Your Weekly Battle Plan on Elevate Springfield

Summary

The conversation revolves around the Memorial Health Championship Presented by LRS, a significant golf tournament in Springfield, Illinois. Kate Peters and Emily Canham, discuss the event's history, its impact on the community, and the various initiatives that make it special. They highlight the economic benefits, the importance of sponsorships, and the unique experiences offered to both players and spectators. The conversation emphasizes community involvement, volunteer opportunities, and the overall goal of elevating Springfield through this prestigious event.

Takeaways

• The Memorial Health Championship Presented by LRS has evolved significantly since its inception.
• Community involvement is crucial for the success of the tournament.
• The economic impact of the tournament on Springfield exceeds seven million dollars annually.
• Ticketing for the event is accessible and free for many attendees.
• Sales competitions among staff add a fun element to the event's promotion.
• Networking events are designed to bring local businesses together.
• Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses of all sizes.
• The tournament features a million dollar purse for players, enhancing its prestige.
• Health initiatives during the tournament provide valuable services to players and the community.
• Volunteering is a great way for community members to get involved and support the event.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together, we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your day, 10X your life, and all of us. 10X Springfield. Hey, you are listening to the Elevate Springfield podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10x coach, speaker, and mentor. Here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through. And together, we're in Elevate Springfield. We are coming to you from the big dog construction studio in beautiful downtown Springfield. You are listening to Separation Saturdays on Elevate Springfield where you can separate yourself from the competition every Saturday morning now. We are every day with Elevate Springfield now, so you can start your morning every morning with a new drop from Elevate Springfield. And we are looking forward to having you. And we are thankful that you chose to listen to us. We're gonna get started after the break. Hey, Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Ruffing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities, from quick, dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial. They are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. All right, and we are back. Hey, it's gonna be another great week on Elevate Springfield. Phenomenal guests coming in as always. Hey, we've got Dr. Allen from Allen Chiropractic. We've got Dr. Sammy coming back for a wellness upgrade segment. We've got Ellie in for next gen, of course. We got the United Way coming in, chock full week of great stuff. So make sure you're starting each and every morning with Elevate Springfield. Hey, a few things going on here in Springfield in June and July. There is just so much going on right now. A you missed the Legends game last night out at Robin Roberts Stadium. Phenomenal time there. Hey, if you haven't been to a Lucky Horseshoes game at all, make sure you're heading out there and support them. Get out there and spend the night out at Robin Roberts Stadium. Also, this week we've got a world class event. The Memorial Health Championship out at Panther Creek is going to be going on. The actual tournament is Thursday through Sunday, but they've got some other stuff going on throughout the week. If you are a local first Springfield member, Landolin Professional Networking Group, Silsa, Chatham Chamber, Springfield Chamber, we've got networking on the green on Thursday night, 4:30 to 6:30. Hope to see everybody there. Really big show of support for the tournament that's going on, but also a show of solidarity amongst all these groups. Because you know, when we work together, we grow together. So it's a really great opportunity for all of these groups to get together and support the tournament here in Springfield. So for today's episode, what I'd like to do, since we have this large event happening this week, really want to make sure you guys have all the information on that. So we're going to bring in Kate and Emily from the Memorial Health Championship, giving you all the details on what's going to happen this week, how you could help, how you could be a part of it, what you need to do to participate. You know, there are free tickets for you to come out and see it. So let's get right to Kate and Emily. And we are back. I have two people joining me in the studio today from an event that is certainly elevating our community. We have Kate Peters and Emily Cannem in from Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS. Ladies, how are we doing this morning?

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Great. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Appreciate you coming in this morning. Well, before we talk about the event, let's just learn a little bit about both of you guys. What brought you to this event? Maybe a little bit about your background.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

I started out as an intern in 22. Um, I'd do it for college credit. And then I like to say that I bugged her enough to where she hired me full-time. And I've been here ever since. So I'm going into just over my third year full-time. And then my fifth tournament, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Nice. So you you bugged her long enough, you said. So what when did you realize that hey, I really want to do this? This is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Well, I've honestly always loved sports. Uh it's just something I've been really passionate about. Um golf was never really one of my interests. Um, I always like to say that I knew enough to say four, and that's duck and run. And then as I've gotten uh more in-depth in like the tournament, I've really started to realize like, wow, this is really cool. Like golf is like, or at least tournaments are just more than just golf, which is really cool to see. And so I kind of just agreed to really love the game, but also all the moving pieces and parts of it.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

I love it. Well, what about you, Kate?

