Sentry named new title sponsor of PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines

In January, Farmers Insurance sponsored the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines for the last time. Also that month, The Sentry tournament in Hawaii — the first event on the tour calendar — had to be cancelled due to severe drought conditions. At the same time, the PGA was actively working to condense its schedule.

They didn’t particularly want to go back to Maui, but their lucrative contract with Sentry runs through 2035. They didn’t want to leave San Diego but the event needs a sponsor.

So, it was time to do a little matchmaking.

“They first said, ‘Do we belong in San Diego, and at Torrey Pines?’ ” says Marty Gorsich, Century Club C.E.O. “By coming back here, they knew Torrey Pines is an incredible golf course. This community really embraces the event, and we show up and show out.”

It didn’t take the folks at Sentry long to jump at the chance to associate themselves with what many argue is the finest municipal golf course in the country.

“Torrey Pines itself — I mean it was just all in on that the first moment the conversation was brought up,” said Pete McPartland, Sentry C.E.O.

So, in 2027, The Sentry will be played on the North and South courses from Jan. 25-30, moving back to a Wednesday through Saturday format leading into the NFL’s conference championship games on Sunday. However, after that, San Diego could be in for a major golfing upgrade.

On the PGA Tour schedule, there are eight Signature Events. Those are tournaments with stricter qualification standards and a massive $20 million purse. Here’s where the Sentry sponsorship makes things at Torrey Pines extremely interesting.

“They’ve had a Signature and a Tournament of Champions in the past,” Gorsich said. “We’ve had a great field. We haven’t been at that level. So, while this year will look more similar to what we’ve had in the past, the ability to become that Signature, that upper level, potentially in the future as the Tour rolls things out, that’s really exciting. To have, not just many of the best golfers, but to be preeminent, it puts you on par with a [U.S.] Open.”

Sentry is even more certain it will be bringing that kind of clout and prestige to San Diego.

“This tournament will be elevated in terms of its overall importance within the tour, beyond even what Kapalua was,” McPartland said. “I believe that any golfer that has the opportunity to golf in this tournament will, in fact, want to be here.”

That likely means players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who usually skip Torrey Pines would be fixtures in the field, but why stop there? While it is a massive long shot, there have been preliminary discussions about potentially moving the tournament to August and making it a stop in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Of course, this announcement is about much more than just golf. During their 17 years as title sponsor, Farmers Insurance helped the Century Club make $25 million in charitable donations. That is a legacy Sentry says it looks forward to building on.

“We want to, I call it, jump in the canoe and start paddling,” McPartland said. “We come with no desire to leave an imprint that is anything other than supporting the momentum that has happened.”

“They love the work we do in the community,” Gorsich said. “Community is important to them. Charity and making a difference is part of their ethos, and when they saw how important it is to ours, they jumped at that as well.”