Not hosting a tournament in '16 due to flooding resulted in heavy financial losses for The GreenbrierGETTY IMAGES
Tax documents show that West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s nonprofit that operates the PGA Tour Greenbrier Classic is about $11.6M "in the hole" as of '16, according to Jake Zuckerman of the CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL. Despite its steady losses, Old White Charities has "allocated an average" of about 4% of its "total spending to charity" between '10-15. While The Greenbrier resort "did not host a tournament" in '16 due to flooding, that year's "heavy financial losses continued a pattern of hemorrhaging money since OWC first put on the event." OWC has "only turned a profit" in '10 and '12. While the first tournament brought in $30.2M in revenue in '10, that "number declined" to $19.6M in '11 on down to $10.7M in '15. The Greenbrier COO Elmer Coppoolse said that the losses are the "result of a lack of sponsorship for the tournament." Coppoolse: "Every year, there’s a big effort in place to attract more sponsors. Hopefully that will start to happen." He added that if those "new sponsorships roll in, the tournament will be able to donate more money" (CHARLESTON GAZETTE-MAIL, 4/8).
RUNS LIKE A DEER: In Iowa, Jennifer DeWitt noted tournament leaders for the John Deere Classic "formally launched" the '18 Birdies for Charity campaign at John Deere World HQ in Molina, Ill. Last year, Birdies for Charity "raised a tournament record" $12.3M for charities across the Quad-City region. Tournament Dir Clair Peterson said that the year's result also "pushed the John Deere Classic into the top three in overall charitable dollars among the PGA Tour's 48 events." Last year, a total of 521 charities "participated in the program, raising pledges from their donors through Birdies." By "underwriting all the administrative expenses of Birdies," each charity receives 100% of the pledges it collects (QUAD-CITY TIMES, 4/10).