SPEAKER_01 5:46

I have been with this tournament since late 2016. So 2016 was the first year for this tournament. So we're going into our 11th year. Prior to that, I was affiliated with the LPGA tournament that was here. It had a 36-year run here in Springfield. And so we had a little four-year hiatus of golf in our community. And I had gone and and uh done something else that I'm passionate about. I work for the Girl Scouts. Um, anything that that builds girls and women into business people, I'm all about. So did that. And um the PGA tour came to Springfield. They were really looking for a place to hold a one-year tournament because they had someone fall off at the time. So this event that's going into its 11th year was really intended to just be a one and done back in 2020.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

I didn't realize that.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yeah. So the tour knew that our community had a track record of hosting professional golf. They certainly knew that Panther Creek had done it the last five of the LPGA and needed a place to play. So they came here in our company at the time then known as Bruno Event Team, brought in a young man, Alex McCarty, to run it, 25-year-old young man from out of town. So he came in really, really late in 2016 for a summer event. And, you know, you've been here a while, I suspect. So, you know, Springfield is a big, small town. And so he reached out to me. And at the time, I kind of helped him make some connections just to get that one year done, and then quickly realized that uh there's something special here. So I then joined the team full-time and and kind of took over. And I'm really passionate about it. I've been doing it a long time. I've raised my family here. So Springfield is really important to me. And something that motivates me is this is our state capital. And there's a lot of really special people and businesses here, and uh we should have things like this.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Absolutely. Yeah, the LP LPGA event was really cool too. I always love to go into that. So, how many years did you say that was?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Well, it was in Springfield since 1976 through 2011 was our last year. So we were 31 years at the rail, and then the last five we were at Panther Creek.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

So the PGA event, how has that changed over the years? And the this will be the 11th year. So what's what's been some of the changes over the years?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Well, I mean, certainly the obvious ones are the umbrella sponsor for our tour changed. At the time it was then known as the web.com tour. It is now the Corn Ferry Tour. So we're one of the tours that fall under the PGA tour umbrella. But events specifically, we put this event on very early on. I like to say with spit wire and glue, because really that's what we did. And we trudged along, we were like the little engine that could until we were very, very blessed to have LRS join the fold as at the time our pro am sponsor. And so that was a big deal for this event. And then flash forward and we got LRS to step up and be our presenting sponsor. So LRS joined the fold before Memorial Health did. Okay. But they were certainly a big part of helping us get Memorial Health to take a look at what we're doing and its importance to the community because that's also important to Memorial. And Memorial joined the fold. I think I shook Ed Curtis's hand in December of 2019. And then what happened shortly thereafter?

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Yeah, yeah. Just a few months later. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

COVID. And so we got off on a little, I don't want to say a rocky start, but it was certainly strange. And we've been here ever since. And so the really neat thing you asked about changes for this tournament is just the tremendous growth that we've had. So starting with nothing, and we just keep elevating and we keep growing and we have aspirations, certainly, to hopefully one day maybe even get to the point where we can put this event on TV. But if not, what we've been able to do over the last 10 years is tremendous. And it's not because of me, it's not because of Emily. Certainly we're a big part of it, but it's because the community, the sponsors and um the people that come together that make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Right. So, what's the process to get it to be one of those tournaments that's on TV?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

The almighty dollar, my friend. Sure. Yeah. So it takes an additional investment. Um, so it's a pretty significant investment. And so there's always a debate, right? When you're sitting in my seat as the director, is the juice worth the squeeze? And so while there are merits to being on TV, because I would love to showcase the state capital of Illinois on TV, then you wonder, okay, well, are people gonna stay home and watch it on TV instead of come out? Right. So certainly maybe it validates us a bit more being on TV, but we're already doing what we're doing, and it's so incredibly special. We have built this event as the not-to-miss summer event. There's so much more than just the four competition rounds because tournament week is a full week. So we've got a lot of things going on leading up to and even throughout competition rounds that make it don't the not miss thing to do this summer.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Absolutely. I think you're right. If it if it was on TV, there would be a certain number of people that would just say, I'll watch it on TV.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yeah, especially if it's warm.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

