After a dozen years of being known as the HealthOne Colorado Open, the venerable tournament is set to undergo a name change as the third title sponsor in the history of the event comes on board.
On Sunday afternoon, after the conclusion of the 51st Open and with Denver mayor Michael Hancock on hand, tournament officials announced that Greenwood Village-based CoBank has signed a five-year agreement to become title sponsor of the Colorado Open, Colorado Women’s Open and Colorado Senior Open.
Starting with the 2016 versions of each event, CoBank will be tacked onto the front end of the name of each tournament. In other words, for example, the flagship tournament will be known as the CoBank Colorado Open.
A new logo (above) reflecting the change was unveiled as part of Sunday’s announcement at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, the home to the Colorado Open Championships since 2004.
Kevin Laura, CEO of the Colorado Open Championships, said CoBank’s financial commitment is the same as was HealthOne’s in recent years, so the purse is expected to remain similar to what it has been, which is $125,000 overall, with $23,000 going to the winner.
The Colorado Open Championships benefit The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch, LPGA/USGA Girls Golf of Green Valley Ranch, and the Colorado PGA Golf in Schools program.
“We view these championships as an important asset for the Denver community and quite frankly for the entire state of Colorado,” Bob Engel, CoBank’s CEO, said on Sunday. “We think a great state deserves a great Open, and this one is as good as it gets. We think the Colorado Open Foundation plays a really critical role in our community, not only by organizing these state Opens, but certainly through their support of The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch and all the work that it does for kids.”
HealthOne has been the title sponsor since the Colorado Open was resurrected in 2004 after being canceled in 2003 due to financial issues and mismanagement. But the company recently tweaked its charitable giving priorities to directly emphasize more health-related programs, leading to the change, according to Laura.
CoBank is the largest financial institution headquartered in Colorado, with more than $100 billion in assets. It employs about 900 people, including approximately 650 in the Denver metro area.
According to the company’s website, it’s a national coop bank “serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states.”
The company is no stranger to the Colorado Open as it was the volunteer sponsor for the tournament in 2014 and the pro-am sponsor this year.
As for becoming title sponsor, “They really want it to be a subtle exposure,” Laura said. “Sometimes, you lose the name of the event (with certain title sponsors). They’re not like that at all. They want the tradition of the Colorado Open to be preserved, not ‘we want our logo to be in everybody’s face’ or ‘we want to change the name to the CoBank Open.’ None of that was part of the negotiation. That’s great.
“What I like is they as a company are going to use our tournament as one of the platforms to really tell the marketplace who they are. They like that this will be a good launching pad for them. (The tournaments) have got such good equity and community involvement already.
“I think they’re really going to take it up a notch as far as exposure and involvement and engagement and activation of the sponsorship. They’re advertising in the places that are going to promote it as a community asset, not just a golf tournament.”
Previous title sponsors of the Colorado Open have been First Data Corporation and HealthOne. And during many of the years the tournament was based at Hiwan Golf Club, Craig Hospital was the name most linked to the tournament as it was the event’s beneficiary.
