial sense. They depend on that money, and I understand it.”

Marsh said he hates to lose the confidence of any past or present supporter of the tournament, adding that one bad year put a black eye on 30-plus good years.

“If you look at it as a batting average, that’s a pretty good batting average,” he said. “But I hate that it even happened one time. I understand if people have hesitancy, but at the end of the day, I have to prove that we’re back, and that’s what I intend on doing.”