Dallas-based Energy Transfer will partner with the ClubCorp Classic PGA TOUR Champions/celebrity golf tournament as a primary sponsor, officials announced today. The April 19-24 event at Las Colinas Country Club is a $2.5 million competition featuring the world’s best over-50 players from the PGA TOUR Champions playing together with top sports and entertainment personalities. All three days of competition will be televised on GOLF Channel.
Energy Transfer specializes in the transportation, storage, and terminalling of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and refined products. Since its founding in 1996 by Executive Chairman Kelcy Warren and Ray Davis, the company has made itself one of the largest infrastructure companies in North America with nearly 120,000 miles of pipelines and related assets traversing 41 states, and an international office in Beijing as well as plans to open an office in Panama. In conjunction with the Energy Transfer sponsorship, Annika Sörenstam, the greatest player in the history of women’s golf, will kick off the week’s activities with a special-event golf clinic for children from The First Tee of Greater Dallas and The First Tee of Fort Worth on Tuesday, April 19, at 4 p.m.
The clinic will be combined with a salute to Annika and her special relationship with the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex on the 19th anniversary of her epic endeavor to compete against the greatest male players in the world at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial PGA TOUR event. That May, she made history and established a benchmark in the women’s movement for greater equality in sports. Though she did not make the cut, her effort has had a lasting effect on professional golf, with Annika walking away with immense honor and respect from sports fans around the globe.
“We are honored to join ClubCorp and others to bring this exciting event to the Metroplex,” said Tom Long, Energy Transfer co-CEO. “We are also pleased to be able to make a difference in the lives of local children through the money that will be raised for The First Tee of Dallas, The First Tee of Fort Worth and the Momentous Institute, all of which play a critical role in supporting our community. For more than 25 years, Energy Transfer has been committed to making in difference in the communities across the country where our employees live and work, but it is especially meaningful to be able to do this in our hometown.”
“The Annika Sorenstam clinic for youth from the region will be a highlight of the week,” stated Mike Flaskey, creator of the event and CEO of Mike Flaskey Entertainment. “With their commitment to the communities here in the region, it’s great to have Energy Transfer as a key part of the ClubCorp Classic.”
The ClubCorp Classic will feature 78 PGA TOUR Champions professionals and 50 sports and entertainment stars. The PGA TOUR Champions professionals will play 54 holes of stroke play for a purse of $2 million, along with the celebrities in a separate $500,000 competition utilizing a modified Stableford scoring format.
In addition to Annika, celebrities confirmed to compete include former Dallas Cowboys great Tony Romo, FOX Sports MLB analyst and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, former Dallas Cowboys superstar and Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, television personalities Anthony Anderson and Alfonso Ribeiro and MLB network analyst and Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez, the former Texas Rangers standout.
A group of amateur ClubCorp members are competing in a qualifying system that includes regional and national events to earn a spot alongside the stars during the official tournament rounds to play in their own modified Stableford, low gross, and low net format.
As the largest owner and operator of private clubs, ClubCorp embraces its role as a dynamic lifestyle company that brings people together through extraordinary experiences, impeccable service, and opportunities to build meaningful relationships. The recent transformation and re-imagination of Las Colinas Country Club as an overall golf and lifestyle venue is a shining example of the work and effort being made across the entire ClubCorp brand and portfolio to bring ClubLife to its members and communities.
The ClubCorp Classic is operated by Mike Flaskey Entertainment. Flaskey, the founder and tournament executive director, is the former President and CEO of Diamond Resorts International and has extensive experience conceiving and overseeing top-tier golf events with both the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR Champions, plus All-Stars and Hall of Famers from NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL teams.
Las Colinas Country Club, which was classically designed in 1963 by Joe Finger, was named among the top 100 courses in Texas by the Dallas Morning News and selected as one of the 2019 Best Country Clubs by Avid Golfer. The 18-hole course recently underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation and now features Trinity Zoysia fairways, Tif Tuf Bermuda rough, and G12 Bermuda Greens. A brand-new practice facility that covers more than 10 acres was designed by Golf Hall-of-Famer, Lanny Wadkins.
About Energy Transfer LP
Energy Transfer owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in North America, with a strategic footprint in all of the major U.S. production basins. Energy Transfer is a publicly-traded limited partnership with core operations that include complementary natural gas midstream, intrastate, and interstate transportation and storage assets; crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), and refined product transportation and terminalling assets; and NGL fractionation. Energy Transfer also owns Lake Charles LNG Company, as well as the general partner interests, the incentive distribution rights and 28.5 million common units of Sunoco LP, and the general partner interests and 46.1 million common units of USA Compression Partners, LP. For more information, visit the Energy Transfer LP website at energytransfer.com.
About ClubCorp
Since its founding in 1957, Dallas-based ClubCorp has operated with the central purpose of Building Relationships and Enriching Lives®. The leading owner-operator of private golf and country clubs, city and stadium clubs in North America, ClubCorp is relentless in its pursuit of providing extraordinary experiences, meaningful connections, shared passions and memorable moments for its more than 430,000 members. With approximately 20,000 peak-season employees and a portfolio of over 200 owned or operated golf and country clubs, city clubs, sports clubs, and stadium clubs in 27 states, the District of Columbia and two foreign countries, ClubCorp creates communities and a lifestyle through its championship golf courses, workspaces, handcrafted cuisine, resort-style pools, tennis facilities, golf lounges, fitness centers and robust programming.
ClubCorp properties include Firestone Country Club (Akron, Ohio); Mission Hills Country Club (Rancho Mirage, California); The Woodlands Country Club (The Woodlands, Texas); and The Metropolitan in Chicago. You can find ClubCorp on Facebook at facebook.com/clubcorp and on Twitter at @ClubCorp.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour and on Instagram @pgatourchampions.
