The American Century Championship Returns for its 36th Year

written by Bill Kopp

The American Century Championship is an annual celebrity golf tournament held each July at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada. Established in 1990, it features a diverse field of celebrities, including athletes, actors and entertainers. The most recent winners were Tony Romo (2022), Stephen Curry in 2023, and Mardy Fish in 2024. The 54-hole, par 72 event offers a purse of $750,000.

Over the years, the American Century Championship has become a premier destination for fans to engage with their favorite stars in a competitive yet entertaining setting. The tournament includes a Long Drive Challenge (16th hole), Charity Chip Challenge and a Hole-in-one contest on the 17th tee; the latter is sponsored by Korbel. The tournament supports charitable causes, contributing significantly throughout its history. Visit Lake Tahoe CEO Carol Chaplin spoke with me about the popular tournament, which took place this year July 9-13.

Tell me about your role in connection with the tournament.

Carol Chaplin: I've been president and CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA) -- or as we call ourselves these days, Visit Lake Tahoe -- since 2008. I came in June of that year, so the first thing that I got hit with was a very active and vibrant event called the American Century Championship.

You started in June?! So it was "Welcome, and 'boom.'"

Yes! But my staff have been doing this for a long time. We manage the volunteers, and we have 400 of them for the tournament that week. And many of them have been there, if not for every year, for close to all 35 years. NBC owns this tournament, and they have a wonderful tournament director. Milthorpe Sports LLC is the company that runs the tournament. LTVA is the destination sponsor; we have roles that we play, but we don't produce every aspect of it. There are lots of partners; it's just amazing to see how many people in the community are involved in this; they transplant themselves for a month before it happens.

It's often a challenge to get volunteers for events; getting them to come back again and again suggests that it's a very rewarding experience for them.

Oh, absolutely. A lot of these volunteers know each other from other tournaments; this is part of their social life. They're passionate about the sport, passionate about the players. They spend a week with us, and they find their own accommodations. Our staff hears from them year-round because they've become friends and acquaintances. They're something else: they know what they're doing and they know what hole they want to be on. They know what role they want to play. It's a great little community, and the volunteers really make that thing run.

Tell me about the origins of the tournament.

1990 was the first year; there were about 1,500 attendees that year. At that point in time, Caesar's Hotel was here; it originated with Caesar's, and the LTVA helped find rooms for the players and [tasks] like that. NBC purchased the tournament in the mid '90s, and American Century became the title sponsor in 1999. So they've both been with the tournament for a long time. American Century is an incredible company to work with; they're very passionate about what they do for nonprofits.

Back in 1990 it was just a little tournament with a few celebrities. And then it just grew from there; last year we had 77,000 people attend. We've had some incredible moments on the golf course that have echoed around the world, like Steph Curry's hole-in-one in '23.

What sets the American Century Championship apart from other golf tournaments?

The golf tournament takes place at our good partners Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, considered one of the finest in the country. It sits right on the lake, so there are incredible views of stunning Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas in the background. A lot of golf tournaments have great scenery, but I'm not sure how many are in an Alpine setting like ours. So that might set us apart a little bit.

Then there's the fact that we have approximately 84 celebrities and athlete players every year. And there's this thing that happens on the golf course -- especially on 17, which is right next to the lake -- where we have spectators who line up on the beach in their boats. They wait for their favorite players to come along.

And there's strange stuff that happens. You might see Justin Timberlake throw a football into a basketball hoop. It gets pretty fun out on those final holes, coming in to 18 at the clubhouse. Golf etiquette is observed when it needs to be, but it is put aside in some cases when the players are having fun. And some of those players come back year after year themselves, just like the volunteers. They have friends on the course, and they really have a good time. It's a place where the players bring their families and have a little bit of a vacation as well.

What charities benefit from the event?

American Century has their own charities; they're very active in cancer research. Then every year after the tournament, the LTVA manages this pot of money that comes back to us. Each year it's anywhere from $75,000 to $125,000, for a total of over $8 million over the life of the tournament. Beneficiaries include The Boys and Girls Clubs and Cancer League of South Lake Tahoe; some of our local schools get money. Most of the money goes to nonprofits that help some of our local underserved populations. And we've been able to donate things like a vehicle to get people to their treatments, and a walk-in cooler to help keep food fresh so that people can have fresh meals made for them.

Typically we're able to donate back to at least 25 to 30 nonprofits. American Century and the tournament are the reasons that we're able to do that. The tournament is one of those gifts that keeps on giving; we're always very appreciative and thankful for American Century helping us with that.

Beyond exponential growth, how has the tournament changed over the years?

At the beginning in 1990, obviously we didn't have the kind of media coverage we have now, so [from a technical standpoint] we couldn't do what we do today. We didn't have drones, we didn't have social media, and there were some limitations in term of television broadcasting. Of course now we're broadcasting globally. One reason that the tournament has grown so much is that we reach so many more people year after year. Online, we are numbering in the billions -- as opposed to thousands -- of impressions.

This tournament is a community within itself. The American Century team that comes in is the same people that I met in 2008. I'm still working with the same team, the same tournament director from NBC. We all know each other; we know what our families are doing. We've watched kids grow up. And the players have done that as well. We have NFL Hall of Famers, we have incredible stars from every different sport, we have TV stars. And they all have a relationship on the golf course that withstands the test of time.

What else would you like people to know about the tournament?

Tournament week is something that we all look forward to here in the community. There is a very different vibe in South Lake Tahoe. The community is really proud of this event and welcomes people to spend time with us. People enjoy walking into one of our hotel casinos and seeing one of the players dining or having fun. Harvey's Outdoor Concert Series is in full swing during that time period, so there's always a concert during the tournament, and a lot of the players go to that.

We have incredible local community partners in our hotels and restaurants. Harrah's is our host hotel for the event. Edgewood Tahoe is a great partner and provides the golf course; they turn it over to the tournament for that entire week. Bally's, Golden Nugget, Forest Suites and Azure Hotel are all our partners; they help provide rooms and accommodations for the team that comes in from NBC and some of the sponsors. Korbel is a big sponsor, too; they've come back every year.

It's fun to see how we all come together to make this a really special time of the year. There's nothing else like it for us here in South Lake Tahoe.

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