(WXYZ) — Detroit's first-ever PGA TOUR event, the Rocket Mortgage Classic, was honored with three "best of" awards at the PGA TOUR's tournament meetings earlier this week.
According to the tour, they received awards for "best special event" for the Area 313 Celebrity Challenge, "best tournament sales" and the new "Fair Way Award" for its diversity and inclusion inititatives during the week.
“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I am thrilled to congratulate the Rocket Mortgage Classic on being recognized with three ‘Best Of’ awards for the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season,” said PGA TOUR EVP and Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer Andy Pazder. “The tournament committee and title sponsor Rocket Mortgage should be extremely proud of their collaborative efforts and for being celebrated as top among their peers on TOUR, especially in their first year on the PGA TOUR schedule.”
The celebrity challenge featured three PGA TOUR pros, as well as celebrities including Kid Rock, Jerome Bettis, Tom Izzo, Justin Abdelkader and many more. Those teams competed in the three-hole challenge for an exciting event.
“I am truly humbled, and I know our entire tournament staff, our partners at Quicken Loans and Detroit Golf Club, and our volunteers are as well, to receive these prestigious awards,” said Jason Langwell, the Executive Director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Every member of our team should feel a tremendous amount of pride today, not only for being recognized by the PGA TOUR, but for the validation of all their long hours and hard work as we built this first-year event from the ground up. Our tournament staff is comprised of some of the smartest, hardest working and most dedicated people I’ve had the privilege of working with anywhere, and we’re excited to continue building on the solid foundation we have set for this event.
“We are particularly proud to have the Rocket Mortgage Classic named as the first recipient of the Fair Way Award. Since Day 1, we have made it a priority to make this event inclusive to all and representative of the demographics of Detroit. In this effort, we’re following the precedent set by Quicken Loans, which makes diversity and inclusion a top priority each and every day.”
