Golf Post: The PGA Tour and the FedEx Cup are facing some fundamental changes next season. Which of those changes would you highlight as the most important for you as a tournament director?
Vince Pellegrino: I think, going from 125 players to 70 to start off the playoffs, it really creates a more consequential regular season, more drama leading up to the players to see who are going to be in that top 70. Ultimately with moving on to the BMW Championship, you know, our championship next year being played at Olympia Fields, I think, you know, the players jockeying for that top 50 in the BMW championship will be really important to get ultimately in a position that will help them get to Atlanta in the top 30.
So I think the playoffs will be really more consequential throughout the regular season, more exciting and really give more of the players, you know, within those top 70 a chance to continue to move up and to try to make it to the top 30. Having 125 players in the playoffs, I mean, that’s that’s a good portion of the players that start at the beginning of the year that really make the playoffs. So again, I think it’s a really, really a strong change for the PGA Tour that will elevate all three championships in the playoff.
Golf Post: How do you think those changes will affect the experience of attending or watching a FedEx Cup tournament?
Vince Pellegrino: I don’t think it’ll change. From our perspective on having 50 of the best players in the world next year. I think what it does allow us to do and we’ve experimented a little bit with it this year of having a one tee start in twosomes. I think it’s a really nice flow to the day. So those spectators, corporate partners who are on site enjoying the tournament, you know, it really spreads out the day and creates a long experience on site for corporate clients and their guests. To have all four days next year with the playing in twosome off the first tee is going to create a really nice atmosphere for for the fans on site and watching at home.
Golf Post: And what kind of feedback do you get from the player side?
Vince Pellegrino: I haven’t received much feedback. You know, the PGA Tour is the players organization. I’m sure they were involved in making some of these changes. So, you know, I haven’t really spoken to any players about that in particular. But, this is their tour and these are the changes that I think they made in conjunction with the staff of the PGA Tour.
Golf Post: Could you imagine that some players are upset because moving from 125 to 70, there will be quite a lot of them left out.
Vince Pellegrino: For our event, it’s 20 less players. I can’t get in the mind of the players. You probably have to ask them what they think. Again, I just think, if you’re looking at it from a truly competitive perspective and the season will shift to start at the beginning of the calendar year and go through the championship in the following season. I think it encourages players to play more often in the beginning of the year and make sure that each and every time they come out here they’re vying for those top spots and get the FedEx Cup points so they can stay inside the top 70. So I think it’ll create more of a a competitive atmosphere throughout the regular season.
Golf Post: Have you had any feedback so far from the spectators side?
Vince Pellegrino: We really haven’t. We’ve talked to a lot of our corporate partners. I don’t think really from an entertainment perspective, it really changes much out on the golf course. So, yes, there is less golf to see. But I think by spreading the tee times out throughout the course of the day, I think, we’ll still have a great experience. I mean, you know, on Thursday we started at 9 AM and didn’t finish till seven at night. That’s an incredibly long day. I don’t think anybody’s going to miss a fact. If we start at 10:00 and go to 7:00 at night, that’s really not going to be much of a miss for the championship.
Golf Post: I know it wasn’t your decision to make the mentioned changes. Is it a hard time for you as the tournament director to communicate these changes and convince sponsors, partners, players, fans that these adjustments are necessary?
Vince Pellegrino: I think it’s everybody’s job to do that. Our partnership with the PGA Tour runs deep and runs for a long time. And they have our utmost support with these changes. We’ve talked to our partners at BMW and even our corporate partners who buy corporate hospitality and buy tickets. The feedback in general has been positive.
Golf Post: When you talk about spectators you mention your corporate partners quite often. What’s the ratio between making corporate partners happy as well as normal spectators?
Vince Pellegrino: I think, we have to have that balance. I think, BMW being the title sponsor requires a lot of our focus to make sure that we’re serving up the best return on their investment to sponsor the championship. And their brand is going to reflect on everybody. And everybody is important to this championship, whether you buy a grounds ticket, an upgraded ticket, or you buy a skybox. We want to make sure that from the moment you purchase that ticket, the experience is premium in nature and reflects well upon the BMW brand.
So it doesn’t matter if you buy a grounds ticket or you buy a skybox. You know, we want to make sure that that particular experience of buying a ticket is as good as it can be at our venue. So making sure that the concessions are great and the viewing is great and the transportation and the parking and everything that’s wrapped up into that experience is of 100% premium nature. And that journey that the customer takes, like I said, whether they’re buying a skybox or not, you know, that they have the best experience possible.
Golf Post: Currently, the discussion generally in golf is mostly about money. Obviously, the LIV tour takes most of the credit for that. Are increased purses and more money the only things that are important to make a good tournament.
Vince Pellegrino: Unfortunately, the other tour made it about money and only about money. And I think some of the changes obviously are increased purses, etc.. But you know, what’s really important to the BMW Championship in the Western Golf Association is giving back to the community not just the economic impact that we have on communities like Wilmington, like Chicago, but the charitable endeavors with the Evans Scholars Foundation making a difference in kids life through this championship. That’s what’s important at the end of the day.
And having an incredible competition, like you saw last week and that we’re seeing out here this week. That competition is unbelievable. It’s great entertainment. But the important stuff, at least in our minds, is what you do with the proceeds of the championship and giving back to charitable initiatives like the Evans Scholars Foundation. That’s our focus and it’ll continue to be our focus going forward.
Golf Post: Can you tell me a bit more about about the Evans Scholar Foundation? I know, it’s been running for several decades.
Vince Pellegrino: Since 1930, and we’ve sent over 11,500 kids to college men and women on full tuition and housing scholarship. I receive the scholarship myself to attend Indiana University. And it’s a it’s a life changing scholarship. It changes the trajectory of of deserving kids lives forever. And, you know, this year we’ve got over 300 kids receiving the scholarship to attend 21 different universities across the country. So the impact of the scholarship and of this championship, you know, changes kids lives. And we’re really proud of that.