Tour generated a record $204.3 million in 2019; brings total to $3.05 billion
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (July 1, 2020) – The PGA Tour announced in January that its tournaments have surpassed $3 billion in all-time charitable giving. The charitable total, which includes a record $204.3 million in 2019 to bring the all-time total to $3.05 billion, includes donations made by tournaments on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica and PGA Tour Series-China.
In Austin, the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play has generated more than $4.3 million for local Austin-based charities since moving to Austin Country Club in 2016.
“It’s truly a pleasure to thank our fans, sponsors, tournaments, players and volunteers for helping us generate over $3 billion for charity and positively impact millions of lives,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “As remarkable as this milestone is, what really matters are the countless stories like Amy [Bockerstette’s] that every tournament has. Together, we look forward to continuing to reach – and celebrate – millions more.”
Zayla White is one of those in Austin, where she’s been a standard bearer for each of the last four years for Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Lucas Bjerregaard at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. The 18-year-old has been a member of The First Tee of Greater Austin for the last 10 years and was the chapter’s representative this year in Pure Insurance Championship Impacting The First Tee and played at the iconic Pebble Beach with Tom Kite, a World Golf Hall of Famer who lives in Austin.
The First Tee of Greater Austin has also been a beneficiary of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play since it moved to Austin in 2016, with part of the $4.3 million the tournament has raised for charity going to the chapter.
Those funds have been used for much needed improvements the Harvey Penick Golf Campus and have helped introduce thousands of students to golf and life skills curriculums through additional partnerships with physical education programs at local elementary schools that wouldn’t have been possible without the tournament’s contributions.
The PGA Tour and its more than 100 tournaments across all Tours achieved the $3 billion mark just six years after surpassing $2 billion in 2014. The Tour achieved the $1 billion mark in 2005. In addition, the record $204.3 million in 2019 bests the previous record of $190 million in 2018. The Tour’s first charitable donation of $10,000 was at the 1938 Palm Beach Invitational. These dollars positively impact more the 3,000 nonprofits each year, such as the First Tee, which has introduced more than 15 million young people to its character-building programs through the game of golf.
Each PGA Tour tournament provides individuals an opportunity to give back to the community in one of three ways – attending an event, volunteering, or donating money. Not-for-profit tournaments under the PGA Tour umbrella donate their net proceeds to support local organizations, totaling more than $3 billion in donations to date. The impact these tournaments make throughout the year is possible thanks to the more than 100,000 volunteers who commit their time to ensure each event is a success.
Tournament officials announced in September that the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play raised over $1.1 million for local Austin-based charitable organizations, bringing the four-year total in Austin to over $4.3 million. Since its inception in 1999, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play has generated more than $19 million for charity (including past locations and title sponsors).