Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun

The 2019 installment of the desert's PGA Tour event will be one that will easily be remembered in hindsight. 

Remember that year it was so foggy? Yeah, 2019. 

Remember when Phil Mickelson almost went wire to wire? Yeah, 2019.

Remember that year it was called the Desert Classic? Yeah, 2019.

But I'm not going to wait around and recall this tournament wistfully. I'm looking back at it right now. Here are the 20 things, I'll remember most about the 2019 Desert Classic:

1. The final group in a three-way tie on the last hole. Can't do much better than that. Amazing gumption by Adam Long winning in his sixth PGA start. For context, it was Phil Mickelson's 596th. Side note: If you look up Adam Long in Wikipedia -- three Adam Longs come up and none of them are Adam Long the golfer. 

2. Mickelson will probably consider this one that got away, but it was nice to have him in contention at the desert event for which he is an ambassador. A 1-over seven-hole stretch on Sunday did him in, and he had agonizing near-makes on 17 and 18. But Mickelson added a lot of drama -- and some gallery -- by simply being in the mix Sunday.

3. I don't know if they call bridesmaids something different in Canada, but Adam Hadwin has to be frustrated at this tournament. The last four years he's finished tied for sixth, second, tied for third and tied for second. And this was his best chance to win. He led by three early on the back nine, but finished the final holes in 1-over. Ouch.

4. Oh, that fog! I've lived in the desert for 17 years now and have never seen fog like that. As we looked at the driving range at PGA West, you couldn't see the markers indicating 200 yards out. Then it dissipated a little and we could see hints of the homes across the range. Then it thickened again. An hour delay to start the event was ominous.

5. Maybe it was my fault, but the round in which I followed local product Charlie Reiter, he struggled. He seemed to let his frustration get the best of him during Thursday's round. So I was happy to see him storm back, including his somewhat historic 63 at PGA West on Saturday. Great job regrouping, and let's hope you're back again next year. You earned it.

6. It is not hyperbole to say that on the first tee as the final group teed of Sunday, Canadian Adam Hadwin received a louder cheer from the gallery than Phil Mickelson. Don't sleep on the Canadian fan base of the desert.

7. Defending champion Jon Rahm made a nice run, but missed too many makeable putts on his back nine Sunday to really scare the leaders. He finished at 21-under and tied for sixth.  

8. Flagsticks in. It was hard to get used to watching players putt with the flagstick in, but I enjoyed talking to golfer Aaron Wise about why he was trying out the new rule. He said it best: As the year goes on, either no one will do it, or everyone will if it's perceived to give an edge ...

9. ... Not Mickelson, though. He tried one putt with the flagstick in. He was scared to death that it would hit the flag and pop out, and said he'll never do it again.

10. Five players I learned about this week, that I'll be interested to follow moving forward: 1. Wyndham Clark, 2. Adam Long, 3. Abraham Ancer, 4. Talor Gooch, 5. J.T. Poston

11. Let's take a musical break. Another successful pair of concerts this year with Sammy Hagar on Friday and Bad Company on Saturday. They combined to have close to 20,000 spectators. The tournament's executive director Jeff Sanders has said he hopes to have three concerts next year, adding a Thursday show. 

12. So what other bands (within reason) would you like to see at next year's event? My three-day lineup idea is Jimmy Buffett, Hall and Oates and KISS. Though I may be shooting too high. (Note: My actual lineup preference would be Hall and Oates, Hall and Oates, and Hall and Oates.)

13. The one guy missing from the star-studded leader board was World No. 1 Justin Rose. He was steady but not spectacular, shooting rounds of 68, 68, 68 and 70 to finish at 14-under. Hope he comes back next year.

14. Shoutout to Dylan Frittelli of South Africa. He was the only golfer to respond with a "like" when I tweeted out my PGA Tour Name Game column which used the names of 91 golfers to tell a story. Especially thankful because in it I said Frittelli was a hot breakfast dish.

15. Was that roar for golf or football? As the three co-leaders stood over their putts on 17, a roar came from the crowd as Adam Long was about to putt. The roar was for the Rams' game-winning field goal. Long had to step back and regroup before putting. 

16. I really liked the feel of having all the Desert Classic signage around the course, with the palm trees and the like. It definitely felt more tied to our beloved little valley this year than during the Humana Challenge and CareerBuilder Challenge years. Here's hoping the new sponsor maintains those iconic desert images.

17. Super-talented young Korean player Sungjae Im was on the leader board Sunday and will be on a lot of PGA Tour leader boards for years to come. As I learned about him, I fell in love with the name of his hometown -- Jeju-Si, Jeju-Do South Korea.

18. Here's your bonkers statistic of the tournament. Steve Marino eagled a par-3, a par-4 and a par-5 this week. Hasn't happened in a tournament since 2011. But wait there's more ...

19. ... even bonkers-er. All of his eagles came on the seventh hole! He aced the par-3 seventh at La Quinta Country Club on Thursday. He eagled the par-5 seventh at Nicklaus Course on Friday and holed out from the fairway to eagle the par-4 seventh at the Stadium Course on Sunday. 

20. Another tournament in the books. Once the fog cleared, wow! It's going to be hard to bea this year's event for drama, big names and unusual occurrences. But there's always 2020. See you then. 

Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun

You couldn't blame the gallery at the Desert Classic presented by Workday on Sunday if they thought of Adam Long as nothing more than the other guy in the final pairing with Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin.

Mickelson, a Hall of Famer and immensely popular player in the desert, and Hadwin, a Canadian with plenty of support from valley snowbirds, drew huge cheers throughout the day.

But in the end, it was Long, playing just his sixth PGA Tour event, who outdueled the two crowd favorites to win his first PGA Tour title.

Long, a 31-year-old rookie, rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt on the final hole to cap a brilliant 7-under 65 on the Stadium Course at PGA West. That put him at 26-under 262 for the tournament, one shot ahead of Mickelson and Hadwin. Mickelson burned the low edge of the cup on the 18th with a 39-foot birdie attempt, while Hadwin was only able to get up and down from a bunker behind the green to make his par.

"I mean, I had nothing to lose. I was just out there having fun trying to hit fairways and greens and give myself looks for birdie and watching those guys," Long said. "It's fun to watch Phil play. I never have seen it up close like that, and it's a different game than mine, by a long stretch. But (I) just tried to focus on what I had to do and just was fortunate to make that putt there at the end."

Long's win was stunning not only  because it was just his sixth start on the PGA Tour and fifth start in the 2018-19 year, but because he had missed the cut in his previous three events this season and finished tied for 63rd in the Safeway Open in his only other start this year.

Mickelson, a two-time winner in the desert, stumbled to a final-round 69 but caught Hadwin and Long with a birdie on the 16th hole. Hadwin finished with a 67 but played the final seven holes in six pars and one bogey. It was Hadwin's fourth straight year in the top six in the tournament and second time as the runner-up.

Long, who has two rounds of 63 during the week at La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Tournament Course, made an early statement with birdies on the first two holes. He added a birdie on the ninth hole, but was still just 22-under, behind Hadwin at 25 under and Mickelson at 23 under.

Mickelson had started his day with a three-putt bogey on the first hole and he never improved much on the greens.

"I had a terrible putting day, one of the worst I can recall in a while," Mickelson said. "Started right on the first hole with a little 4-footer uphill and 3-putting that green there.

"And I missed a bunch of short ones on the front and some birdie opportunities, but it felt awful with the putter," Mickelson said. "I hit a lot of good shots today though but just couldn't get the ball to go in the hole."

Hadwin, looking for the breakthrough desert win, was flawless for 11 holes, with six birdies to take a three-shot lead over Mickelson at 26-under par. But Hadwin's game started to fray a bit, with the Canadian star missing a birdie putt on the 12th, missing the green on the way to a bogey at the 13th and missing another birdie chance on the 15th. It was another heartbreaking loss for Hadwin and the large Canadian population in the desert that pledges its loyalty to him from the first tee shot.

