Champions Tour admission will be free next month

The Champions Tour, the branch of the PGA Tour for players 50 and over, has gone through attrition from earlier in this decade. There were an all-time high 39 official tournaments in 2000 and now that number is down to 25.

Five of these are run by Pro Links Sports, the Blaine-based company owned by Hollis Cavner and Bryan Naugle. The first of the five was the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla., in early February.

"We had free general admission for the first round on Friday and we had the best crowds we've had in Boca," Cavner said. "The fans kept coming up and saying, 'Thank you for doing this.'"

This caused Cavner's gray matter to start pulsating. He brought back an idea to his staff for the 3M Championship, Minnesota's Champions Tour stop and the event from which all things started to flow for Cavner and Pro Links.

The idea was to offer free general admission to the public for the entirety of the 3M Championship when it was held the week of July 6-12 at TPC of the Twin Cities in Blaine.

Cavner needed approval from Allina Hospitals and Clinics, the main beneficiary of the charitable contribution that results annually from the 3M event. He also would need his staff to find new sponsorships that would help offset a loss in ticket revenue.

Allina signed off and a few new sponsors signed on. And Cavner made it official Wednesday:

"This is the 17th year of our tournament and Minnesotans have supported us in amazing fashion," Cavner said. "They have made it possible for us to donate $15 million to charity through the years.

"My thought was, 'This is the perfect time to give something back to people.' We took the idea of free admission to Allina and they were all over it.

"And then [director of sales] Tommy Vannelli and his people went out and got the sponsors."

Corporations and other sponsors will distribute tickets to get into their hospitality areas as in the past. The public can buy a good-any-day $30 ticket in advance for access to the clubhouse.

General admission? No charge.

The tournament was able to find daily sponsorship for the general admission tickets: Pepsi-Cola on Thursday (the last pro-am day), the city of Blaine on Friday (first round), Spire Banking on Saturday (second round) and Allina, as a ceremonial sponsor, for Sunday's final round.

Was the fact this year's 3M is a month before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine involved in the decision?

"That had something to do with it," Cavner said. "What's a ticket, $450 for the week at the PGA? It might be a situation where people wouldn't be able to go to both tournaments. Now, they can see all the professional golf they want in Minnesota this summer, without coming up with the money for both of us."

The PGA Championship was held at Hazeltine in 2002. The 3M was in its second year at the TPC of the Twin Cities and drew what remain some of its largest-ever crowds.

In the meantime, the hero of the 40,000-plus galleries roaming Hazeltine became Fred Funk, an animated 46-year-old chasing a first major victory.

Cavner was in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday for the Triton Financial Classic, the second of Pro Links' official Champions events. Funk was also there and confirmed by telephone that he will be playing in his first 3M Championship next month.

"This will be my first time in Minnesota since that PGA," Funk said. "That was a ball -- short of winning, the most fun I've had in a golf tournament.

"I think it was a little of me reacting with emotion to what went on that first day, when I was tied for the lead, and the Minnesota fans took it from there. I'm looking forward to being with those folks again."