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San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Reaching Par

When 54 professional golfers take to the course at Sherwood Country Club from Oct. 23 to 29, there will be more at stake than the $2 million purse. The financial results of the Professional Golfers Association’s PowerShares QQQ Championship will determine whether it remains in Thousand Oaks for years to come – or packs up its golfer’s bag for a different city. “This year, being the second of the third year (contract) and the fact that we’ve had a full year of doing business and marketing to this community, we hope to see a substantial upturn in revenues and attendance from the first year,” said Phil Bough, executive director of the tournament. “Obviously it’s always difficult to start something out cold, without a lot of momentum.” Fortunately, the tournament’s fate is in experienced hands. Bough became executive director in June following the departure of previous head OD Vincent, who left the PGA in April to oversee the golf division of Irvine hospitality firm Montage International. Bough’s background in professional golf goes back more than 25 years, roughly half of which have been spent in the Conejo Valley. He was most recently the executive director of the L.A. chapter of First Tee, a nonprofit that uses golf to promote personal development in youth. First Tee was one of two main charity partners for last year’s tournament, along with the country club’s Sherwood Cares Foundation. “I know golf and the products very well, I know Sherwood and I know this community,” Bough said. “I think that’s what they were looking for when they approached me.” Bough and his four-person team in Thousand Oaks have spent the last year conducting outreach efforts to garner support for the PowerShares Championship. He believes that the tournament could become a significant point of pride for the region if it is able to demonstrate that the local community wants it to stay. “Sherwood Country Club is a wonderful venue to host a late season event like this,” Bough said. “We want to be committed here, but obviously we need all the business elements to align as well.” Lucrative tournament The PowerShares QQQ Championship is the second of three legs in the PGA’s Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, and the last before the PGA Tour Champions season finale in Scottsdale, Ariz. While last year’s PowerShares winner Tom Pernice Jr. did not go on to take the Charles Schwab Cup, he did bring home a total of around $336,000, including $305,000 of a $2 million purse at the Thousand Oaks tournament. Players are not the only ones who stand to gain from PGA events. Champions tournaments on average generate more than 150 jobs and can have an economic impact of up to $15 million for host communities, according to the PGA. Also, attendees tend to be more affluent and are nearly twice as likely to donate money to charity than fans of other sports, the PGA said, creating a potentially lucrative exposure opportunity for local businesses and nonprofits. “The whole reason that we put on these events foremost is for the members of the PGA tour – we want them to have a great place to play – but also for them to be successful in the local communities,” Bough said. “There are a lot of benefits to a community in having an event like this come in, in terms of hotel rooms and other sources of income generated.” Local businesses are eager to reap the winnings from the tournament as its profile rises, said Jill Lederer, chief executive of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce. Being associated with the PGA elevates the value of the community’s brand, she explained. “The elevated awareness of our business community due to the presence of the PGA extends economic benefits far beyond the ramp-up to the tournament in October,” Lederer said. “It has elevated the awareness of the Conejo Valley as a premier destination to shop, sip, work and enjoy life.” But maximizing the benefits from PGA tournaments requires significant marketing, as they are expensive to run. While the financial results of last year’s tournament were on par for other first-year PGA events, its profitability was hampered by a short promotion window, Bough explained. The event raised $250,000 for partner charities First Tee and the Sherwood Cares, but has the potential for much greater impact, he believes. “Like any business, these events are very expensive to put on and stage, so it is important that we do make money,” he explained. “I think the first year was laying the foundation. It’s about growing awareness among the business and nonprofit communities.” Playbook for Progress To renew its contract with Sherwood, the PowerShares Championship will need to see a significant increase in attendees and revenues for this year’s tournament over last year’s, according to Bough. He hopes to grow its audience from around 10,000 to between 15,000 and 20,000. “Hard numbers are difficult to put out, but I think that would be regarded as very good incremental growth year-on-year,” Bough said. To that end, the staff at the PGA’s Thousand Oaks office has been working hard all year to spread the word about the tournament. In addition to forming committees with Sherwood Cares to raise awareness in the local community, the tournament has been sending representatives to networking events to pitch the championship as an ideal venue for fostering business relationships. “This is a wonderful opportunity … to entertain clients and mingle, so that’s been part of our messaging,” Bough said. “We’ve been trying to build upon what was done last year.” The effort appears to be paying off in the form of ticket sales, which are significantly ahead of where they were this time last year, Bough said. The tournament recently launched a two-for-one special on $29 grounds tickets and has reinstated its “buy now, give back” initiative, which matches each ticket sale with a donated ticket to a nonprofit that benefits from Sherwood Cares. “The two-for-one program is starting to work really well with us,” Bough said. The tournament also has launched another promotion for ticket upgrades, and has created a luxury package that is being distributed through country clubs and high-end member organizations, he added. The final phase will take the form of a major media campaign, which will see advertisements for the tournament everywhere from freeway billboards to golf magazines. The event will kick off the push with a media day on Sept. 25 with defending champion Pernice, who will be returning to this year’s event alongside other big names such as John Daly. “We really are trying to spread the word out to the widest possible audience in the footprint that we’re targeting,” Bough said. “We’ve put a lot more time and effort into the green grass marketing strategy combined with more investment in local media.” Committed to Conejo Players and PGA officials alike want the PowerShares Championship to remain in the Conejo Valley, Bough said. The beauty of the golf club combined with a welcoming community make Thousand Oaks an ideal host for the event, likes of which the area has not seen since Tiger Woods held the last World Challenge tournament at Sherwood in 2013. “There are so many ways we can develop this into a must-attend event,” Bough said. “We’re really the largest event in Ventura County. When you think of it like that, there’s only room for growth and expansion.” In addition to affording features such as wine and food events, increasing revenues would enable the tournament to further its philanthropic impact on the region. The tournament has committed to donating proceeds to local charities regardless of whether or not it is profitable, but higher revenues would enable it to give even more, Bough said. “We’d love to see more businesses get involved,” he added. “That way, we can turn around and help more charities.” Businesses are eager to do just that, Lederer said. The community already views the PowerShares tournament as one of its own. “The wonderful staff of the PGA PowerShares Championship has worked seamlessly with the community and, in a short time, has become an integral part of our identity,” she said.

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