"It's like playing back in Canada, to be honest with you. Canadian Open, there's always that added pressure," Hadwin said. "You want to win in front of them. It would have been a special moment if I could have pulled it off but there's always next year, I guess."

Long made birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th to tie Hadwin at 25 under. But Hadwin and Long both flubbed chips on the par-5 16th, perhaps the only time during the week Long look like he was playing in his sixth PGA Tour event. Hadwin and Long made pars while Mickelson missed a 15-foot eagle putt that would have given him the lead outright.

When the trio parred the 18th hole, it set up the drama of the closing hole. Long missedthe fairway but recovered with a strong approach. Mickelson hit the fairway put couldn't get his iron close to the pin in the back of the green. Hadwin bounced through the green and into the bunker.

When Long's putt went in the hole, ther cheers from the gallery that have been for Mickelson and Hadwin before now belong the Duke University graduate.

 "It's pretty exciting. I mean I was, I wasn't even in the field for next week in San Diego, I was an alternate," Long said. "So we'll take it one week at a time, but, yeah, it's exciting and changes I want to say my life. But it changes my career for sure."

Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun

January in La Quinta. April in Madrid. September in Paris. December in the Bahamas.

The life of a jet-setting playboy? The agenda for a hard-driving corporate CEO?

In reality, it’s Jon Rahm, one of golf’s fastest-rising stars, living his dream of being a global golfer. 

Rahm’s three individual wins and his contributions to the victory by the European Ryder Cup team took the 24-year-old star to virtually every point on the compass in 2018, a winning journey that started in La Quinta at the Desert Classic.

“I've always wanted to be a global player,” said Rahm, who defends his Desert Classic title this week. “So I just feel like when I play the PGA Tour and then I go to Europe, it's kind of like a fresh start because it's a little different golf courses, different people, different type of golf in general. It's like hitting the reset button to the mind on the golf game.”

Not every golfer tries to juggle the demands of playing full-time schedules on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Of those who try, few have been as successful at it as Rahm.

In consecutive years, Rahm has won three individual events around the world, at least one on each of the tours each year. Toss in fourth-place finishes at the Masters and the PGA Championship, and It’s understandable how at just 24 Rahm is already a fixture in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

If Rahm’s rise in the golf world has been rapid, it has not been surprising for those who have paid attention to the Spanish star over the last five or six years.  The No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for a record 60 weeks, Rahm was a star at Arizona State under coach Tim Mickelson, who is now the caddie for his brother, Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson. Rahm’s time at Arizona State not only gave him a love for the American Southwest, but also a professional foundation through the Mickelson brothers.

“When I went on tour, being a Sun Devil alone and the relationship I had with Tim, (and) Phil and I played quite a bit together,” Rahm said. “So he kind of -- he really turned into my mentor, whether he wanted to or not. I guess that's what I was trying to do. He turned into a mentor and a friend, and we played a lot of practice rounds together. I tried to learn as much as possible from him.

“Knowing Phil, how he is, 25 years of experience, how much he studies every golf course, how much he studies the game of golf, there's a lot of things to learn from somebody like him, right, so I tried to play with him and soak up as much information as I can,” Rahm added.

Rahm turned pro in 2016, won the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego in January of 2017, won twice that year on the European Tour including the DP World Tour Championship, then won again at the Desert Classic in January 2018 in a four-hole playoff over Andrew Landry.

Rahm later won his home Open, the Open de Espana, in April, then beat Tiger Woods in singles in the Ryder Cup in September and capped 2018 with a win in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December, a tournament hosted by Woods. It is that singles win over Woods as part of Europe’s 17½-10½ win over the United States that stands out for Rahm.

“As a golfer, any time you get to play with your idol, or one of your idols, it's a great feeling, something that everybody looks forward to,” Rahm said. “But to get to do it on the Sunday of Ryder Cup, even though we had a big lead early on the Sunday, to actually win the first full point for Europe and see how everything turned around, I've got to say that's got to be -- I mean, that is the best golfing experience I've had in my life, and it's going to be hard to better it.”

Getting better, or at least continuing his trend upward in the golf world, begins for Rahm with the West Coast swing of the PGA Tour this year. That includes his title defense of the Desert Classic in the Coachella Valley in an area he loves and on courses he played when he was still at Arizona State.

Rahm was a part of the Sun Devil teams that played in the Prestige at PGA West college tournament, played one year at the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, now a Desert Classic course. Rahm also has a sponsorship relationship with Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, sporting the Bighorn logo on his bag around the world.

“Obviously, it's an event that I really want to win again. It was really important to me because it's not only a great event with a lot of history, with a legacy of a lot of great players, but it's one of those courses -- the Nicklaus course at PGA West is one of them that I played quite a few times as an amateur, an amateur event in Palm Springs every year,” Rahm said. “We stayed at La Quinta and we actually had a great time. It's world-class golf courses, a world-class venue that, like (2017 Desert Classic winner Hudson) Swafford said, the greens on those golf courses are probably the best all year, comparable to Augusta National.”

Rahm’s 2018 Desert Classic victory started with a 10-under 62 at La Quinta Country Club, and he was never far from the lead after that. He followed with a round of 67 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course then rounds of 70 and 67 at the Stadium Course, putting him in a playoff with Landry, who shot 68 on the final day. The playoff lasted four holes before Rahm claimed the title.

“There's nothing really bad to say about this event. Crowds are amazing, the atmosphere on 16, 17, 18 is great,” Rahm said. “I really hope I don't have to play 18 four more times this year. Hopefully, I can get it done before. It really is a great venue, and hopefully I can have as much fun as I did last year.”

“We had one of the more memorable conclusions in this event's history,” Pat McCabe, tournament director for the Desert Classic, said of Rahm’s playoff win. “Jon Rahm outlasted Andrew Landry, sinking a birdie putt on the fourth extra hole, and we're also thankful that he did, because we didn't want to come back the next day to keep going. I believe they didn't have a whole lot of light left.”

The Desert Classic will be part of a busy early season for Rahm on the PGA Tour, which started with the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago and will include the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

It will then be a season of back and forth between the PGA Tour and key events Rahm wants to play in Europe. But he’ll have to work all of those around a wedding date. Rahm announced last August that he and girlfriend Kelley Cahill are engaged, with the wedding coming sometime this year.

For now, Rahm is concentrating on trying to keep up the global nature of his game and the victory pace of the last two years.

“Two years in a row on tour that I've won three times worldwide, so if I can accomplish that again, it will be obviously a huge year,” Rahm said. “Winning (on) both tours again would be something amazing. First thing in mind is to defend my title in Palm Springs. That's the next thing I've got to do.”

Five things to know about Jon Rahm:
1.      Rahm is only the sixth Spanish player to win the Open de Espana on the European Tour and the first to win in since 2014. Seve Ballesteros is the only Spanish player to win the national Open twice.
2.      Rahm's 11 individual victories while playing at Arizona State are second in school history behind only the 16 wins by Phil Mickelson.
3.     In 2010, Rahm showed he was a potential star in the game by winning the Spanish Junior Boys Championship.
4.     In 2016, Rahm tied for 23rd in the U.S. Open at Oakmont Golf Course in Pennsylvania, making him the low amateur for the event.
5.     Rahm and his fiancée, Kelly Cahill, met while both were attending Arizona State. Cahill was an athlete as well, throwing the javelin for the Sun Devils.

Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun

Charlie Reiter will get a second chance at making his first PGA TOUR cut next month at the Desert Classic.
 
Reiter, who played in his first tour event at the 2018 Desert Classic while still a senior at Palm Desert High School, has been extended a second sponsor’s exemption for the tournament Jan. 17-20.
 
"It was pretty amazing just being able to play on the PGA TOUR. It's my dream," Reiter said. "I'm really grateful to be able to play again."
 
Now a freshman at USC, Reiter played well in the 2018 Desert Classic, opening with rounds of 68 and 70 while impressing tour pros with his length off the tee. Playing the week while his father was in the hospital, Reiter stumbled to a third-round 5-over 77 on the Stadium Course at PGA West to miss the 54-hole cut.
 
