Travelers Championship gets nod as "Best Golf Tournament for Fans"

One week from the latest installment of the Travelers Championship, the PGA Signature event has been selected as the “Best Golf Tournament for Fans” by voters taking part in a USA Today survey.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon with WTIC Radio News, top tournament executives said their field of PGA superstars, led this year by top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, is the top draw for fans. But they also credit overall fan experience and the tournament’s well-known contribution to charities.

“There’s no other sporting event in the world like this,” says Travelers Executive Vice President Andy Bessette, “where you can go see all of the 45 of the top 46 in the world. This is such a unique thing.”

Tournament Director Nathan Grube says fans are treated like valued customers at the Travelers, saying, “We have tried over the years to exceed their expectations.” Grube explains:

From the get-go: Onsite parking… You say, hey, ‘You’re going to be able to go to one of the largest sporting events in New England, one of the biggest golf tournaments and you’re parking onsite.’ That, right away, blows people away… From the welcome experience that they have, getting sunscreen and sunglasses and things like that. They walk in, and they just feel like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we are really important here.’ There’s shuttles right there to take them where they want to go… There’s free water stations everywhere for people to fill up, to hydrate. There’s air conditioned cooling benches…

We have corporate partners who have purchased some of the prime real estate on the property and said, ‘We are going to buy this great spot and make it free and open to the fans.’ And so, we have partners who are investing financially in the fan experience, because they bought in to what this about. That you come on property and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m a celebrity.’ Like, people are saying, ‘Thank you.’ And there’s ambassadors walking around, saying, ‘Can I help you with anything?’ There’s prize patrols walking by and giving stuff away. And there’s free venues to go into that’s climate controlled... There’s baby-changing stations and you bring your kids out for the day and kids get in free…

Grube says that when Travelers took over as title sponsor in 2007, the company said it wanted to maintain the tournament as a family-friendly event, and that has continued to this day.

Bessette says fans also take pride in the fact that by attending the event, they’re supporting many charities. All net profits from the Travelers Championship are donated.

“A lot of this is, people know they’re doing good,” says Bessette. “There’s a lot of community pride in this thing. And, we’re providing them with one of the best player fields in all of sport.”

Bessette and Grube believe that this year’s event will break last year’s tournament record of $4 million raised for charity.

USA Today writes:

This is another signature event that features the biggest stars taking on TPC River Highlands, which typically yields loads of low scores. Still, there are plenty of challenging holes where fans can watch the world’s best hit jaw-dropping shots. Holes 15, 16 and 17 are known as the “Bermuda Triangle” due to the fact that they surround a big lake that poses a threat on each shot. It’s always high-drama action at the Travelers Championship.

This year’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell begins next Weds., Jun. 24 with the pro-am and runs through Sun., Jun. 28.

The tournament was similarly honored last September, when it was named Best PGA Tour Tournament Event by Newsweek.