LA JOLLA — The future of the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Torrey Pines is secure after Sentry Insurance agreed to become the tournament’s new title sponsor beginning in 2027.

The sponsorship announcement, announced at a June 1 press event by tournament organizers and PGA Tour officials at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, ensures the continuation of the San Diego event after Farmers Insurance ended its longtime title sponsorship earlier this year.

The tour began playing the San Diego Open in 1952, with Torrey Pines Golf Course hosting the annual event since 1968. The next iteration of the tournament, organized by the Century Club of San Diego, is now scheduled to conclude on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027, under a revised PGA Tour schedule designed to avoid competing with the NFL’s conference championship games the following day.

For organizers, finding the right sponsor for the event was imperative.

“We didn’t want somebody to just slap their name on the tournament – that just doesn’t work in the model we have,” said Marty Gorsich, CEO of the Century Club. “We strive for excellence.

“I’m very excited to say we are fortunate enough to have found that great partner.”

The partnership

The pairing proved fortuitous for both organizations.

Farmers Insurance announced before Justin Rose’s record-setting performance in January that it would no longer sponsor the PGA Tour stop at Torrey Pines, leaving the event’s future uncertain.

Many golf stars spoke out in support of the venue at the time, with Brooks Koepka, a former world No. 1 and five-time major champion, calling Torrey Pines “iconic,” Rose saying “this place is special,” and Harris English describing it as “one of my favorite places on the tour to come to.”

Around the same time, Sentry faced a similarly uncertain future in men’s professional golf.

“I believe we are the most golf-centric company not in the golf business,” Sentry CEO Pete McPartland said at the press conference.

Since 2018, Sentry, the Wisconsin-based insurance company, has served as the title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s season-opening event, long known as the Tournament of Champions and featuring winners from the previous season. Sentry had signed on as title sponsor for the Tournament of Champions through 2030, according to a news release.

Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course hosted the event every January from 1999 through 2025. However, due to drought conditions in Maui, Hawaii, the PGA Tour elected not to play the event there this year.

McPartland told The Coast News that he and Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Smith still traveled to Maui during the week the tournament would have been played to meet with local officials and express support for the community.

“We will continue to contribute philanthropically to the island of Maui, regardless of whether there’s a golf tournament in Maui or not,” he said.

About two months ago, as the PGA Tour considered revamping its 2027 schedule, officials approached Sentry with an idea they were not yet ready to discuss publicly: an opportunity to sponsor the stop at Torrey Pines, which McPartland described as an easy sell.

“[The PGA Tour] led the process, but – as a good partner of theirs – they pulled us into the process and it was, game, set, match,” McPartland said. “Any opportunity to be here in Torrey Pines is where we want to be.”

McPartland said that before moving to Wisconsin to become Sentry’s CEO, he had lived full-time in Coronado and still owns a home there, which he visits frequently. During the pandemic, his son moved into the home with his family, and his two grandsons “became rabid Padre fans.”

Moving forward

Torrey Pines is located in the district represented by San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava, who jokingly referred to himself as “the other Joe LaCava” at the event, a nod to Tiger Woods’ caddie.

LaCava said the two courses and practice facilities at Torrey Pines benefit year-round from the visibility of a professional tournament, as well as the “top notch condition” required to host a PGA Tour event.

“The PGA Tour attracts spectators and businesses to come for a week in San Diego,” LaCava said. “And throughout the year, Torrey’s reputation attracts visiting golfers, who play the course and stay in our San Diego hotels, like here at the Lodge.

“And whether it is tournament week or all [year] round, that adds up to another driver of San Diego’s diverse and powerful economic engine that employs our residents and brings in tax dollars, so that we can deliver some services to the residents and businesses of San Diego.”

LaCava told The Coast News that revenue generated at Torrey Pines also benefits the city’s other municipal courses at Balboa Park and Mission Bay. The city is “continuing to reinvest in our golf division,” he said, which “does an incredible job.”

Gorsich added that hosting a professional event helps keep the city invested in maintaining the course’s high standard for professionals and recreational golfers alike.

“It makes you polish the jewel,” he said.

According to Gorsich, organizers will seek to minimize disruptions to public play by keeping course closures as brief as possible.

McPartland said Sentry was especially excited about Torrey Pines’ status as a municipal course.

“I don’t know yet how they pull that aspect off,” he said. “I don’t know how you have one of the best in the country as a municipal golf course. I don’t understand that, but I think it’s a really great part of the storyline, certainly.”

Sentry has no plans to alter the tournament and instead wants to help ensure its long-term future, McPartland said.

“I know the golf part’s going to go fantastic,” McPartland said. “I know the charitable contributions and things are well in hand. We look forward to supporting that. We come with no change intended whatsoever – just wanted to grab a pad and jump in the canoe and start rowing with everyone else.”