St. Mary’s High grad is man behind the scenes
Nearly a year of work, ‘adventure’ have led major tournament to Caves Valley
Patrons attending this week’s Constellation Senior Players Championship will arrive to find the course set up for major professional golf.
As they stroll around Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, most fans will have no idea how much work went into preparing the venue for this PGA Tour Champions event.
Anne Arundel County native Joe Rotellini and his staff have been working for almost a year to organize the tournament, which is being held Thursday through Sunday at one of the premier courses in the Baltimore region.
Rotellini holds the title of executive director of the Constellation Senior Players Championship, a position that involves everything from selling corporate sponsorships to recruiting volunteers.
“It’s always a challenge when you come to a new course. You are starting from scratch in almost every respect,” Rotellini said. “You need to understand the mission of the host club and its membership in terms of what they want, you have to work with local government on various issues and you have to build a sponsorship base to support the tournament.”
Rotellini and his four-person staff arrived in Baltimore County last August, setting up an office in Owings Mills and finding apartments nearby. The St. Mary’s High graduate has been with the PGA Tour Championship Management since 2000 and overseen four tournaments over the past 17 years.
This is Rotellini’s fifth straight season as executive director of the Constellation Senior Players Championship, which was held in Pittsburgh for three years and also made stops in Boston and Philadelphia. He and wife Liz, an Archbishop Spalding graduate, move to whichever region is hosting the tournament for a year.
“My wife and I call it our yearly different adventure,” Rotellini said. “Obviously, since we are both from the Annapolis area, this tournament has brought us back close to friends and family.”
Naturally, Rotellini has spent considerable time on-site at Caves Valley, a Tom Fazio-designed course that opened in 1991 and has been rated among the best in the Mid-Atlantic region. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank are among the many renowned members of the posh, exclusive club.
“Everyone here at Caves Valley, from the staff to members, has been terrific,” said Rotellini. “I think the players are going to love this tournament because the golf course is in impeccable condition and the layout is terrific, challenging but fair.”
Rotellini is tasked with transforming a country club into a tournament venue, which involves erecting grandstands, setting up corporate hospitality structures and positioning portable bathrooms. There is a media center that must be wired for phone and internet service, concession stands, vendor booths, first aid tents, course maps and all sorts of other signage.
“It’s like building a small municipality,” Rotellini said of the village he must create without detracting from the natural aesthetics that make Caves Valley, situated on 180 acres off Blendon Road, so beautiful.
That required constant communication and cooperation with who has worked closely with Caves Valley director of golf Dennis Satyshur and superintendent Steve Glossinger. Caves Valley has hosted numerous major events in the past, including the U.S. Senior Open in 2002 and the inaugural women’s International Crown in 2015.
“Joe is a total pro and a real gentlemen. We couldn’t be more pleased with the job Joe and his team have done in bringing this tournament together,” Satyshur said. “What I like most about Joe is that he listens. He’s a veteran of the business, but is open to new ideas and approaches. He recognized that Caves Valley has done this type of thing before and welcomed our input.”
Having Constellation Energy signed on as title sponsor for five years removes a huge weight off Rotellini’s shoulders. He works hand-in-hand with Kristina Gregory, vice president of corporate sponsorship and events for Constellation Energy.
However, a major championship golf tournament needs more than a title sponsor in order to pay the bills. Rotellini was charged with creating a budget and recruiting additional sponsors at various levels of support. Bill Marriott, a former Orioles marketing executive, brought local expertise to selling sponsorship and hospitality packages.
General ticket sales are just as important, and Rotellini contracted Maroon PR to put together a promotional campaign. That resulted in what Rotellini termed a “media buy” in which advertisements about the Constellation Senior Players Championship were placed locally in print, radio and television.
Rotellini, who will be 63 years old soon, was once a teacher, coach and administrator. He coached football and lacrosse at St. Mary’s, Archbishop Spalding and Glen Burnie before moving on to the college ranks at Bethany, Salisbury, Shippensburg and Alfred. He served two stints as head football coach at Salisbury.
“My time as a coach definitely prepared me for this job. I use a lot of the same skills in terms of communicating, building relationships and developing partnerships,” Rotellini said. “We have a lot of young staff members and I do my best to coach them up. There’s a lot of team-building involved and you need to be able to relate to people one-on-one.”
Rotellini will spend about a month breaking down Caves Valley after Sunday’s final round before moving to the Chicago region for the next year. Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill., is hosting the 2018 Constellation Senior Players Championship.
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