Rocket Classic will leave lasting impact on Detroit as PGA Tour event concludes
The Rocket Classic will be teeing off at the Detroit Golf Club this summer for the eighth and final time.
Last week, Rocket announced it would not renew its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour event heading into 2027, ending an eight-year run that began in 2019.
Despite the event ending after 2026, its impact on Detroit will continue.
From bridging the digital divide in Detroit to growing the game in communities of color, the impact of the Rocket Classic will be felt long after the tournament's final round.
Rocket's Changing the Course Initiative connected thousands of Detroit households to the internet and empowered local organizations to help Detroiters make the most of it.
"Changing the Course for digital opportunity is really changing the course for digital wealth and opportunity for the city," Human I-T impact manager Richard McCall said.
"Regardless with it being the last year in Detroit, the impact is going to continue. There's so many things we've been able to do since 2023 that I know we've only been able to do because of the Classic," Black Tech Saturdays co-founder Johnnie Turnage said.
"I think there's a language that happens on the golf course in terms of how you build relationships, how you get contracts, how you say, 'I'm going to tell you how I really got this job.'"
Rocket's financial support of Midnight Golf and First Tee Detroit is building some of those same skills, particularly in young people in communities of color.
We were one of the first charities that they selected eight years ago, and the money that we got, we got an opportunity to use it for our students. We make sure they get an opportunity to go on a college tour," said Renee Fluker, founder of Midnight Golf/College Career and Beyond.
"They turn into access through scholarships, through financial aid, through buying golf balls for practice. For all the things that support golf," said First Tee Detroit CEO Carl Bentley.
This year's event is expected to feature one of the tournament's most competitive fields, which received a commitment from Wyndham Clark on Monday, a top-20 tour golfer.
Patrons will get a first look at the completely restored North Course that also includes new areas where they can get closer to the action.
The tournament also announced a one-of-a-kind event called "Par 3 in the D. Six players will tee off on the Tuesday before the tournament from a downtown Detroit rooftop to see who can get closest to the pin, about 100 yards away and 60 feet down.
"It's kind of like taking video game golf and bringing it back to reality in a way. It's unique. When I was talking to the Bedrock people, they go, 'What if one of them hits a window and it breaks?' And I was like, 'Wouldn't that be great?' It would go viral. They didn't laugh like I did," Rocket Classic tournament director Mark Hollis said.
Hollis says tickets are also moving from some of the most expensive on the tour to some of the most affordable, especially if fans buy them before the end of June.
While the tournament may be saying goodbye, its legacy lives on with the impact it made.