 “We always said this tournament represents the future of golf,” said Desert Classic executive director Jeff Sanders. “With Charlie going to USC now and playing college golf in Southern California and being from Southern California, this is just something we want to do.”
 
Reiter said the tournament had talked to him about playing again this year but he didn't get the phone call from Sanders confirming his invitation until a few days ago.
 
Sanders said he hopes a second start in a PGA TOUR event will be something that helps Reiter.
 
“We want to give the kid a chance to further his golf,” Sanders said. “These experiences the kids have, think about some of these kids who have had a chance to play in some of these events when they were in college, like Aaron Wise, Rickie Fowler, Sam Saunders, it seems like it has really helped them.”
 
At USC this year, Reiter has played four tournaments for the Trojans so far, with a scoring average of 71.58. His best individual finish in an event was a tie for sixth at the Fighting Illini Invitational.
 
"I've played in four tournaments and so everything is good," Reiter said. "Now I have to get ready for the spring (schedule)."
 
Just this week Reiter posted a 7-under 63 at The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta, setting an amateur course record at the venue.
 
"It's lust a little different. I have a little more experience," Reiter said of returning to the Desert Classic. "It should be a better week this year."
 
In addition to Reiter, the tournament has announced five past champions and one player who shares the tournament’s single-round scoring record are among the latest names committing to the desert’s PGA TOUR event next month.
 
Jason Dufner, the 2016 winner, and Jhonattan Vegas, the 2011 winner, will both return to the event in 2019. Also among the latest players to commit to the $5.9 million event are 2003 winner Mike Weir, 2007 winner Charley Hoffman and 2009 champion Pat Perez.
 
Adam Hadwin, the Canadian star who shot a 59 at La Quinta Country Club in the third round of the 2017 event and who played on the final threesome on Sunday in both 2016 and 2017, will also return to the desert. Other players to make commitments recently are tour winners Kevin Na and Kevin Kisner.
 
Those players join golfers who have previously committed to the event, including defending champion Jon Rahm, two-time tournament winner and tournament ambassador Phil Mickelson and two-time winner Bill Haas.
 
Top names also already in the field include Patrick Cantlay and past major championship winners Graeme McDowell and Charl Schwartzel.

The Desert Classic will be played Jan. 17-20 at La Quinta Country Club, the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and the Stadium Course at PGA West, all in La Quinta.
 

Tickets on sale November 8th and include admission to the PGA TOUR golf tournament and concerts for only $30
 
La Quinta, CA – The Desert Classic PGA TOUR golf event announced today that rock bands Sammy Hagar & The Circle and Bad Company will headline the 2019 Concert Series after golf on Friday and Saturday evenings on the driving range at PGA WEST following the golf tournament.
 
The Desert Classic PGA TOUR golf event and the Desert Classic Concert Series will again provide fans with a week-long, festival-style entertainment event, bringing together amazing music, great local food and the world’s best golfers – all on one stage. 
 
The Desert Classic will be played at the iconic PGA WEST Stadium, PGA WEST Nicklaus and La Quinta Country Club courses, January 17-20. Phil Mickelson, the 43-time PGA TOUR winner and World Golf Hall of Famer, will once again serve as tournament ambassador, competing against 155 of the best golfers in the world including defending champion Jon Rahm. 
 
Kicking off the concert series on Friday night will be Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and former Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar and his supergroup The Circle — featuring his longtime bassist Michael Anthony, the renowned bassist who’s played with him for the past 30 years in bands including Van Halen and Chickenfoot; Jason Bonham, the acclaimed drummer and son of Led Zeppelin’s iconic drummer, John Bonham; and Vic Johnson, Hagar’s longtime guitar virtuoso who seamlessly shreds through his own, as well as some of rock’s most iconic guitarist’s riffs.  The band takes fans on a musical journey through rock history with a set list spanning hits from Montrose, Sammy’s solo career, Van Halen and with Bonham on board, even a few Led Zeppelin classics.
 
Rock supergroup Bad Company with legendary singer/songwriter, Paul Rodgers, will take the stage on Saturday night performing their chart-topping hits Bad Company, Can’t Get Enough, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Shooting Star and many more. The band includes original drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Howard Leese and Todd Ronning on bass.
 
“We are excited to bring back our popular golf festival model again this year featuring exciting high energy music, great food, wine, beer, spirits, and world class PGA TOUR golf,” said Jeff Sanders, Executive Director of the Desert Classic and President of the Golf Event Division of Lagardère Sports, the global company that promotes and operates the event. “We are bringing back two nights of music for all to enjoy. The best way to have fun and cap off a great day at the Desert Classic is to rock’ to the hits performed by the legendary Sammy Hagar & The Circle on Friday and Bad Company on Saturday nights after golf.”
  
Daily tickets to the 60th Anniversary Desert Classic are only $30 and on sale now. All tickets include admission to the PGA TOUR golf tournament, Concert on the range after golf, the Vons Fan Pavilion on the 18th green, Casamigos Tequila Club 17 and Michelob Ultra Beers fore Birdies on the 16th green. There are no cover charges or upgraded tickets needed again this year for admission to the on-course hospitality venues or to attend the concerts.
 
For more event information and to buy tickets please visit Desert-Classic.com.

Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun

The desert’s PGA Tour event is bringing back a familiar name and an all-too-familiar situation: looking for a new title sponsor.

CareerBuilder, the title sponsor of the La Quinta-based tournament since 2016, is taking its name off the 2019 event. The 60-year-old tournament, to be played Jan. 17-20, will be renamed the Desert Classic, a throwback to when the event was called the Bob Hope Desert Classic from the 1960s to the 1980s.

With CareerBuilder’s departure, tournament officials say they now have a chance to find a new title sponsor that can help take the tournament to new heights.

“We are one great partner away from taking this event to the highest level it has been at in many, many years,” Jeff Sanders, the executive director of the event for tournament operator Lagardere Sports, told The Desert Sun in an exclusive interview. “The most important thing right now is to find that passionate title sponsor. Carefully make sure the title sponsor is committed, is all in and really excited about where this event can go.”

This marks the third time in 10 years the desert tournament has searched for a new title sponsor. Following Chrysler’s departure after the 2008 tournament, the event was played without a sponsor for three years. Humana agreed to an eight-year deal to sponsor the event starting in 2012 with the Clinton Foundation's involvement, but left after the 2015 tournament. CareerBuilder’s five-year deal started in 2016.

CareerBuilder is still contractually obligated to fund the 2019 tournament, meaning the event will still have a $5.9 million purse, will still be broadcast on Golf Channel all four days and will be able to fund its charitable donations which reached $1 million from the 2018 event. But Sanders sees a chance to start the search for what he calls the right sponsor for 2020 earlier than if CareerBuilder was still involved through the 2019 tournament.

“This opportunity came to us less than two weeks ago. I’ve had a number of conversations with clients of ours who spend money in golf,” Sanders said. “They understand the power of the business of golf. I have had fantastic response. I am not surprised. I don’t think that this property will be available very long.”

Sanders said CareerBuilder’s departure has nothing to do with the company’s displeasure with the tournament, but changes in CareerBuilder ownership. A Chicago-based online employment and human resources company, CareerBuilder was purchased in 2017 by a group led by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

“That private equity firm has made a decision to not continue, which by the way happens all the time. This isn’t that CareerBuilder doesn’t like this tournament,” Sanders said. “They were bought. And their new owner, as a private equity firm, does not need to have a golf tournament.”

While not common, PGA Tour events can be played without title sponsors for short periods of time. The Desert Classic went three years from 2009 through 2011 without a title sponsor, funded by its own reserves and supplemental funds from the PGA Tour.

In the 2017-18 tour season, events in Houston, Fort Worth and White Sulpher Springs, Va., were played without title sponsors. Tournaments can’t survive long without a title sponsor and the money they bring to an event, generally between $6 million to $10 million a year depending on the tournament.

Lagardere and the PGA Tour are already looking for that new sponsor for 2020, and Sanders has a profile of a sponsor in mind.

