| Tweet |
Hilton Head Island’s signature golf tournament will again be without a sponsor after this spring’s event. But Sea Pines and PGA officials have pledged that they will find a new sponsor soon.
The Heritage Classic Foundation announced in late September that Verizon will drop its sponsorship of the nationally televised tournament for better business opportunities elsewhere, according to a press release. The company’s current contract with the event expires after the 2010 tournament, which ends April 18.
The communications company and its predecessors have been a sponsor of the tournament for 20 years since MCI first attached its name to the event. Verizon became the marquee name of the event in 2006.
“We certainly appreciate the wonderful support Verizon business has provided as a title sponsor for more than 20 years and are pleased that it has expressed interest in continuing its support of the Heritage Classic Foundation beyond next year, as well as remaining involved with the PGA Tour,” Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said in the release. “We will work closely with the Heritage Classic Foundation in an effort to secure a new title sponsor. In the meantime, we look forward to an outstanding Verizon Heritage in 2010.”
The Heritage has become by far Hilton Head’s biggest event since it began in 1969, but it is no stranger to struggle or financial concerns. During the Sea Pines bankruptcy in the mid-1980s a group of business leaders got together to form the Heritage Classic Foundation to extend a line of credit to keep the tournament afloat until MCI stepped in as a sponsor.
