Overview
The Copperheads
The Transitions Championship is operated by a not-for-profit organization, Copperhead Charities, Inc., a volunteer group of Tampa Bay area community leaders known as the Copperheads. The members have the dual ambition of raising money for charity and providing golf fans with the best in PGA TOUR competition. The organization’s history of success is shown by the nearly $28 million raised for area charities since 1977, even as the tournament has grown in stature among PGA TOUR events.
The Copperheads have a history of more than 30 years of aiding Tampa Bay area charities through professional golf that has been further enhanced by title sponsor, Transitions Optical, a locally-based company with a global reach as a leading manufacturer of photo-chromic lenses, whose first tournament with the Copperheads was in 2009.
The Copperheads’ first professional competition was a mixed-team event of PGA TOUR and LPGA pros in 1977. Since 2000, they have run a full field PGA TOUR event. Once held in the fall, the tournament joined the Florida Swing in the spring of 2007. Jim Furyk and Gary Woodland are the most recent winners.
Since 1977, $28 million has been generated for local charities by the Copperheads, including nearly $2 million in 2011. More than 100 Tampa Bay area charities actively participate in the Transitions Championship through Birdies for Tampa Bay Charities. This is a grass roots fundraising program designed to give all 501(c)(3) charities an opportunity to raise money for their organizations based on the number of “birdies” made by contestants during the tournament.
There are approximately 170 Copperheads, including a 15-member Board of Directors. David Robbins is general chairman and CEO, Larry Morgan is vice-general chairman and Kevin Krisle is president and tournament director. An experienced tournament staff and more than 1,500 volunteers are also vital to the tournament’s success.
For more information on the Copperheads, including how you can help, contact Zach Labbe in the tournament office at office@thecopperheads.org
Course History
The Copperhead course is part of a 72-hole complex with natural elevation changes that range up to 80 feet. This elevation change is very unusual for Southwest Florida, especially along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Copperhead course opened in 1974 and was restored in 1999, two years after it was purchased by Westin, Inc. The goal of the restoration project was to regain the shot values and still challenge today's longer-hitting PGA TOUR players when Innisbrook hosts TOUR events.
The plan involved refurbishing all 18 greens, restructuring many of the bunkers, removing some trees around the greens to improve air movement and sunlight and clearing out undergrowth between fairways.
The length of the golf course is the most visible change from 7,295 to 7,340 yards by the addition of tournament tees on five holes. A reported $500,000 was spent, and the course re-opened just in time for the 1999 JCPenney Classic.
With its unusual elevation changes, the natural setting of the Copperhead course will probably remind you of a Carolina layout rather than Florida's West Coast.
--Source: Golf Course Superintendents Association of America