“Ideally, the perfect new title sponsor for the Desert Classic would be a company who is headquartered in Southern California, maybe Northern California or up and down the West Coast, with a couple of hour’s plane right down the corridor, where they could access this desert in January, start their year, look forward to starting their year here,” Sanders said.

While the Desert Classic doesn’t have the advantage of potential sponsors with corporate headquarters based in the Coachella Valley, like FedEx with the Memphis PGA Tour stop or Valero Energy with the San Antonio tournament, Sanders says there are attractions to the desert tournament to lure a corporation to the event as a sponsor.

“Selling a PGA Tour title sponsorship in some parts of the country would be extremely challenging,” Sanders said. “Here in La Quinta in January, with all the history here, the built-ins, the weather, the courses, I’m not going to say it’s easy, but once Corporate America knows this tournament is available for someone to come in, we’ll have a sponsor.

"A major corporation to come in and kick off their year with meetings and entertain their customers with this pro-am," he said. "There is no better experience on the PGA Tour than the pro-am here, where you can play for three days with six different PGA Tour players.”

Lagardere took over the tournament operations from tournament contract holder Desert Classic Charities for the 2018 tournament and quickly instituted changes including adding two concerts during the week by Huey Lewis and the News and Goo Goo Dolls. The tournament added hospitality areas for fans on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes of the host Stadium Course at PGA West and reduced ticket prices to an all-inclusive $30 per day. The result, Sanders says, was selling four times more tickets than from the previous year.

“Actually we are on an upswing, we are on an incline,” he said. “Everything about this new model is working. We just ran into a company where the title sponsor got purchased. And when that happens, change occurs.”

Sanders said hospitality areas will be expanded for 2019 and two concerts will be held on Friday and Saturday of tournament week. The concerts are expected to be announced next week. Other aspects of the tournament, including the three-course rotation, the pro-am format of 156 pros and 156 amateurs and the Stadium Course as the host course will remain the same in 2019.

Phil Mickelson, who has served as the tournament ambassador for the last two years, will reprise that role in 2019. Jon Rahm is the defending champion and has committed to defend his title.

“The tournament has never been stronger and has made tremendous strides over the past several years, notably by elevating the fan experience through the upgraded food and entertainment venues and the staging of concerts,” a statement from the PGA Tour said. “The Desert Classic has a long, proud history on the PGA Tour and remains a highlight of the schedule. While CareerBuilder has informed us that it no longer will sponsor the tournament, the tour, DCC and Lagardere Sports are working closely to secure a new title sponsor for 2020 and beyond and are fully confident that we will be successful.”

As for the Desert Classic name, the tournament was known as either the Bob Hope Desert Classic or the Bob Hope Classic from 1965 through 1985, with Chrysler’s name added to the title in 1986. The Challenge part of the title was added when Humana took over the title sponsorship role in 2012. Sanders said the tournament board is happy to bring the Desert Classic name back.

“That’s where the brand equity is. It’s where the legacy is,” Sanders said. “That’s where everything is. This is the Desert Classic. It’s sunny skies with palm trees around beautiful golf courses surrounded by mountains. This is the Desert Classic.”

PGA TOUR event will celebrate 60 years of giving back to local charities and its rich history in the Coachella Valley.
 
LA QUINTA, Calif. – The Desert Classic Charities Board of Directors and Executive Director Jeff Sanders of Lagardère Sports, announced today that the 2019 edition of the PGA TOUR event previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge will be returning January 14-20 in La Quinta, CA at PGA West as the ‘Desert Classic’. Now in its 60th year, this iconic PGA TOUR event is moving back to its original name to celebrate its long history in the Coachella Valley dating back to the late 1950s. 
 
“The Desert Classic is back and we are excited for the tremendous opportunity going forward to work with Desert Classic Charities and our strong team of sponsors and loyal volunteers building on the event’s success and rich history of giving back in the desert. The fan friendly entertainment model that was implemented over the last couple of years featuring great food and drink and live music after PGA TOUR golf will return by popular demand this year,” said Sanders. 
 
John Foster, President of the Desert Classic Charities Board of Directors added, “The Desert Classic has a phenomenal 60-year history as a major sporting event in the Coachella Valley stemming back to the days of the Bob Hope Desert Classic resulting in over 60 million dollars for local charities. We look forward to working with the Lagardère Sports team in securing a great new partner as our Title Sponsor and to another 60 wonderful years.”
 
The 2019 Desert Classic will continue to offer an enhanced fan experience by providing three amazing on-course fan venues, high energy concerts after golf on Friday and Saturday nights on the PGA WEST driving range and world class PGA TOUR golf headlined by tournament ambassador Phil Mickelson and defending champion Jon Rahm. Last year, these new additions resulted in both a fun atmosphere for the sponsors and fans and a dramatic increase in attendance.
 
In 2018, the tournament had one of its strongest player fields in years featuring Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Brant Snedeker, John Daly and more. Following the golf on Friday and Saturday nights were concerts by Huey Lewis and the News and Goo Goo Dolls drawing upwards of 10,000 people for the concerts alone. The bands performing at this year’s event will be announced on November 8th.
 
“There is no better place on the PGA TOUR to host an event than La Quinta, California under sunny skies to start every year in January,” said Sanders. “The weather is normally the best in the country, the entertainment value with the golf and music is the most attractive and affordable on the PGA TOUR and the long history of great PGA TOUR golf and giving back to the local community with proceeds going to children’s charities in the Coachella Valley makes the Desert Classic a can’t miss event.” 
 
Tickets for the 2019 Desert Classic will go on sale on November 8th, the same day that the music acts for this year’s two-night concert series will be announced. Daily tickets are only $30 and include admission to enjoy PGA TOUR golf, three on-course hospitality venues including the Vons Pavilion behind the 18th green, Casamigos Tequila Club 17, Beers fore Birdies on the 16th green and concerts on the driving range after golf on Friday and Saturday night. There are no cover charges or upgraded tickets needed for admission to the on-course hospitality venues or to attend the concerts. 
 
For more event information and to buy tickets visit Desert-Classic.com.
 
PGA TOUR statement on CareerBuilder
 
The PGA TOUR and Desert Classic Charities (DCC) are excited about the 2019 Desert Classic, which is quickly approaching and promises to be another exceptional experience for players and fans alike.  The tournament has never been stronger and has made tremendous strides over the past several years, notably by elevating the fan experience through the upgraded food and entertainment venues and the staging of concerts.
 
The Desert Classic has a long, proud history on the PGA TOUR and remains a highlight of the schedule. While CareerBuilder has informed us that it no longer will sponsor the tournament, the TOUR, DCC and Lagardère Sports are working closely together to secure a new title sponsor for 2020 and beyond and are fully confident that we will be successful.
 
We appreciate CareerBuilder’s contributions to the tournament over the past three years.

Jon Rahm had to beat the darkness, Andrew Landry and his own missed opportunities Sunday, but in the end the world's No. 3 player had a championship in the desert.

With the sun already behind the Santa Rosa Mountains and a Monday finish looming as a real possibility, Rahm rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole, then watched as Landry missed from the same distance from the other side of the hole on the 18th green at the Stadium Course at PGA West.

“Darkness was never on my mind. It was not until after I made (the winning putt) where I realized how dark it got quick,” Rahm said. “And I know in Palm Springs it gets dark. In a matter of 10, 20 minutes you can't see. So that's when I first realized it, but I really, it really didn't play a part of making me any more nervous or tense than what I was.”

Rahm said if needed he would have wanted to play a fifth hole Sunday at dusk rather than come back to the course Monday.

The victory is Rahm’s second on the tour, coming one week before he defends his title at the Farmer Insurance Open in San Diego.

“I love California. I get a good vibe. What can I say,” Rahm said.

Rahm, who turned 23 in November, is the second-youngest winner of the tournament behind Jack Nicklaus, who won the tournament in 1963 just 13 days after his 23rd birthday. Sunday was Nicklaus’ 78th birthday.

The victory also guarantees the Spanish star will move to the No. 2 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings on Monday, vaulting ahead of Jordan Spieth. That’s a spot Rahm cherishes.

