Summertime, and living is easier for tournament.

• Author: Roush, Chris
• Position: Golf tournament at Greensboro

Greensboro's professional golf tournament once again has survived the cut. But organizers are a long way from striding up the 18th fairway to tap in for a major victory. When the PGA Tour announced its schedule for the 2007 season--shrunk from 48 to 38 tournaments--the Gate City was on it. It even got a better date, Aug. 13-19, rather than the one it had in October. So why aren't more people in Greensboro smiling?

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Maybe it's because they know there is more work to be done to keep the shots coming at the Carolina Classic at Greensboro--the tournament's 2007 name, for now. The name is changing because the sponsor, DaimlerChrysler, is paying for its final round at Forest Oaks Country Club this fall.

That might have been enough to kill the event except for a mad pitch by organizers, led by tournament director Mark Brazil. The board had 10 days to come up with a $25 million letter of credit to secure a date on the Tour through 2010. The backing came from individuals, businesses and foundations. "We had to provide that guarantee to the Tour to show we were serious about this," Brazil says.

If they were serious then, it's hard to characterize the mood now. Particularly with $25 million at risk if they don't come up with a title sponsor. The tournament has hired IMG, the New York-based sports-marketing powerhouse, to get those backers off the hook. Tournament officials, Brazil says, already have had phone conversations with several potential sponsors. He talks to IMG executives weekly and expects a new sponsor in place by the fall.

He declined to discuss candidates but says the search is worldwide. Of course, there are some good reasons for that.

While North Carolina-based companies such as Bank of America and Wachovia might seem natural fits, both already have their names on golf tournaments. Wachovia signed a four-year extension last year on the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte; BofA sponsors the Colonial in Texas and the Bank of America Championship, a senior event, in Massachusetts. Jefferson-Pilot, once the city's most prominent corporate player, has been bought by a Philadelphia insurance company. Winston-Salem-based Reynolds American is out--cigarette makers can no longer sponsor sports events.

"We would love to have someone based in North Carolina, but regional sponsors are hard," says tournament board member George House, a Greensboro lawyer. "Only companies with national products benefit from paying the rates for...