Sponsors promote charities, business at golf venue

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

Semi-professional golf returns to Springfield Aug. 12-15 for the 15th consecutive year with the Price Cutter Charity Championship to be held at Highland Springs Country Club and hosted by the John Q. Hammons Foundation. Ramey/Price Cutter/Smitty's Supermarkets are title sponsors for the 21st stop on the 2004 Nationwide Tour. This year's local purse is $525,000; the winner gets $94,500, according to a tournament news release.

More than 30 area charities are expected to benefit from this year's tournament. In 2003, $609,000 was presented to charities and about 40,000 attended, said Jerald Andrews, executive director of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. "We also gave a home for Habitat for Humanity that was valued at another $40,000."

Roughly half, or about $250,000, of players' winnings are derived from money that Columbus, Ohio-based financial services company Nationwide pays the Professional Golf Association, Andrews said. The other $275,000 comes from sponsorships, gate fees, concessions, souvenirs, auctions and other related activities, he said, adding that last year's take was about $1.7 million, not including Nationwide's money.

The long-standing prestige of golf appeals to businesses interested in self-promotion, as well as capitalizing on an association with the game.

Sponsorships make business sense, according to Gary Goetz, general manager at NewStream Enterprises, a 65-employee division of Springfield Remanufacturing Corp., which packages truck parts for the on- and off-highway market.

Starting small as an umbrella tournament sponsor in 1997, the company has since upped its dollar level.

As a lead sponsor, NewStream paid $47,000 for its 2004 participation, Goetz said.

Sponsorships are tailored according to the firm's budget and its level of involvement.

"To be considered a lead sponsor, between cash and other contributions, the commitment must be in the $25,000-plus range," Andrews said. The nearly 20 lead sponsors paid amounts ranging up to $60,000 for their packages, he added.

Shelling out between $25,000 and $60,000 for a lead sponsor slot makes business sense, according to Andrews. The tournament is seen as the largest sporting event and one of the largest social events held in the Ozarks each year, he said.

"It's attended by lots of decision-makers, and businesses look at it from a perspective of entertainment, of rewards," Andrews said. A few businesses bring people in to participate, and some even come from international locations.

This is true of NewStream. The company brings 20 of its largest customers and potential customers to the tournament, Goetze said. These people will golf, along with about 20 SRC employees, in the Aug. 8 NewStream Enterprises Pro-Am held at Highland Springs Country Club.

"We think it's paid very good dividends," Goetz said. Contracts have been signed due to the customers coming to Springfield, "so we think it's paid off."

Creativity in selling is part of the package when getting potentially hundreds of different sponsors on board, each with its own limit of expendable cash. Andrews and his staff begin work by asking businesses, "What are you in interested in achieving? What's important to you here?"

Andrews cited four levels of business participation: playing in the various Pro-Am tournaments, buying advertising, sponsoring entertainment venues like skyboxes and corporate tents and offering ticket packages.

Along with the $15,000 cash payment the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors makes to the tournament, it will funnel up to 75 percent of the proceeds it generates from its Aug. 11 Nighttime Golf Classic at Hidden Valley Golf Links to Habitat for Humanity, said Sharon Wells, Greater Springfield Board of Realtors president. The remaining percentage is returned to the tournament, she added.

Tickets for the four-person teams are $1,200, Wells said. In addition to a nine-hole round of golf, players receive a logo package, tickets to special tournament events, food and drinks, a team photograph, signage and $1,000 worth of corporate tickets, transferable and redeemable at various event venues, she said.

Last year the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors sponsored the actual construction of Habitat's house next to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Wells said. It was later moved to the McAl subdivision in north Springfield.

The return in benefits from participation is nearly equal to what you pay to be a lead sponsor and is a "feel good" thing for the organization, Wells said.

Sometimes, even the charities return money to the tournament. This is true of AIDS Project of the Ozarks as a day sponsor on Saturday, where people can come in and watch golf for free if they bring a personal care item, said Lynne Meyerkord, executive director. "We've received back in checks from them, about $13,000, and we've invested, probably, about $8,000."

The value of sponsoring the golf tournament is good for two reasons, Meyerkord said. "It benefits us by having our personal care item pantry stocked for our clients, and it benefits the community by providing an affordable way for them to see some great golf."

The Good Samaritan Boys Ranch also puts money back to the tournament. For $5,000 it is sponsoring the Celebrity Skins Game at Highland Springs, said Kevin Killian, executive director. The organization has received $49,000 from the tournament during its three-year involvement, he added.

As a result of being selected last year by Raymond Tripp as Bolivar Insulation's charity of choice, the ranch received $34,000, which is being put toward establishing a computer lab, Killian said.

Over the last 14 years, the championship has funneled some $3.76 million to area charities, Andrews said, adding the tournament has not always been called what it is today. Fifteen years ago it started as the Ben Hogan Tour and was that for three years. That was followed by the Nike Ozarks Open for seven years and the Buy.Com Tour for three years, he added.

"We are now in the second year of a five-year agreement with Nationwide," Andrews said. Price Cutter has been with the tournament for six years, he said three as the presenting sponsor when it was the Nike Ozarks Open and three as the title sponsor.

Both the lure of golf and the possibility to help a charitable cause, gives Andrews and his staff a ready-made work force of volunteers. He said if he were to calculate a payroll figure for the approximately 1,200 people, who mostly work various hours, it would be next to impossible.