“To think of being No. 2 in the world, it's hard to believe. You dream of doing those things, you want to do them, you believe in yourself, but to get to where only Seve (Ballesteros), Ollie (Jose Maria Olzabal) and Sergio (Garcia) have gotten, coming out of Spain, and now me, at the age of 23 it's, to me it's beyond belief,” Rahm said. “It's a huge accomplishment not only for me but for Spain.”

Rahm and Landry finished regulation at 22-under par, with Landry shooting 70 on the day and Rahm firing a 67. Two shots back were Adam Hadwin, John Huh and Martin Piller. Hadwin shot 68 on Sunday, Huh fired a 66 and Piller shot 70.

Both players wasted plenty of chances in the closing holes and in the playoff to win the event. Rahm managed a round without a bogey, but he also only parred all five par-5s on the Stadium Course after playing the 12 par-5s in the first three rounds with 11 birdies and one eagle.

Rahm’s shots seemed to touch the holes several times during the day, including a chip on the 11th hole and an 11-foot birdie putt that lipped out on the 16th hole. He missed another 11-footer on the 18th hole that could have won the tournament in regulation.

Landry had five birdies and just one bogey on the day, but could have passed Rahm late in regulation. The 30-year-old Landry, looking for his first win on the tour, missed a 9-foot birdie on the 16th hole that could have tied him for the lead, and then missed a 14-footer in the 17th hole.

But on the 18th hole, after a drive into the right rough, Landry coaxed an 11-foot putt into the hole for a birdie to force the 21st playoff in the tournament’s 59-year history.

“You’ve got to give props and congrats to Andrew,” Rahm said. ”That was outstanding to play the way he did. To birdie 18 out of the rough, having to birdie to tie and go in a playoff. And then on the playoff hitting right after me every single time and hit the fairway and the green right after me, it's really hard to do, it's not easy. The pressure was on him 80 percent of the time in that playoff. So props to him and congrats, and I hope he wins soon this year.”

The playoff saw more missed opportunities, with Rahm missing a 12-footer to win on the first playoff hole and Landry missing from 10 feet on the second playoff hole.

“After Andrew missed (on the first playoff hole), I was really confident I was going to make that putt. I knew the break, I knew the speed,” Rahm said. “Maybe the nerves got the best of me and I pulled it a little.”

After relatively routine pars on the third playoff hole, the duo returned to the par-4 18th. After two solid drives and approach shots, Rahm finally made a putt from 12 feet for a birdie. Landry, one inch closer, couldn’t get his putt to fall, and Rahm had his second PGA Tour win just one week before defending his title at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

“This was a weird pin location. I felt like it was hard for those balls to break and I read it perfectly the first time and the next two times we had the exact same yardage, exact same putt right there,” Landry said of the 18th hole. “So just hit it a little too firm and tried to take some of the break out and it actually just kind of stayed high. So it was a good week and we'll go next week.”

Rahm and Landry were two of the only players to stay near the top of the leaderboard throughout the day. Third-round leader Austin Cook double bogeyed the fifth hole and made bogey on the sixth hole to fall out of contention. Piller bogeyed three of his first 10 holes before rallying to tie for third, Scott Piercy’s four bogeys in his first 13 holes killed his chances at a win.

Jason Kokrak, in contention late, found water on the par-3 17th for a bogey and then double bogeyed the 18th.

That left it to Rahm and Landry to decide a winner, a winner that didn’t seem to want to step up in the playoff.

“I was really aware that it was going to be probably the last hole that we were going to play today, and I did not want to come back the next day and play it,” Rahm said of the last playoff hole.

“I was really glad I had the opportunity to putt first,” Rahm added. “I wanted to putt first because I felt something in me, I saw the break, I knew it was outside the left edge, I just trusted myself, trusted my stroke and hit a perfect -- actually a little bit below perfect speed and caught the lip and went in.”

Written by Larry Bohannan posted by The Desert Sun:  https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/careerbuilder/2018/01/21/jon-rahm-beats-field-and-darkness-win-careerbuilder-challenge-title/1051921001/

Debbie and Garry Wear sat inside the new Vons Pavilion tent sipping on their Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon as the Bob Hope Legacy Pro-am wrapped up on Wednesday at the PGA West Stadium course in La Quinta.

“It’s nice watching them come in and play. The view is beautiful,” gushed Debbie Wear.

If they had been sitting in that spot a year ago, the La Quinta residents would have had to pay a premium ticket to get inside what was then known as the Bob Hope hospitality suite.

This year the tent has been replaced by the Vons Fan Pavilion and as the tent says at its entrance, it's "Open to all spectators.”

There is no premium ticket to gain access to the 8,000-square-foot hospitality and viewing area. Sure, guests have to pay for their food and drink, but they don’t have to pay for the ambiance and outdoor deck with stadium seating that provides an unencumbered and spectacular view of the 18th hole.

The new tent is one of several changes to the CareerBuilder Challenge this year as the tournament, in its 59th year, looks to heighten the fan experience and appeal to more non-golfers and locals.

All fans also will have access to the 17th Green Casamigos Club 17, an open-air venue serving up drinks at the par-3 17th hole known as Alcatraz.

“We like the fact that you can come in here and it’s air conditioned and you have options for lunch,” said Garry Wear of the Vons tent.

Debbie Wear was quite fond of the “big tostada” salad she got from Las Casuela Quinta. The Chop House at Jackalope Ranch and Jackalope Ranch also had booths there serving up everything from filet mignon and lobster sliders to a 16-hour smoked barbecue pulled pork sandwich.

Tent sponsor Vons also has their Signature Cafe there with breakfast and lunch options, which is operated by very energetic and reassuring employees who let golf fans know: “If you’re hungry for a good sandwich you’ve come to the right place.” 

Drink options also abound.  A decent-sized bar sits in the middle of the tent serving up cocktails and beer.

And on one side of the tent are various branded booths from High West Distillery, Casamigos Tequila, Grey Goose, Bacardi, Golden Road Brewing, Caymus Vineyards, William Hill Estate Winery and Rodney Strong Vineyards.  So if you’re in the mood for an Old Fashioned Modern or a Mint Julep, head to the High West Distillery booth.  If it’s a smooth Chardonnay that appeals to you, head to Rodney Strong. High-top tables provide a place to sit down and enjoy.

Jan and Kathy Groso from Oregon think the new tent will help the fan experience, whether you take advantage of the food and drink options or not. The $30 day pass also helps.

“They are trying to get more people which is a good idea,” said Jan.  “If you want to have lunch at home and pay $30 for the day ... you can stay here from the time it opens to the time it closes. Where else are you going to do something for $30 and see professional athletes? I think it’s a good deal.”

Such a good deal it makes Kathy wonder what the tent will look like on Saturday and Sunday when the tournament is in full swing.

“It’s going to get super crowded. It will be interesting to see Sunday,” she said.

Inside the new tent there is also a huge screen that broadcasts the golf, but also various smaller TVs all across that can be tuned in to various other sports, including the two NFL playoff games on Sunday that decide the Super Bowl.

Wayne Panzica, a seasonal La Quinta resident who was checking out the new tent on Wednesday, said having those extra TVs will be huge for the sports fans.

“The two playoff games, those are huge games. You can do both,” he said of watching the game but also keep an eye on the golf.

Panzica is also a big fan of the concerts that premiered last year with Fitz and the Tantrums.  This year the tournament has Huey Lewis and the News performing Friday with the Goo Goo Dolls on Saturday. The concerts are included in the price of the general day pass.

“It’s not a good deal, it’s a great deal,” said Panzica who has been to other golf tournaments where the concerts cost extra.

He thinks the new tent will be a hit with guests. It’s especially nice, he said, to have an air-conditioned place to watch the golf when it gets too hot outside. He does have one suggestions on how to attract more locals though – increase the celebrity factor with maybe Justin Timberlake.

“It’s awesome. I think this will definitely help. But they have to get celebrities. Even just one big name,” said Panzica.