We're hardy Midwesterners. Come out anyway.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Right, exactly. So you mentioned the the impact on the community. We were talking a little bit about it before we went on the air, but what kind of economic impact does that have on Springfield?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Well, uh, so we do an analysis every year, and it's over 7 million that that we're generating. And so you might think, how does that happen? Well, there's a whole formula that goes into it. But if you think about it, we have 156 players and 156 caddies coming in automatically, and the infrastructure that goes into supporting this initiative behind the scenes. So while there are two of us full-time year-round, we staff up to about 18 by the 10, and we're all going in that trailer I was telling you about, which is why I'm looking forward to it. But so there's that, there's the PGA tour staff, the rules officials. If you think about it, these guys and gals that are on staff are living their lives on the road. So the things you and I are doing here, like getting our oil change, getting haircuts, going to the grocery store, eating out, they're all doing it here. And there's a lot of them. Last year, our attendance was just over 25,000, and we had ticket requests from 21 different states. Wow, three countries. We partner with Visit Springfield. They actually underwrite complimentary tickets. So it's almost unheard of to be able to go to a PGA tour sanctioned event totally free of charge, but you can do it here thanks to Visit Springfield. But they're doing it because we want as many people as possible coming coming here.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

So, how does that work through Visit Springfield to get one of the free tickets for somebody coming to town?

SPEAKER_01 12:35

We have tickets on our website. You go online, you register for your account. This is Emily's domain, the new ticketing platform, but you register for your account and put in your request for tickets, and boom, they show up on your device. There you go. Or you can print them at home. Easy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

And you wouldn't think that three other countries would be represented coming here. That's pretty cool. We've had Amy on from Visit Springfield before, and some of the impact that they have across the world bringing people here is just amazing. So we're right here in Springfield, getting all these folks here.

SPEAKER_03 13:05

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

So well, Emily, while we're on the subject of ticketing, let's talk a little bit more about your role.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Man, we wear both of us, honestly, wear so many different hats. Honestly, there's not really a good way to pinpoint exactly what we could do. Um I do a lot of things with our volunteers. I do a lot of things with ticketing. That's my two wheelhouses. Um dabbling in some sales lately, um, which has always been fun. Because again, I like knowing all the moving pieces and parts. So it's being a part of the impact has been really cool. But ticketing, yeah, they're free. So there's no excuse.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

So with sales, you guys had a competition recently. We were discussing that too, right? So what happened there? You had a competition in May on who could sell the most?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

We had a competition tied to our all-inclusive hospitality passes. And it was her idea. This wasn't Kate's idea. She was like, I think she thought I was gonna say no. And she's like, Would you be willing to launch this on social media and the loser's gonna take a pie to the face? And I was like, Okay. And so we did it. And it's it was a first for both of us yesterday. I've never pied anyone in the face, and she's never been pied in the face. So hopefully next year we flip that around.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Yeah. Well, Emily, did she really get you or was she nice with it?

SPEAKER_00 14:14

It made a pretty fun sound, so that was kind of nice. But I feel like overall, like I was on the board, which I was pretty proud about, but it was seven to three, I think. Yeah, seven to three. But yeah, 10 sales total. Yeah, pretty good, I think.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Well, tell us what those sales were. You said it's an all-inclusive pass, but what is that?

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Uh so that's into our J and J Gaming VIP lounge. Um, so uh general public can buy tickets into the hospitality deck. It's great views, it's all inclusive food and beverages. It's sandwiched right between the 18th green and nine green. So honestly, you have pretty good views all day long. The best. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

They are good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Um really was we have a couple of set packages. We can also customize all the packages as well, but we kind of did our standard Bartie Eagle whole sign uh packages as well. It's kind of like what our little competition was about.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

There you go. We have an event, a networking on the green event in collaboration with a number of different groups here with Local First Springfield, Landolink Professional Networking Group, Silsa, and both chambers, the Springfield and Chatham Chamber. I think I got them all. You did? Is that in that place or is that in the one next to it? Where's that at?

