In September of 2022, we unveiled the new title sponsor of our Korn Ferry Tour event: HomeTown Lenders.
After two years as the Huntsville Championship, we secured HomeTown Lenders as a title sponsor, effectively renaming the tournament to the HomeTown Lenders Championship.
In 2000, Hometown Lenders was founded by owner and CEO Billy Taylor in Huntsville, Alabama. The HomeTown Lenders brand marks are inspired by the hometown feel of the family land. In the HomeTown Lenders logo, a young girl swings beneath a tree with her family pup. The values of family, community and service are key to the HomeTown Lenders brand, and they want to be able to emulate these in the HomeTown Lenders Championship Logo.
Using core elements of the HomeTown Lenders logo, the Knight Eady team switched a swing for a swing to give the look a golf-inspired update. The silhouette of 2022 champion, Harrison Endycott, was used to replace the girl on the swing. By keeping elements of the HomeTown Lenders logo such as the dog, tree and some iteration of a “swing”, the HomeTown Lenders Championship logo continues to evoke the same feelings of small town America and a hometown feel.
Entering just its third year, the tournament was still working to gain a permanent spot in the Huntsville sporting landscape. A new name could have caused a backslide in brand recognition. Our team got to work building out a strong paid, earned and owned strategy to cement the new brand in the Huntsville community’s mind.
Over the 2023 season, we garnished a total of 16.3 million ad impressions and 12.8k ad clicks. Public relations efforts for the tournament earned 645 total media pickups with a potential reach of 67.3 million.
How We Executed Evacuating Over 350 Individuals from a 450-acre Golf Course. Three Times.
In 2023, fog served as a serious foe forcing our team to make the decision to delay play. Working hand in hand with the PGA TOUR’s on-site meteorologist, we closely monitored the weather on Thursday. Due to heavy fog, play was not only difficult but unsafe. Ultimately, the decision was made to postpone First Round play on Thursday, effectively impacting the remainder of the week’s schedule. The First Round of play eventually teed off at 10:25 a.m. on Friday and golf continued until a course evacuation was required due to darkness.
Course Evacuations at host club, The Ledges, require several shuttles to safely get players, caddies and volunteers back to the clubhouse and then back onto the course again upon continuation of play. Our team seamlessly executed not one but three course evacuations over the entirety of the week. Managing the logistics of getting over 350 individuals off of a sprawling, 450-acre golf course was no easy task but seamless communication and attention to detail ensured that all evacuations were done efficiently, safely and successfully. The tournament was consolidated into a 54-hole Championship and we were able to crown a champion under a beautiful Sunday evening sunset.