Written by Xochitl Pena posted by The Desert Sun:  http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/careerbuilder/2018/01/17/vons-fan-pavilion-offers-careerbuilder-challenge-access-great-food-drinks-and-views-free/1040802001/

Charlie Reiter has been chalking up plenty of personal firsts in his golf career in the last 12 months. Next month the Palm Desert High School senior will do something even he wasn’t expecting yet – playing in his first PGA Tour event.

“Just like bewildered,” Reiter said of the news that the PGA Tour’s CareerBuilder Challenge has extended him one of the La Quinta event’s eight sponsor’s exemptions. “I couldn’t believe it.”
 
The CareerBuilder will be the 18-year-old Reiter’s second start in a professional event in three months. Reiter played in the Emirates Australian Open in Sydney over Thanksgiving weekend, making the cut and finishing tied for 65th. This time, Reiter won’t have to travel halfway around the world to play against top professional players like Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed or Jon Rahm.
 
Reiter will also be setting a precedent in the CareerBuilder, becoming the first amateur to receive an exemption into the professional division of the tournament in the event’s 59-year history.
 
“The tournament believes in supporting the local community in any way we can,” said Jeff Sanders, executive director of the CareerBuilder Challenge. “Charlie Reiter is a special player. He’s done some amazing things at a young age, including his performance at the Australian Open. We want to be part of him getting a start in his own backyard.”

Sanders said the tournament had to get approval from the PGA Tour to give a berth in the 156-player professional field to an amateur, and the tour granted the request.
 
"I just want to thank Jeff Sanders and (the tournament) for getting me in the event, in my hometown, my hometown tournament," Reiter said.
 
An amateur playing in a PGA Tour event, while not common, is not unheard of. Mickelson, the tournament ambassador for the CareerBuilder Challenge and a World Golf Hall of Famer, won the PGA Tour’s 1991 Northern Telecom Open in Tucson, Ariz. while still playing college golf at Arizona State. Mickelson is the most recent of six amateurs to have won on the PGA Tour.

The week after the CareerBuilder Challenge, University of Oregon sophomore Norman Xiong will compete in the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego on a sponsor’s invitation.

Reiter’s play has drawn comparison to the best golfers who ever played high school golf in the desert, including La Quinta High School’s Anthony Kim, who won the CIF-Southern Section title in 2001 and went on to win three PGA Tour events. As a sophomore in 2016, Reiter won the CIF-SCGA individual title, in essence the high school championship for the southern half of California, then finished fourth in the CIF state tournament. This year Reiter, known for his power off the tee that produces PGA Tour-caliber drives well over 300 yards, led the Palm Desert team to its first appearance in the state team championship.

Reiter, currently ranked 39th among junior boys in the country in the latest Golfweek magazine rankings, also played in the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur national championships in 2017 despite battling a sore back, before playing in the Australian Open. The Australian berth came from Reiter winning a junior tournament in San Diego in December of 2016, so he knew a year in advance he was in that field. This time Reiter has just three weeks to prepare for the CareerBuilder event, Jan. 18-21 at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club.

“It was good kind of getting the feel with it, playing with pros,” Reiter said of his Australian Open start. “It shouldn’t feel any different here, really. It should be really fun with the amateurs up at Bighorn (Golf Club in Palm Desert) who supported me.”

More: Scott McCarron, Charlie Reiter, Tyler Crawford head list of top desert golfers in 2017
Reiter said he first heard about the possibility of a CareerBuilder exemption while playing in the recent pro-scratch tournament at The Plantation Country Club in Indio, an annual event that draws some PGA Tour players as well as local pros and top amateurs.
“Chris Evans last year, who worked in the bag round at the Plantation, won that pro-scratch and we gave him an exemption,” Sanders said. “And he put his spot to good use, making $14,000, which helped him in his career.”

Reiter is familiar with the courses at PGA West in the CareerBuilder tournament, the Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course, having won his age group in the Golf Channel Amateur Tour when he was 10. He said he doesn’t know much about La Quinta Country Club but can learn about the course in the next three weeks.

Reiter said between now and the tournament he will just work hard on his game.

“Probably just dialing in my game, getting everything to where I’m comfortable to performance at where I should be at,” he said. “It’s going to be a little different. But I just want to keep the same mentality. Just keep it fun, but I want to play well.”

La Quinta, CA – Local high school star Charlie Reiter has received a sponsor exemption to compete in next month’s CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta. Reiter, who is committed to play golf next year for the University of Southern California, will compete as an amateur in order to maintain his collegiate eligibility.
 
Reiter is currently a senior at Palm Desert High School and made headlines recently when, at just age 17, he was one of just four Americans to make the cut at the Australian Open in November. As a junior, Reiter won the CIF/SCGA Southern California Regional Championship earning him a spot in the California State High School Championship where he went on to finish in 14th place. He also led his high school team to their first ever CIF state tournament where they finished in 6th place this past spring. 
 
Reiter qualified to play in the US Amateur Championship and US Junior Amateur Championship and is currently ranked 39th on the Golfweek Junior Amateur rankings. He has won 86 amateur and junior tournaments.
 
“We were very impressed by Charlie’s play recently making the cut at age 17 in the Australian Open. His game held up against some of the top players in the world including Jordan Spieth,” said Jeff Sanders, CareerBuilder Challenge Executive Director. “Charlie is a very special player with local ties to the Coachella Valley making him the perfect pick. We hope the local community will come out and support him in a big way!”
 
“Thank you to Desert Classic Charities and CareerBuilder for inviting me to play in my first PGA TOUR event,” said Reiter. “I am very grateful for the opportunity and excited to compete against the top players on the PGA TOUR in front of my friends, family and all the golf fans in the desert.”  
 
Charlie will join a very strong field with Major Champions, Masters Champions and PGA TOUR winners including Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, John Daly, Patrick Reed, Mike Weir, John Rahm, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas, Jason Dufner and many others.
 
Daily tickets to the CareerBuilder Challenge are only $30 and include admission to the golf tournament, Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, and three on course greenside hospitality venues including the all-new 8,000 square foot Vons Fan Pavilion located on the 18th green.
 
The CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by the H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation features two nights of rock and roll music with the popular Huey Lewis and the News on Friday January 19th, followed by Goo Goo Dolls on Saturday after golf. The Concerts will be held on the driving range at PGA WEST Stadium Course and are expected to start at 4:30 PM on Friday and Saturday.
 
For more information on the CareerBuilder Challenge and CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and to purchase tickets, please visit www.CBChallenge.com.

The golf tournament that built a hospital.

For years that was the way many people looked at what was called the Bob Hope Desert Classic, now the CareerBuilder Challenge.

Proceeds from the golf tournament helped with the very beginnings of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage in the 1960s, and for years the tournament delivered $1 million a year to the hospital that was built on land donated by Bob Hope himself. But as the tournament nears its 59th playing in January, that golf tournament’s charity identification is changing again.

The money for Eisenhower Medical Center was a big connection for the tournament to the desert community for decades. But as the tournament has seen its charitable contributions fall in the last decade, first because of the loss of Chrysler as a sponsor and then as an arrangement with the Clinton Foundation decreased local charity giving, Eisenhower Medical Center saw less and less money from the event.

Instead, the tournament continued to distribute money to about 40 local charities. Those charities ranged from Boys and Girls Clubs to addiction and recovery centers to senior services.

As more and more PGA Tour events focus their charitable giving to a single recipient (think St. Jude’s for the Memphis tournament or the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies for the Arnold Palmer Invitational), it was the charity that gave an identity to the tournament.
 
That has been missing at the CareerBuilder Challenge for a few years with Eisenhower increasingly out of the picture. So Desert Classic Charities and new tournament operator Lagardere Sports are pushing for a new identity staring next month.

“This year we have made a change,” said tournament executive director Jeff Sanders at the event’s media day this week at PGA West. “We are going to focus on kids in the Coachella Valley. So children’s charities are the focal point of the giving for the first time. We have a little theme we are working on called Golf Fore Kids.  And so that’s our focus right now.”

