Every spring in Tucson, the Cologuard Classic brings together legends of the game for a PGA Tour Champions stop. But unlike most tournaments on the schedule, the story here doesn’t begin with golf; it begins with a mission.
The event is centered around colon cancer awareness and early detection, driven in large part by its title sponsor, Exact Sciences, the maker of the at-home screening test Cologuard. What started in 2018 as a traditional tournament has evolved into something much larger: one of the biggest gatherings of the colon cancer community, with hundreds of patients, survivors, and families attending.
“It’s one of the largest gathering places in the world for this community,” Bryan Goettel, director of advocacy and alliance relations at Exact Sciences, said.
The People Behind the Movement
At the center of the tournament is Jerry Kelly, a longtime PGA Tour pro, Cologuard ambassador, and tournament host.
“Jerry’s the reason this event exists,” Goettel said. “You know, it started with Cologuard on his hat, and we think back to, you know, 2018, the reality is then it was a golf tournament. We had about a dozen patients and survivors out here. But as Jerry has embraced his role of not just playing in this event, but to truly serve as a host and to be an ambassador for this cause, is why it has grown to what it has become and why we have almost 500 colon cancer patients and survivors of loved ones coming out here. …
“Put the golf aside, and it’s a testament to what Jerry puts into this. I mean, everybody does it from a place of love, not a place of business.”
Kelly doesn’t see it as extra responsibility; he sees it as necessary.
“There’s so many people here. It’s such a great, huge community. You know, and my head just starts spinning, trying to get to everybody that I possibly can,” he said.
“We call it the most beautiful, painful tournament that we have. Because it’s beautiful, the love in the community. It’s incredible. But it’s painful because we lose people.”
When Awareness Becomes Personal
The mission hits differently when it becomes personal, and for Kelly, it has.
He remembers one of the first moments that changed his perspective. A player he had been paired with, John McLeod, brought energy and joy to the course.
“He was larger than life… doing cartwheels down the fairway, very loud and boisterous,” Kelly said.
He didn’t make it to the next tournament.
“That shocked me a little bit,” Kelly said. “And that’s when I sat down with Kevin Conroy, CEO of Exact Sciences. He kind of gave me the lay of the land of the difference between Stage 3 and Stage 4., and how incredibly different that really is.”
Then the reality hit closer to home – a childhood friend, once an elite athlete, diagnosed in his late forties.
“The next year, one of my really good childhood friends Rob Andringa [was diagnosed]. And we had just reconnected again later in life … I was seeing him in all these tournaments and we were going out and having a great time. This is a hockey player with a national championship. You know, he was always the best athlete.
“He was 2 years younger than all the guys that he was playing with. So that shows you how good he was. And he was diagnosed a 48. That was when the guidelines were 50. And I mean, everybody that we know, we make sure they get [screenings] done. So if they would have dropped the guidelines, you know, if they would have started with a 45 guideline, his life would have been saved. That is when the early testing hit home for me.
“We can celebrate all of the people who have the disease, all the caregivers, all the advocates and all that. But the real message is early detection.”
The Message: Early Detection Saves Lives
The numbers behind colon cancer are both sobering and motivating.
“I love throwing around the stat,” Kelly said. “Nine out of ten early-detected colon cancers, you survive. One out of ten late, you don’t.”
Despite that, millions of Americans still aren’t getting screened.
“There’s 60 million Americans that are eligible for screening that aren’t screened,” Goettel said.
Part of the challenge is access, and that’s where Exact Sciences has focused its efforts, offering multiple screening options, including at-home testing.
“You can do it in the comfort of your own home,” Goettel said. “There’s just no excuse for people to not get screened anymore.”
But the bigger challenge is mindset.
“There’s hesitation for people to do anything for themselves,” Kelly said. “You think, ‘I’ll be better… I’m fine.’ That’s how you miss some of these early warning signs. There’s not many of them, but there’s a few of them. And you can pass it off very easily and not get checked. We want to turn these age milestones into a celebration. A, ‘I finally made it where I can get screened.’ I would have loved to do it 10, 15 years ago, but I get to now.”
The goal now is to make screening something people embrace, not avoid.
“If you go to cologuard.com, you can be assessed by a provider through a telehealth provider to determine if you are average risk and appropriate for Cologuard, and you can do the test in the comfort of your own home,” Goettel said. “We have options now, effective options, that can meet the needs [of] where people are at in their lives to make sure that they are getting screened.”
