A new era in the annual PGA Tour event in the Napa Valley begins next week when the Procore Championship rolls into the Silverado Resort.
The tournament, which is on the North course at Silverado will welcome Procore, an information technology company that specializes in construction management platforms, as the title sponsor.
The tournament, which has been known as the Fry’s Open, Safeway Open, and most recently, the Fortinet Championships, occupies a unique spot again this year on the PGA Tour.
It is the first event in the Fall season, falling two weeks after the FedEx playoffs and the Tour Championship. It is also two weeks before the Presidents Cup, which takes place September 24-29 at the Royal Montreal Golf Cup in Canada.
An early commitment to the tournament is defending champion Sahith Theegala. Theegala was in the news this past weekend when after the third round of the season-ending Tour Championship, he called a penalty on himself for illegally brushing sand away from his ball with his club in the bunker.
He was given a two-stroke penalty for the infraction, which is the exact margin he finished behind second-place Collin Morikawa.
Finishing third, six shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler, Theegala brought home $7.5 million. Without the penalty, Theegala would have gotten $10 million splitting the second and third place money with Morikawa, meaning calling the infraction cost Theegala $2.5 million.
Then again, player integrity is what makes golf special and Theegala showed it in a big way.
Also committing early are fan favorite Joel Dahman, as well as seven-time tournament winner which included the 2012 U.S. Open, Webb Simpson.
Since Procore rode in at the 11th hour to take over the sponsorship after the abrupt withdrawal of Fortinet, there will be no concerts this year.
But there will still be an amazing fan experience with the marriage of food and wine from the Napa Valley. The Silverado location is one of the best to watch a pro event and the peripherals have helped the tournament be voted the most fan friendly tour stop.
I think in the Fortinet years, the fan experience lost some of its luster but after having met the Procore team, great days are ahead.
While Fortinet seemed to focus more on making the tournament a corporate retreat for employees and clients, Procore seems committed to the fans first, much the way Safeway did when sponsoring the event.
Keep checking back with ACES as we will keep you up to date on tournament information.
For more information, please visit www.procorechampionship.com.
By Dennis Miller