SPEAKER_00 15:15

So um everybody will be meeting underneath that lower level patio um on the back side of Panther Creek, kind of near our ninth green. And then you'll hear a little, hey, thank you so much for coming out. Um, and then we'll kind of get everybody wristbanded over into JJ to enjoy the rest of the craft.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

I think that's really cool because we talk a lot on the show. I know we were talking to Jeff Dillman. He comes in and talks a lot, and we're always talking about communities growing together and all these groups working together with no ego involved. Let's just all work together for the benefit of Springfield to grow together. And I think that's a really cool way to do it. We're all coming together for that event.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Well, let's be honest. There's still a large contingent of people in this community that don't know we have professional golf here. And one of my favorite experiences, and I have a lot of them, but my older person, Erin Conley, came out very early. So we were still in the process of growing. She came out just to see what this golf outing that's a pet peeve too. This is not an outing, it's a tournament. It's a tournament. But she came out to see what it was all about and just to watch the look on her face where she realized that there's so much more than people think about, you know? And so the whole networking on the green initiative is to bring more people out, more business people, so that hopefully next year when we come to someone asking them to support this event and the initiatives that are behind it, because it's not just putting on this great event, because at the end of the day, proceeds go to charity and we could talk more about that. But we want people to say, that's something I can get behind.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Because if everyone does something, collectively, at the end of the day, the impact is tremendous. 7 million in economic impact. We're working on growing our charitable number. So our primary benefiting charity is Memorial Health. And this year we are really targeting funding a mobile healthcare unit that will go out into underserved populations and communities in their footprint, their service area. So there's a lot of reasons to be to support this tournament. And you get to bring your clients out and entertain them.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Absolutely. So what are some of those? You've got Memorial and LRS, of course, as primary sponsors there, but what are some other options for businesses out there to be able to help support you guys?

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Well, look, we have packages that start very, very modest and grow from there. So I would say this year we have some tremendous growth in that area. We have two founding partners that have joined us. So in the in the hierarchy of things, it would be Memorial LRS, our founding partners in Springfield Clinic and JJ Gaming. And we have two proud partners in OSHA Builders and E.L. Pruitt. You name it, and we'll put a sponsor on it. We get very creative. Um, next year we'd like to do a concert, and I don't mean a small local band, no shade throwing there, but like we would like to have a name and bring in a headliner of some kind. We have big, big dreams, and it takes sponsors to get it done. So you can sponsor the tournament at a whole sign package all the way up to becoming a founding partner. We will keep building. We will continue to build.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

I love the big dreams. That's what that's what we want around here, right? And like you said, people don't realize how big that is for us to have in our community. And I think you guys' plans to grow that even more is just phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah, one of 25 communities on this tour. And as the PGA tour ranks us, we are the smallest market on the tour.

SPEAKER_03 18:44

Really?

SPEAKER_01 18:45

And so I'm very involved in a group called the Tournament Advisory Committee. So it's made up of tournament directors on the tour. There are five of us. I currently serve as chairperson for that, but we do a lot of benchmarking. What you'll find about people in this industry is we're really competitive, hence the pie in the face thing. But we're very competitive and we're always like, How did you do that? What could we do here? So what can we do next? We're never satisfied. How many times does someone ask you, is that a full-time year-round job? It's a daily. Right. Yeah. So we are constantly looking at like we're in the last three weeks, so we're really focused on executing this one, but we've already been working on 2027. Oh, I bet. And what's next? And what could we do? Don't tell me I can't. Don't tell us we can't do it because we're going to figure out a way to do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Right. So over the last 10 years, has there been any golfer that came to town and did well here, and then all of a sudden you see that person everywhere on the tour that's really that's out there just crushing it?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Well, I'm all over if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram or anything, but we're starting to post a lot more about the PGA tour and where our players are now. I think Cornberry Tour is taggling this year is like the best are built here, which is true. Um, our champion last year, Austin Smellerman, is doing really well on the PGA tour. I think he's top 20 right now. He's pretty up there, but he's doing really well. And he played right here last year, which is great to see. Um, a lot of our champion has champions are doing well. Eric Cole, like some of these bigger names that you're kind of like, oh, like he played here. He played here. And it's just like going down this list. We have this little document that's who's played in Springfield. And I mean, it goes all the way back to 2016, but just going through and seeing that, I'm like, wait, I know that name. Oh, I know that name. And the more you start to see them, it's really cool to see, like, wow, they played right here.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Yeah, exactly. No, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

