Staging the 2019 Senior PGA Championship near Rochester is a nearly two-year effort

In late May of next year, the world’s best professional golfers who are age 50 and over will gather near Rochester for the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Names like Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Colin Montgomerie, Kenny Perry, Jerry Kelly, and Miguel Angel Jiménez are expected to be there.

The PGA of America announced almost a year ago that it had selected Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford to host the 80th edition of the tournament on its famed East Course, the site of many past spectacles of golf.

The 2019 Senior PGA Championship is expected to draw 50,000 to 60,000 spectators, including more than a few Central New Yorkers, and generate a more than $40 million economic impact on the greater Rochester region, according to the Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE), a regional economic-development organization.

While on the surface May 2019 seems a long way away, it’s not for Bryan Karns, championship director. He’s been on the ground in Rochester since last August, working on the massive logistical puzzle that is organizing a championship golf tournament. He works out of an office at Oak Hill.

Karns, an Oklahoma State University graduate, stopped by the CNYBJ office in Syracuse on Friday, April 6, to discuss the event and all that goes into planning it.

“I think when you imagine what goes into having you know, 50,000 to 60,000 people on a golf course, that 99 percent of the year is meant to be kind of private and reserved … That’s a tremendous undertaking,” he says. “The primary reason we’re on the ground is to build the relationships with people in the community.” 

The logistical tasks include figuring out how many concession stands to put on the ground, where to put the corporate hospitality tents, and setting the bus traffic plan and parking plan with the Monroe County Sherriff’s Department. “Even though we have a blueprint there from running events at Oak Hill in the past, things change,” Karns says.

This will be the second time that Oak Hill will present the four-day Senior PGA Championship — it’s a nearly weeklong event including practice rounds. In 2008 at Oak Hill, Jay Haas, of the United States, claimed his second Senior PGA Championship in three years by a single stroke over Germany’s Langer. 

Oak Hill’s East Course has also staged three previous PGA Championships (2013, 2003, 1980) and will do so again in 2023 for a record-tying fourth time, according to the PGA of America.

Taking on the task of selling corporate sponsorships, including all the hospitality tents, is another big focus now for Karns and his team.

“Because a lot of them have a big price tag, we like to give companies the ability to spread [the payments] out,” he says. “People aren’t going to do that a week out and say. ‘Oh yeah sure, we’re going to drop 25-grand on a hospitality venue.’ So, we start those relationships now and try to walk people through that.”

Recruiting volunteers to staff the tournament, including scorers, course marshals, and people to staff the spectator stands, concession stands, and merchandise tents is another key task. 

“Even though the support is tremendous, and we feel it’s not going to be a big struggle for us… to get 1,500-1,600 volunteers, that’s a lot,” Karns says. He noted the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill had close to 3,500 volunteers.

Regional approach

Karns and his staff of three other PGA of America employees currently in Rochester are taking a regional approach to marketing the Senior PGA Championship.

“Traditionally it is kind of a drive-in event. It’s a regional thing. People in Syracuse will come to Rochester just like lots of folks in Rochester will come to Syracuse [University] games,” Karns says. He did it himself last fall, taking in the Syracuse-Clemson football game, his first trip to the Carrier Dome.

Karns and his staff will start outreach efforts in Rochester, then build out. They have an extensive database, about 75,000 to 100,000 people who bought tickets, bought corporate hospitality services, or volunteered at a past PGA Championship event at Oak Hill.

“Probably the large majority of the corporate sponsors will be from Rochester, but we have a lot of interest in Buffalo, and we’ve talked to a number of companies in Syracuse,” he says.

“It’s an easy drive over. It’s a great opportunity to see the greatest golfers in the world,” Karns says in his pitch for Syracuse golf fans to make the drive to Rochester for the tournament.

On Monday morning, April 9, the PGA of America sent an email to its database of 75,000 to 100,000 people offering an exclusive window from April 9 to May 29 to buy tickets and to sign up to volunteer for the 2019 Senior PGA Championship. On May 29, they open it to the general public. 

The PGA’s marketing efforts will pick up this summer and build into next spring.

The logistical lift will also increase. As the tournament approaches, Karns’ staff will grow to 10 and more PGA of America staffers will fly in for the tournament starting two weeks out.

Then there’s the vendors. “The folks that do the tent building, the bathrooms. They’re all from independent companies that we contract with for the event. And usually that’s another 150 or 200 [people] starting roughly six weeks out that will show up in Rochester. And probably by the event week, you’re up closer to 500 people” including caterers and concession stand operators, Karns explains. 

