PARA Seeks Funding For Second Annual Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority (PARA) has been making the rounds with local elected officials this week in an effort to secure funding for the second annual Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic at Ol' Colony Golf Course.

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The inaugural 54-hole tournament last fall served as a qualifier for the EPSON Tour for 108 professional women's golfers aiming to make their way to the LPGA.

To put on the second installment, PARA requested $100,000 in funding from the County Commission, which approved the measure unanimously on Wednesday. This came a day after the Tuscaloosa City Council's Finance Committee approved a similar measure as a type of contingency for the tournament.

PARA Director of Finance Michael Crady said the biggest shortfall from last year was a governmental tourism grant that would not be available this year.

Still, he told the Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday that last year's tournament generated $1.6 million in advertising value for Tuscaloosa County and the golf course.

"So that's immediate return on investment just for notoriety for the course as a driver for future tournaments, golf tourism and also just to enhance our operational revenues in the future," he said. "We expect that to be a huge asset for the course."

Financial figures provided by PARA showed that the inaugural tournament's operating expenses came out to $441,157.46, coming out to $29,582.34 in direct profit from tournament operations.

But between operating costs and capital improvements needed for the tournament, which included broadband upgrades, new sod and electrical upgrades, total direct expenses came out to just short of $500,000, resulting in a net cash loss for PARA of $58,297.86.

Here's a breakdown of the final budget from the inaugural Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic

Here's a breakdown of the preliminary budget for this year's tournament

As was the pitch to the Tuscaloosa City Council, Crady said PARA's request came with the caveat that PARA is not trying to profit off of the county's contribution

"We're asking for $100,000 in financial support, in-kind services, any manner the Commission sees fit to support this event, we will kindly accept," he said.

Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Rob Robertson, who chairs the Commission, asked if the funds provided by the county could be put back into the course for additional improvements.

"Each time [the tournament is held] it improves out there," Robertson said. "It highlights the course and it can be a fundraiser, because each time it's done it improves out there."

Crady went on to say that the 2023 installment of the tournament will once again have a large corporate sponsor with Tuscaloosa Toyota, a presenting sponsor and another sponsor that has purchased an entire day to sponsor the Pro-Am tournament.

He said the only fundraising metric difficult to predict year-over-year will be individual sponsorships.

"If we do end up making a profit, all of that will be invested back into Ol' Colony, as well," he said.

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