I think it's just so much more exciting. It's for more than just golf, but the golf is still pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

I love that. See that sum like on the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, too. It's like, I'd love to see somebody later on down the road that was playing here and then is now just out there crushing it and seeing a little bit of that. So it's just fun to see.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Xander Shoffley is a name that a lot of people would recognize. He played here. Cameron Young. And the really neat thing about Cameron Young, so I mentioned that tournament week is a full week of activity. So another big way that that we get a lot of businesses involved is through our proams. So we have a ladies only pro-am on Monday that's sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. And then on Wednesday we have the LRS Pro Am. Remember, that's how we started with LRS. And so it's really neat to see people that we know well or that we've got friendships with, and they play with like a Cameron Young. And then the next year he goes out and wins on tour or is playing in a rider cup. That's huge. It is, and the really neat thing about it is when they're playing in Springfield, and I'm not saying they they aren't still when they're on the PGA tour, but they're very humble and they're very approachable. And so they develop friendships with these players and they're texting them and they're responding. And Desiree with Bon, she has a player that she has followed. She came to a tournament that we run in Bermuda to follow Kevin Roy because they built a friendship here. And so you talk about connections and community. And this tournament has a lot of really special stories like that.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Love it. Well, let's get into just the tournament for a random Springfield spectator that's coming to see it. What is their experience going up to Panther Creek that day?

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Well, like I said, we try to make it accessible to as many as possible. So it's a very family-friendly event. We are closed to the public Monday through Wednesday. There are things going on. I don't want to miss talking about our junior initiative, which is Game Day presented by CephQ, which is Tuesday afternoon. It's totally free of charge. Um, game day is a program run by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And uh we bring out 50 to 100 kids Tuesday afternoon. They walk inside the ropes with players who are active in the tours traveling Bible study, and they interact with them for two or three hours at the end. We bring the snow comb truck in and they do a QA and we have pictures. And it just so happened last year, Austin Smotherman was one of the three players that participated in that. So that's Tuesday. And then Wednesday, of course, is the LRS ProM. And then Thursday, we're open to the public. You park for free at Landmark Chrysler, you ride um free shuttles. Those buses bring you right into Panther Creek and they drop you right near the first tee. They're running continuously, so they're constantly trading off. So you never have to wait long. And it's like a gosh, five minute. Yeah, it's not much of a drive there. Yeah. The two lights, yeah. So you get there, we've got the Shields fan zone going. We've got some partners in our Expo Village. We've got Folds of Honor Friday, uh, presented by Compliance Solutions, is another sponsor that joined us. That's our military initiative. So that's Friday. We've got a really special ceremony planned for 11 o'clock. Encourage people to wear red, white, and blue that day.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Honoring military and first responders. And then at the end of play, I don't want to jinx it. So if we have a wonderful weather day on Friday, which please, we are so due, we have something so cool planned for end of play on Friday that involves 21 guns and a bagpiper, and it's gonna be so cool. Oh, so cool. So I'm gonna leave you with that teaser, but you should come, you should stay for the whole day. Saturday is family fun day, and this is also Emily's area. So we've got a lot of fun stuff planned for kids.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

What do we got, Emily?

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yeah, so gosh, we have so many different fun things. We have uh face painters, and that's completely free. Um, we'll have snow cones, uh, ice cream for purchase, which is really fun. We have two local businesses that are coming up for that. We have an exotic petting zoo, which is always fun. We have a bubble extravaganza, that's new. I'm excited for that one. Uh, superheroes, superhero scavenger hunt. Um, that's something that we're really proud of, is our superhero kind of initiative, is uh that we're all kind of heroes in our own way. But there's a scavenger hunt, which there's a fun little new prize this year. So you have to, all the kids, you have to finish out the superhero scavenger hunt, stop by shields with your hidden code, uh, and then you receive your prize.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Awesome. So the scavenger hunt is it just around the course? Where's it at? Okay, all around the course? That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

There's little superheroes hidden in different places, and you get a map. Um it's a limited edition fun prize that's worth doing the scavenger.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