The hope is that the CareerBuilder can now be recognized for a single charitable concept, rather than the wide net the event has been casting in the last few years. Yes, it means that some charities that have been getting money from the tournament will not receive the $20,000 or $25,000 next year. You hope that charities find a way to make up the void.

But focusing on children also dovetails with the Phil and Amy Mickelson Charitable Foundation.  Phil Mickelson is the tournament’s ambassador and two-time desert winner as well as a World Golf Hall of Famer. The foundation focused its interest primarily on supporting a variety of youth and family initiatives.

For all of the issues the tournament has had in recent years trying to keep charitable donations at the level they were 10 years ago, the event is still approaching $60 million in donations since the event began in 1960.

“That’s a lot of money. That’s an unbelievable amount of money,” Sanders said. “Most tournaments don’t last five or six years, let alone 60. It’s been a wonderful way to give back here in the community, to have a golf tournament like this.”

Of course, how much those charities receive is the challenge behind the changes coming to the tournament this year, with concerts, new hospitality venues and a focus on an overall fan experience, not just on golf. The more people who buy tickets, the more money that goes to charity.

“At the end of the day, we want to increase our charitable donations from the tournament year after year,” Sanders said. “And we plan to do that.”
 
Written by Larry Bohannan, posted by The Desert Sun:  http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/careerbuilder/2017/12/16/careerbuilder-challenge-golf-tournament-changes-charity-focus-children/957497001/

La Quinta, Calif. – Desert Classic Charities, the charitable entity that has operated the Coachella Valley’s PGA TOUR event since its inception in 1960, has reached an agreement with the PGA TOUR and Lagardère Sports for the global sports agency to manage all aspects of the CareerBuilder Challenge PGA TOUR event. The Board of Directors at Desert Classic Charities will continue to oversee the charitable donations made to local non-profits from the proceeds of the tournament.

The event will be managed by the Lagardère Sports Golf Events division, which has a successful track record of growing and adding value to professional golf tournaments. Along with this new role with the CareerBuilder Challenge, Lagardère Sports also manages the Safeway Open PGA TOUR event in Napa, Calif., and a series of Web.com Tour and charity golf tournaments. The agency has been successful at increasing charitable contributions for its tournaments, including generating $125 million for charity through its golf events over the past 28 years.
 
Lagardère Sports previously served as management consultant firm for the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge and brought 42-time PGA TOUR champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson on board as Tournament Ambassador. Mickelson will continue his role as Ambassador, and expand his involvement in the 2018 event. Jeff Sanders, Executive Vice President of Golf Events at Lagardère Sports, will be the new Executive Director of the CareerBuilder Challenge. Sanders also serves as the Executive Director of the Safeway Open.
 
“We are honored to be named the management company for the CareerBuilder Challenge and look forward to taking an active role in the future of this iconic event by working together with the team at Desert Classic Charities and the PGA TOUR,” Sanders said. “As a former Bob Hope Desert Classic PGA TOUR participant, and resident of La Quinta, this is a dream come true for me. We look forward to implementing our golf entertainment model at PGA WEST, and enhancing the tournament experience for the fans, players, sponsors, and volunteers.”
 
The 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge will be played January 17-21 in La Quinta. A field of 156 amateurs and 156 PGA TOUR professionals will tee it up on three courses – the Stadium and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST, and La Quinta Country Club.  Tickets to the tournament will be available in October. For more information, please visit www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com.
 
Written by Blake Arthur, posted by KESQ: 
http://www.kesq.com/sports/lagardre-sports-focused-on-fun-for-everyone-at-careerbuilder-challenge/673078688

For Hudson Swafford, winning the CareerBuilder Challenge last January gave him the coveted invitation to the Masters. But Swafford is looking forward to another perk of the CareerBuilder title.

"Everybody says with your first win, you look forward to Augusta,” Swafford said via teleconference Wednesday at media day for the CareerBuilder event. “But everyone that has won multiple times always looks forward to going back to Maui (the Tournament of Champions).”

Swafford will play in the Tournament of Champions for the first time the first week of January, just two weeks before he returns to La Quinta to defend a title for the first time in his five-year PGA Tour career. Swafford will be one of 156 pros teams with 156 amateurs during the four-day, $5.9 million event Jan. 18-21 on three desert courses.

Swafford’s first tour win, a one-shot victory over Adam Hadwin in the rare rainy conditions of the 2017 tournament, did earn him the Masters start as well as starts in other tournaments. The 500 FedEx Cup points Swafford earned in La Quinta helped him make a run to the third leg of the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs. But it is becoming a winner on the tour that was the highlight of his year.

“It was incredible. It was an incredible experience,” Swafford said. “Birdieing three of the last four down the stretch, it was kind of a surreal finish. A dream come true kind of deal.”

Swafford will be joined in the field by tournament ambassador and two-time CareerBuilder winner Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm, the No. 4 player on the official World Golf Rankings. On Wednesday tournament officials announced that 2015 winner Jason Dufner has committed to the field, and that the tournament has extended three of its eight sponsor’s exemptions. Those go to two-time major winner and now PGA Tour Champions player John Daly, tour rookie Maverick McNealy and 2003 CareerBuilder and Masters winner Mike Weir.

Daly has a long history in the tournament, dating back to his debut in 1992. Weir is not only a past champion of the event but also is a member at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells as well as being popular with Canadian fans. McNealy is a first-year pro who was the No. 1 amateur in the world during his time at Stanford and whose parents own a home in the desert.

Other players already announced include past champions in the desert Bill Haas, Chad Campbell, Jhonattan Vegas, Mark Wilson and D.J. Trahan, major championship winners Angel Cabrera and Lee Janzen and past Ryder Cup players Kevin Chappell and Brant Snedeker.

Tournament executive director Jeff Sanders said the tournament is on schedule to debut its new tournament model including golf, concerts on Friday and Saturday, no upgraded tickets for any hospitality area and more. The new initiatives are designed to bring more people from the desert to the golf course.“We are going to have some fun. We are going to bring everyone in.

We are going to treat everyone like a sponsor,” Sanders said. “We got rid of all cover charges, wrist bands, all of that. It’s gone. This event is for everyone.

“It’s very important that we bring the community back in a big, big way to the golf tournament,” he added.

Sanders added that the event will still focus on the top players in the world, but will offer more to attract casual or non-golf fans. That includes the concerts featuring Huey Lewis and the News and The Goo Goo Dolls.

“The idea here is to go to the tournament, watch your favorite player, end up going to one of the greenside venues and then stick around for the music,” Sanders said. “So our focus here again is fun, make a day out of it and let’s hope we have a lot more people here.”

Written by Larry Bohannan, posted by The Desert Sun:  http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/careerbuilder/2017/12/13/hudson-swafford-relishes-perks-came-careerbuilder-win/950619001/

Three new on-course, open-to-everyone hospitality venues, offering four-star food and drink from favorite local restaurants.

Two après-golf concerts of 1980s rock and sing-along chart-toppers from the Goo Goo Dolls and Huey Lewis and the News.

And aggressive budget-friendly ticket pricing.

These and other enhancements of the fan experience signal that the CareerBuilder Challenge is undergoing a makeover for 2018 — one that Jeff Sanders, the tournament’s new executive director, hopes will have patrons applauding.

Different, figures Sanders, is what it takes for the PGA Tour’s annual visit to the greater Palm Springs area to thrive in today’s ultra-competitive sports and entertainment marketplace.

“There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a great golf event here in January,” says Sanders, a La Quinta resident whose company, Lagardère Sports, took over management of all tournament operations last September, “with the best weather in the country, three photogenic courses, and 156 of the world’s best golfers.”

The history of the CareerBuilder Challenge stretches back to 1960, when Arnold Palmer won the inaugural Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic at Tamarisk Country Club. Sanders himself played what was then called the Bob Hope Desert Classic during his own stint as a journeyman Tour pro. (His “NO WINS” license plate told the story of his struggles.)

“But if you’re not a major,” Sanders admits, “or leading into a major or a World Golf Championship event with international stature, how do make your event work?”

