Tomorrow night, the beacon from the most recognized building in the Hartford skyline, the Travelers Tower, will turn red marking the official start of the inaugural Travelers Championship.
"Monday marks the beginning of a new era for Connecticut's PGA TOUR event," said Andy Bessette, executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Travelers. "Our team has worked hard to bring an outstanding field of players to TPC River Highlands and we look forward to the week's festivities, with all proceeds benefiting the Greater Hartford Jaycees and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp."
In April 2006, Travelers signed on as title sponsor of Connecticut's PGA TOUR event for the next four years. Since that day, there has been an ongoing effort to make the tournament a new experience for the fans, players and their families. Some of the upgrades to this year's tournament include the start of construction on a new practice facility, an increased purse to more than $6 million with $1.08 million going to the winner, an upgraded corporate row facility and a new hospitality experience for the fans called The Pavilion.
All proceeds from the Travelers Championship will benefit the Greater Hartford Jaycees, a committed team of young professionals dedicated to serving the Greater Hartford community, and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, an organization founded by Paul Newman that serves children with serious illnesses and their families.
Travelers has changed the color of the lights in its famous Tower building on only two other occasions. Following the tragic events of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Travelers changed the lights to red white and blue. Then in May of 2004, the colors were changed to blue and white to honor the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams for winning the NCAA basketball national championship in the same season.
The Travelers Championship will be played June 18 - 24, 2007, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.travelerschampionship.com.
About Travelers
Travelers understands that life and business are inherently dynamic and that the best way to serve agents and policyholders is to deliver insurance that evolves to stay in-synch with life and business as they change. For more information on being in-synch, visit www.travelers.com.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading property casualty insurer selling primarily through independent agents and brokers. The company's diverse business lines offer its global customers a wide range of coverage in both the personal and commercial settings, including automobile, homeowners, construction, small business, oil and gas, ocean marine, bond and financial products, global technology and public sector services. Travelers is a Fortune 100 company, with 2006 revenues of $25.09 billion and total assets of $113.76 billion. The company has approximately 33,000 employees.