The Greenbrier Classic Chairman Jim Justice has selected Lagardère Sports to serve as the management consultant firm for the annual PGA Tour FedEx Cup event held at The Greenbrier resort.
As part of the relationship, Lagardère Sports will support The Greenbrier Classic by advising on tournament operations and by assisting in player recruitment, sponsorship sales and sponsor activation around the event, reporting to Executive Tournament Director Habibi Mamone, who will oversee the entire project.
“Working with coach Steve Loy and Lagardère Sports has been an absolute pleasure,” said Justice. “They are a first-class organization.”
“We’re excited about this new relationship and confident that it can help take The Greenbrier Classic to even greater heights,” added Mamone. “Since our first year in 2010, we’ve built a reputation as one of the most popular stops on the PGA Tour, but we can always do even better. Lagardère Sports has an impressive résumé with producing golf events, and we’re thrilled about teaming together to make The Greenbrier Classic the best it can be.”
Lagardère Sports’ Golf Events division has produced more than 200 golf events and generated more than $100 million for charity since 1989. In addition to its new role with The Greenbrier Classic, Lagardère Sports manages PGA Tour events including the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, CA, and serves as a management consultant for the CareerBuilder Challenge at PGA West in LaQuinta, CA. The agency’s Golf Events division also manages the Web.com Tour’s Albertson’s Boise Open Finals and “25 Card” WinCo Foods Portland Open.
“In a short time, The Greenbrier Classic has established itself as a favorite destination of the best players on the TOUR and is held at a truly historic venue,” said Jeff Sanders, Lagardère Sports executive vice president of golf events. “We are excited to bring our many years of experience running golf events and our key relationships in the industry to The Greenbrier Classic, and we look forward to working closely with the event’s management team to help make it even more of a success.”
In addition to its partnership with Lagardère Sports, The Greenbrier Classic has also hired Eric Jonke as its new director of sponsorship sales.
Jonke has a long history in sports and has worked closely with brands, venues, events and athletes on their sports partnerships. He has overseen the sale of more than $300 million in sponsorships, as well as the production of more than 150 golf events.
Jonke has been instrumental in the creation, sale and production of numerous golf events, including the Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout with Greg Norman, the Father/Son Challenge, the Battle Series with Tiger Woods, the Tavistock Cup and the Deutsche Bank Championship. He also worked with C-Suite executives on their brand activation and corporate sponsorship goals and objectives.
“Eric’s credentials speak for themselves, and we couldn’t be happier about having him join our team,” said Mamone. “He’ll be here working with our tournament team on a daily basis, and his expertise will be incredibly valuable to The Greenbrier Classic.”
The Greenbrier Classic became a regular stop on the PGA TOUR FedExCup calendar in 2010 and has been a favorite of both players and fans. The tournament has hosted the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and many more.
The 2016 Greenbrier Classic had to be canceled because of devastating floods that came through the area two weeks before the scheduled start of tournament play. The Old White TPC Course, which hosts the event, is currently being repaired, and the 2017 Greenbrier Classic will be played as planned July 3-9, 2017.
“The course is currently undergoing a major renovation, and we’re very excited about the progress,” said Mamone. “We’re right on schedule, and we’re currently involved in planning to make the 2017 Greenbrier Classic the best one yet.”
For more information, visit GreenbrierClassic.com.