The Lagardère model, based on running 300 tournaments over the past three decades, including the tremendously successful Safeway Open in Napa as well as several Web.com Tour events, is focused on providing ticket buyers with a cool four-day “golf festival” within the setting of a 72-hole stroke-play competition.

“Here in the desert, you had the ‘Bob Hope and his celebrity friends’ model, then kind of no model, and now there’s our entertainment model, our festival model,” Sanders says. “So we think the answer to my question is: You make it work by what you’re seeing here.”

What you’ll see is specifically intended for the Coachella Valley’s demographic – the average age of ticket buyers at last year’s Challenge, for example, was 60.

This year, the targeted enhancements of the fan experience start at the gate, with an all-inclusive daily ticket priced at $30. No add-on cover charges, no pricey upgrades. For thirty bucks, you’re on the course and into the inviting new hospitality venues.

You’ll find those venues at the PGA West Stadium course, where the final-round action unfolds.

There’s the 8,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor Vons Fan Pavilion behind the 18th green. It will feature food and drink from favorite local eateries like Las Casuelas La Quinta and Chophouse at the Jackalope Ranch. (FYI, the weekend football games will, of course, be shown on multiple screens throughout the pavilion.)

Then there’s the Michelob Ultra Beers Fore Birdies outpost. Overlooking the 16th green and the tee box of 17, it will serve up half-price beer every time a Tour pro birdies – or, of course, aces – “Alcatraz,” which is what the par-3 17th, with its island green, is nicknamed.

And finally, there’s the Casamigos Club 17, located greenside at the 17th, where Casamigos Tequila cocktails will be the featured tipple.

As for what marking director Ryan Fowler quips is “the rock that rolls the golf,” there’s Huey Lewis and the News (“The Power of Love,” “Heart of Rock and Roll”) on Jan. 19, and the following day, the Goo Goo Dolls, whose stadium-anthem hits include “Iris,” named by Billboard as the biggest pop radio ballad of the last 20 years.

Meanwhile, don’t forget, there’ll be lots of great golf to watch. This year’s field, which Sanders hints may include a couple of last-minute major names, is headed by tournament ambassador Phil Mickleson, whose local roots are at the Madison Club. Three entrants have already won in this wraparound 2017-18 PGA Tour season: Brendan Steele (Safeway Open), Ryan Armour (Sanderson Farms Championship), and Patton Kizzire (OHL Classic at Mayakoba).

“Here in the desert, you had the ‘Bob Hope and his celebrity friends’ model, then kind of no model, and now there’s our entertainment model, our festival model. So we think the answer to my question is: You make it work by what you’re seeing here.”
-Jeff Sanders, executive director, Careerbuilder Challenge

Plus there’s a fivesome with top-25 world rankings: Jon Rahm (4), Paul Casey (14), Patrick Reed (21), Kevin Kisner (25), and Xander Schauffle (24), who was the Tour’s Rookie of the Year for 2016-17. Also among the younger-guns, Sam Saunders: Arnold Palmer’s grandson will be hoping to improve on last year’s missed cut, as he returns to an event the King did more than any other golfer to champion.

With the dawning of a new year, an exciting new chapter looks to be opening for a desert mainstay with a storied six-decades’ tradition to build on.

“At the point of change,” reflects Sanders, “there’s a one-time opportunity to improve. And we’re going to make the most of that opportunity, I guarantee you.”

Written by Thomas Meagher, posted by Palm Springs Life:  https://www.palmspringslife.com/careerbuilder-challenge-enhances-fan-experience/

Jon Rahm, the fourth-ranked player in the world, is among the golfers making early commitments to the CareerBuilder Challenge to be played in January.

Rahm and tournament ambassador Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of the event, are among the biggest names to make the commitment to the PGA Tour event, which will celebrate its 59th year in the desert. They are also two of the five players currently in the top 50 in the world committed to the event.

Rahm, from Spain and who played his college golf at Arizona State, represents Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert on tour. Rahm won on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour in 2017.

Other notable names on the early list are defending champion Hudson Swafford, who earned his first PGA Tour victory in the tournament last January. Two-time CareerBuilder winner Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker and Patton Kizzire, who won his first tour event three weeks ago at the OHL Classic in Mexico, are also in the field.

Past champions of the tournament making early commitments include Chad Campbell, Jhonattan Vegas and Mark Wilson.

Major champions in the field already include Angel Cabrera, a winner of the Masters and the U.S. Open, and two-time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen. Kevin Chappell, who played on his first Ryder Cup team for the United States this year, is also in the field.

Other players who have won PGA Tour events committed to the event include Ryan Armour and Austin Cook, who like Kizzire have won during the Fall Series on the tour this season, Bryson DeChambeau, Ken Duke, Matt Jones, Martin Laird, Hunter Mahan, John Merrick

The tournament will be played Jan. 18-21 at three courses, the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses at PGA West in La Quinta and La Quinta Country Club. The tournament will also feature driving range concerts by Huey Lewis and the News and the Goo Goo Dolls.
 
CareerBuilder Challenge
When: Jan. 17-21
Where: Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, La Quinta Country Club
Defending champion: Hudson Swafford
Television: Golf Channel
Tickets, information: careerbuilderchallenge.com

Written by Larry Bohannan, posted by The Desert Sun:  https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/careerbuilder/2017/11/30/jon-rahm-phil-mickelson-head-early-list-careerbuilder-golfers/911568001/

TWO-TIME CHAMPION AND WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAMER PHIL MICKELSON RETURNS AS TOURNAMENT AMBASSADOR AND COMPETITOR; POST-ROUND CONCERT SCHEDULE EXPANDS TO FRIDAY AND SATURDAY FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION OF PLAY; FANS CAN SAVE UP TO $25 BY PURCHASING TICKETS BY JAN. 14 AT WWW.CAREERBUILDERCHALLENGE.COM

The 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge announced that tickets are on sale to the public for the 59th edition of the Coachella Valley’s annual PGA TOUR golf tournament, to be held Jan. 17-21. Daily and weekly grounds tickets and senior tickets are available now through tournament week at the tournament’s official website, www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com.

Fans are encouraged to secure tickets online by Jan. 14 in order to take advantage of up to a $25 discount from at-the-gate ticket pricing during tournament week.

World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson – the CareerBuilder Challenge’s 2002 and 2004 champion, a 42-time PGA TOUR winner and a five-time major champion – returns as the CareerBuilder Challenge’s ambassador and will again compete in the event.

CareerBuilder Challenge patrons can expect to enjoy a fan experience with enhanced entertainment value while embedding themselves in the heart of the desert’s premier sporting and social scene. New this year, all CareerBuilder Challenge spectators will have access to multiple on-course hospitality areas at the Stadium Course at PGA WEST, which offer premium food and beverage options for purchase and the best views of the golf action. More details will be announced in November.

After featuring popular Indie-pop band Fitz and the Tantrums in what was the event’s first live, post-round concert last year, the CareerBuilder Challenge will double its concert quotient in January to include post-round concerts following Friday’s second round and Saturday’s third round. Musical artists and concert locations will be announced at a later date and concert admission will be included with all Friday, Saturday and weekly (five-day) grounds tickets – no additional or upgraded tickets needed.

The following ticket options are now available at www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com through Jan. 14:

• Daily Grounds Ticket (good any one day Wednesday, Jan. 17–Sunday, Jan. 21) – $30
• Weekly Grounds Ticket (Wednesday, Jan. 17–Sunday, Jan. 21) – $75
• Senior Ticket (good any one day Wednesday, Jan. 17–Sunday, Jan. 21 for ages 62 and older) – $25

Ticket prices will increase at the gate during tournament week (beginning Jan. 15) to $40 for daily grounds, $100 for weekly grounds and $35 for senior tickets.

The $5.9 million CareerBuilder Challenge, the PGA TOUR’s first mainland event of the new year and its first event on the west coast swing, features 156 professional golfers playing 72 holes over three golf courses – the Stadium and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club.

The CareerBuilder Challenge is the Coachella Valley’s longest-running charitable event and has raised more than $58 million for Eisenhower Medical Center and other local charities since its inception as the Palm Springs Golf Classic in 1960.