The charity take

Though organizers don’t offer estimates, it was clear attendance for the week was as high as it has ever been, in the hundreds of thousands, and the crowd along the 18th hole for the finish was enormous, the largest Grube could remember in his 19 years with the event.

The Travelers, which donates 100% of net proceeds to local charities, raised a record $3.2 million for 170 nonprofit organizations in the region. The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford is the primary recipient.

“Going into it, we knew we were going to have the best field we’ve ever had,” Grube said. “The goal and the hope was we would translate that into an historic year for charity and it was.”

With the strength of the field, Grube said, more companies became involved because their clients wanted to get in. “That’s one little mark,” Grube said. “When you get inbound increase that percolates up from the client level.”

The weather

Everything was accomplished with searing, sometimes dangerous heat during the week, and severe thunderstorms that halted play for several hours Friday and Saturday, flooding parts of the course.

“The weather was a little bit weird, we hadn’t had this much disrupted weather in recent years,” said Andy Bessette of The Travelers’ executive VP and chief administrative officer, “but I was impressed with the number of fans who came back (when play resumed) to watch the last four or five holes. That was great to see. The PGA staff here and (course superintendent) Jason (Cannata) and his staff were tremendous.”

The first thunderstorm rolled through Friday at 3 p.m. with about an hour of golf left to play. Whenever lightning is detected close by, the course must be cleared. Joe Halvorson, the PGA’s traveling meteorologist, was on site to offer guidance.

“Our agronomy team has to be prepared for those scenarios,” said David Corrado, the TPC River Highlands GM. “First and foremost it’s all about safety of all the spectators. Once the storm is starting to subside, it’s about assessing the golf course and what needs to take place to get play back out there.”

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