In late May of next year, the world’s best professional golfers who are age 50 and over will gather near Rochester for the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Names like Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Colin Montgomerie, Kenny Perry, Jerry Kelly, and Miguel Angel Jiménez are expected to be there.

The PGA of America announced almost a year ago that it had selected Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford to host the 80th edition of the tournament on its famed East Course, the site of many past spectacles of golf.

The 2019 Senior PGA Championship is expected to draw 50,000 to 60,000 spectators, including more than a few Central New Yorkers, and generate a more than $40 million economic impact on the greater Rochester region, according to the Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE), a regional economic-development organization.

While on the surface May 2019 seems a long way away, it’s not for Bryan Karns, championship director. He’s been on the ground in Rochester since last August, working on the massive logistical puzzle that is organizing a championship golf tournament. He works out of an office at Oak Hill.

Karns, an Oklahoma State University graduate, stopped by the CNYBJ office in Syracuse on Friday, April 6, to discuss the event and all that goes into planning it.

“I think when you imagine what goes into having you know, 50,000 to 60,000 people on a golf course, that 99 percent of the year is meant to be kind of private and reserved … That’s a tremendous undertaking,” he says. “The primary reason we’re on the ground is to build the relationships with people in the community.” 

The logistical tasks include figuring out how many concession stands to put on the ground, where to put the corporate hospitality tents, and setting the bus traffic plan and parking plan with the Monroe County Sherriff’s Department. “Even though we have a blueprint there from running events at Oak Hill in the past, things change,” Karns says.

This will be the second time that Oak Hill will present the four-day Senior PGA Championship — it’s a nearly weeklong event including practice rounds. In 2008 at Oak Hill, Jay Haas, of the United States, claimed his second Senior PGA Championship in three years by a single stroke over Germany’s Langer. 

Oak Hill’s East Course has also staged three previous PGA Championships (2013, 2003, 1980) and will do so again in 2023 for a record-tying fourth time, according to the PGA of America.

Taking on the task of selling corporate sponsorships, including all the hospitality tents, is another big focus now for Karns and his team.

“Because a lot of them have a big price tag, we like to give companies the ability to spread [the payments] out,” he says. “People aren’t going to do that a week out and say. ‘Oh yeah sure, we’re going to drop 25-grand on a hospitality venue.’ So, we start those relationships now and try to walk people through that.”

Recruiting volunteers to staff the tournament, including scorers, course marshals, and people to staff the spectator stands, concession stands, and merchandise tents is another key task. 

“Even though the support is tremendous, and we feel it’s not going to be a big struggle for us… to get 1,500-1,600 volunteers, that’s a lot,” Karns says. He noted the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill had close to 3,500 volunteers.

Regional approach

Karns and his staff of three other PGA of America employees currently in Rochester are taking a regional approach to marketing the Senior PGA Championship.

“Traditionally it is kind of a drive-in event. It’s a regional thing. People in Syracuse will come to Rochester just like lots of folks in Rochester will come to Syracuse [University] games,” Karns says. He did it himself last fall, taking in the Syracuse-Clemson football game, his first trip to the Carrier Dome.

Karns and his staff will start outreach efforts in Rochester, then build out. They have an extensive database, about 75,000 to 100,000 people who bought tickets, bought corporate hospitality services, or volunteered at a past PGA Championship event at Oak Hill.

“Probably the large majority of the corporate sponsors will be from Rochester, but we have a lot of interest in Buffalo, and we’ve talked to a number of companies in Syracuse,” he says.

“It’s an easy drive over. It’s a great opportunity to see the greatest golfers in the world,” Karns says in his pitch for Syracuse golf fans to make the drive to Rochester for the tournament.

On Monday morning, April 9, the PGA of America sent an email to its database of 75,000 to 100,000 people offering an exclusive window from April 9 to May 29 to buy tickets and to sign up to volunteer for the 2019 Senior PGA Championship. On May 29, they open it to the general public. 

The PGA’s marketing efforts will pick up this summer and build into next spring.

The logistical lift will also increase. As the tournament approaches, Karns’ staff will grow to 10 and more PGA of America staffers will fly in for the tournament starting two weeks out.

Then there’s the vendors. “The folks that do the tent building, the bathrooms. They’re all from independent companies that we contract with for the event. And usually that’s another 150 or 200 [people] starting roughly six weeks out that will show up in Rochester. And probably by the event week, you’re up closer to 500 people” including caterers and concession stand operators, Karns explains.