Champions for Education, the nonprofit that runs the PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship, said that Florida-based sports marketing firm Pro Links Sports has been "hired to manage and operate" the golf tournament, according to Rick Rothacker of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The Champions for Education board said that Pro Links Sports CEO Hollis Cavner will serve as the tournament’s Exec Dir. A tournament director, reporting to Cavner and the nonprofit’s board, "will be named later." The move came after Tournament Dir Kym Hougham in June said that he was "stepping down after 15 years." Tournament staff will "now be employed by Pro Links Sports." Pro Links Sports also "manages the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour as well as four PGA Tour Champions events" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/31). In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted the PGA Tour, Wells Fargo and Quail Hollow Club have an "agreement to continue the tournament" through '19. Execs at Wells Fargo and Quail Hollow have said that they "want to continue the PGA Tour event, but formal negotiations have not begun." In addition, "numerous changes are anticipated for tournament dates" starting in '19 with the new PGA Tour schedule (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/30).