So we've got uh all the kids that day are gonna get uh capes, superhero capes that we partnered with a local business to have screened with a really fun tagline and masks. Yeah, and masks, but superheroes come in all shapes and sizes. And then on Sunday, we are going to have a champion and the real another really special thing to speak to another great community partner in Jigani and Gigani Fine Jewelers. We are, to my knowledge, still the only Corn Ferry tour event. We started it last year, thanks to our friends at Gigani. Our winner not only gets the winner's share of the million dollar purse, but they also walk away with a beautiful Rolex. Ooh, come on. And so it was really neat last year. Austin Smotherman won that watch and and Jake and Josh came out on the 18th green, sized it for him. And I think still to this day, if you look at Austin Smotherman's Instagram profile, it's him and his watch and his trophy. And that's been almost a year. Wow. So that's awesome. But those are the there's so many little things like that, like the watch and Jigani saying, we want to do something really special. And we wouldn't be able to do that, right? Because when you're looking at when you're looking at your budget and you're like, okay, a Rolex for the winner or paying for portalets.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

Right. Portalets gets it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

I mean, one is sexier, one is necessary, right? So, but we have a lot of great people in the community that step up, and we can't do it without something else that Emily is the driver behind is several hundred volunteers. So we get it set up and we plan for everything, and then we turn the keys over on Thursday morning to an army of volunteers.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Springfield really shows out for that, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Yes. You really can't do any event, massive event without volunteers. So just seeing everybody come together, young, old, all in between. Um, it's really great to see because we have a place for honestly anybody. You don't need necessarily need to know golf or love golf to be out there volunteering, inside, outside, all in between, which is really fun. And that's honestly thanks to country financial, they're a huge part of that as well.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Love it.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

So I don't want to glaze over it. You said a million dollar purse. That's nothing to shake. The Rolex is phenomenal and one million dollar purse. How does it come to the one million dollar purse? Is that something for on the tour? You have to have certain thresholds. How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah. So, and forgive me because running on lack of sleep at one time I'd have been able to tell you everybody's purse, but it's easy for regular season events. The purse, the minimum is a million dollars. And all of us are right at a million. Now, the season ending events have a little bit of a bump in their purses, but minimum is a million dollars. And so on the PGA tour, you always know that winner is gonna get 18% of that. So the winner of our tournament will walk away with a check for $180,000. And in Springfield, a Rolex thanks to our friends at Gigani. So that's and that's nothing to sneeze at.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

No, absolutely not. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

And the feedback that we get from players and caddies, because we're also a little unique in that we try to treat caddies the same way we treat the player because it's a very big part of the team that it takes to get their work done. And so um, Springfield was so special. We do player dining, but we include caddies in player dining here. That's a little unusual. We started that trend in COVID because we had to, and we've just opted to continue it. During tournament, our friends at Memorial Health are providing. Remember when I said these these guys are on the road however many weeks a year? So when they come here, they can get physicals on site, they can get their blood work done. We've got haircuts arranged for them in the locker room. Thanks to our friends at the University Spa of Cosmetology Arts. They're out there two days doing free haircuts for players and caddies. And heck, you could come out and get a haircut if you can. I think I'm on too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

Might get a shave too while I'm there if they do that.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah, but they would do it. They bring barbers out too. So we just we have a long list of services that we're able to provide to them right on site. And so again, you you wind me up and I get going, but like Impact Life, the Blood Center, we bring in one of their mobile blood units, not to get donations, but that's where we're doing all of these physicals and blood work and all of that. We fill every square inch of Panthers Clubhouse with something, but that's where we're doing all of that. Memorial's also going to extend some of these services to volunteers this year, Thursday and Friday. Really? And so it's a lesson that we've learned. We're all really busy. Don't ignore your annual physical. I'm not a medical person, but I've been around and working with our friends at Memorial long enough to know if you ignore it, bad things happen. So they are making it easier for these folks who are so very busy, dermatology screenings from SIU School of Medicine. We've got people out in the sun all the time. And uh, I will say, Memorial has saved lives at this golf tournament. In some of the screenings that we've done in the past, there have been instances where we have gone out based on something seen and pulled someone off the golf course and said, We got to get some follow-up.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Really?

