Connecticut’s annual super bowl
CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT | It is a well-known fact that the Travelers Championship, staged last week at TPC River Highlands in this town just south of the state capital of Hartford, is a favorite of PGA Tour professionals. They appreciate the charter flights organizers provide competitors from the previous week’s tournament as well as the courtesy cars that go to caddies and contestants alike. The event also offers an array of amenities for players and their families, such as massages for spouses and day care for the kids, and activities ranging from Wiffle ball games to horseback riding on nearby trails and boat cruises on the Connecticut River, which runs by a portion of the course.
The PGA Tour also has made extensive upgrades to the golf course and practice facilities through the years and recently built a 40,000-square-foot clubhouse.
And let’s not forget the $20 million purse that comes with being a signature event.
First staged in 1952 as the Insurance City Open and held at TPC River Highlands since 1984, the Travelers is also a darling of golf fans throughout the Nutmeg State. They have made the tournament, traditionally held the week after the U.S. Open, the second most-attended PGA Tour event each season, behind the WM Phoenix Open and attracting roughly 300,000 spectators.
“It is our one major-league event each year. The professional teams we root for are either in New York or Boston. But this is the only one that is right here in Connecticut.”
chris Berman, espn
Question is, why is it so popular?
To answer that query, I turned to a rather impeccable source in ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman. After all, the 69-year-old was born in Connecticut and has worked and lived here for much of his adult life. Berman also has been involved with the tournament in various ways for some three decades.
“It is our one major-league event each year,” said the man who is best known around the state as Boomer. “The professional teams we root for are either in New York or Boston. But this is the only one that is right here in Connecticut.”
Another factor, he adds, is the rich history of an event that was hosted for many years by the late entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. and counts among its past champions Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele.
“Its popularity also has to do with the timing,” Berman said. “Kids are just getting out of school, and no one has taken off yet on a summer vacation. People are around, and because they are, they all go to the tournament.”
It also helps that TPC River Highlands is in the middle of the state and convenient to Connecticut residents. There are no shortages of good viewing areas on the course, which is routed across terrain that is so evocative of New England with its rolling hills, ponds with peepers and stands of stately maples and oaks. And spectators often find themselves running into friends and neighbors while on the grounds.
“It’s a happening, and a very happy one at that,” Berman said.
Which goes a long way toward explaining why the spectators come back as faithfully each year as the tour players.
John Steinbreder
E-MAIL JOHN
Top: Sammy Davis Jr., circa 1988
JEFF McBRIDE, PGA TOUR ARCHIVE