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

So what we're doing, it's more than golf. It's really, really cool to see all of these people come together to do whatever their thing is and do it really well on our behalf and make our community shine.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Yeah. That's amazing. I didn't realize all the ancillary things that you had going on there.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Come out. Let's do a podcast out there.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Let's do it. I'm up for it. I'm gay. Let's do it. I'll do multiple ones that week with you if you want.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

You're welcome anytime.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

We're gonna talk about that after. We'll we'll get some good ones on the board there. That'll be fun.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

Absolutely. Okay. So anything else people need to know if they're wanting to attend or businesses wanting to come out? Anything else any of any of them need to know?

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Well, I will say this is not the year to sit at home and say, I wish I could have, woulda, shoulda, because we've had a lot of great events in this community over the years. So get a free ticket and get out there. Yeah. Even if you think you don't like golf, I promise I say it all the time, been saying it for years. You come out and see it once, you're coming back every year. Yeah. And then you might buy that upgraded ticket, right? And it's not too late. We still have packages available. I don't get to pie anybody anymore tied to that, but we still have packages available. There's still a way to get involved. We'll figure out a way to make it happen. And we still have a need for volunteers.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Yeah. So for all of you golf lovers out there, highly recommend our walking scores. We're looking for um walking scores on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that gets you inside the ropes, like me to you to players and caddies. It's an unbelievable experience. You don't necessarily need to know golf to do that. However, it is recommended, but it's a great fun experience to get inside the ropes. And then as well as product distribution, keeping our players, caddies, volunteers hydrated throughout the week. That's also a vital group that we're looking for volunteers throughout the week.

SPEAKER_03 32:15

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

We find a spot for anybody. We have people call the office all the time. Hey, I'm 83 years old. I'm not super mobile. I want to help out. What can I do? We find a spot for people. You want to help? We need your help. Call us.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

Come on, Springfield. Let's fill these last few roles here for this incredible event we've got going on. So I'm looking forward to it. One thing I'd like to ask all of my guests, and both of you could take it, or either or it doesn't matter to me. But of course, this event is elevating Springfield in and of itself. But is there anything else we could do community-wide to help elevate Springfield and the surrounding communities?

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Oh, there's so many different things, but I think coming from my perspective, do something. Don't sit on the sidelines. And I'm not just talking about specifically this event, but I I suspect that there's a lot of other events and entities in the community where instead of buying a ticket or doing a small sponsorship, anything someone does is meaningful. Whether that's your time, your talent, your treasure, whatever, get involved.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Fill your cup. That's something I always live by is filling up your cup. That's volunteering, that's going for a walkout in your community, just doing something. It's what she said, impactful.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

There you go. Well, fill your cup, Springfield, and get involved. Now, give us one more time all the details before we close out here.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Tournament week is June 22nd through the 28th. So competition rounds are the 25th through the 28th. Visit our website, Memorial Health Championship.com. You can call us, our numbers on the website. One of us will answer. We'll get you involved in some way.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Come on, let's go. Well, appreciate you guys coming to talk about it today. It's going to be a great event. So, all right. Well, we're going to let Kate and Emily get back to Elevate in Springfield. But for the rest of y'all, we'll be right back. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity, look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros, delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service, and fair, honest pricing every time. Whether it's trimming, removal, or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbors trust, Sangman Tree Service. Or visit the today at SangamintreeService.com. Sangamon Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust. Well, thank you for joining us today, everybody. Appreciate you making us a part of your day. Hey, don't forget while you're out on social, check ours out. You can check my personal one out at RobertFarrell at everywhere. Check out those Elevate Springfield pages, those big dog business coaching pages as well. Check us out over on YouTube. Give us a subscribe, give us a like or a follow on any of those channels. We would certainly appreciate it. So hey, take what you learned today. You bring the discipline and follow through and together. That's right, y'all. We're gonna elevate Springfield. Be great. Looking for personalized insurance with hometown care, David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agent's here to help you protect what matters most: your family, your home, and your dreams. Whether it's auto, home, life, business, David and his team are proud to serve the Springfield community with trusted advice and reliable coverage. Local service, real relationships, peace of mind. Call today or stop by their office. They can build your dream protection plan together. Call 217 726 6343.