The Ribbons That Tell A Story
One of the most powerful visuals at the Cologuard Classic is also the simplest: ribbons.
Each player carries names – patients, survivors, or those lost – attached to their hats. What started during COVID as a way to stay connected has become a defining part of the tournament.
“So in 2021, we couldn’t have fans at the event, and it was like, how do we keep the advocacy community, the patients [and] survivors engaged, and, you know, Jerry gets a ton of credit because this isn’t something that happens at PGA Tour events,” Goettel said. “It’s an extra mile for the pros to do this, play on behalf of a patient, survivor, or a memory of somebody. Now, post-COVID, many of these people come and they get to meet their pro, and it’s pretty significant when you see their name on a hat.”
From there, the role of the players naturally expanded. It wasn’t just about showing up; it was about showing up for someone.
“There’s a lot of pressure in this job [professional golf],” Kelly said. “So I thank them every time to be emotionally invested past just doing their job because that’s sometimes a difficult thing. And some people are kind of open. They don’t open themselves up much anyway. So it’s really cool that they’ve all done this. Zach Johnson came up to me and goes, ‘that is so cool, what you guys are doing.’ …
“They’re not doing it for for pay, obviously. They are absolutely doing it out of the goodness of their heart, which is, yeah, I can’t thank them enough.”
A Community That Keeps Growing
What makes the tournament truly unique is what happens off the course.
Patients and survivors gather in meeting spaces, hotel ballrooms, and tournament tents – sharing stories, experiences, and support in ways many don’t get elsewhere.
“I was hurt last year. I finished the [first] round, but I couldn’t go on. That was the biggest gift that I’ve ever had,” Kelly said. “Being able to be in their survivor’s tent Saturday and Sunday, not playing, just being up there all day with everybody and hearing all their stories… I know that Sponsoring a Survivor program is key. These people are spending their life savings going through treatment, many of them. And it’s difficult for them to [spend] a couple 1000 bucks, you know, room, flight, etc.
“It’s important that we can get them here because the community needs each other here. They just, they don’t get to talk about it. They don’t have people who they can relate to consistently and this is just, it’s incredible. These ballrooms upstairs are absolutely filled and everybody is just rolling, having a good time.”
Goettel recalled one moment that captured the impact of the event. A late Stage 4 patient, Liz Healy, said the tournament meant as much to her as her medical care.
“At first I was like, how is that even possible?” he said. “…she was someone we both [Jerry and him] got to know very well. She passed just over a month ago [and] had been to the last three events while fighting Stage 4.”
After seeing the connections formed at the Cologuard Classic, the answer became clear.
“It gives people in the fight something to look forward to,” Goettel said.
A System Designed for Impact
The commitment to access is built directly into how the tournament operates year-round.
“We have multiple routes now that can get people here. Exact Sciences provides grants now to 19 different advocacy organizations from around the country. And that’s what allows a lot of these patients and survivors to come out. And then we also have the Sponsor a Survival program that just accepts donations,” Goettel said.
“On the 15th hole, we have a Birdies for Survivors program. So every birdie that Jerry or any of the pros get during the tournament, the tournament donates $1,500 toward that effort, which essentially, if you think about it, every birdie allows a patient or a survivor to come to the tournament the following year. We have a little QR code on the website that you can take a look at on your phone and sponsor a survivor to come in.
“These people are spending their life savings going through treatment. It’s important that we can get them here.”
Where the Stories Step Inside the Ropes
One of the most powerful moments of the Cologuard Classic happens before the first official round ever begins.
The pro-am.
It’s where survivors, patients, and families – many of whom have lost loved ones to colon cancer –step inside the ropes and play alongside professionals. For a few hours, they’re not watching from the outside. They’re part of it. Walking the fairways, sharing conversations, and creating moments that often carry far more weight than anything on the leaderboard.
This year, that meaning took on a new dimension.
For the first time, the tournament welcomed a 10-year-old into the pro-am field.
Silas Jones stepped onto the course not just as a participant, but as a tribute. Playing through the Hero Fund with Fight Colorectal Cancer, Silas competed in honor of his late father, Zach Jones – a respected ESPN researcher manager who passed away from Stage 4 colon cancer, on Dec. 22, 2024.
Paired with Ernie Els, Silas didn’t just hold his own; he embraced the moment – consistently hitting fairway shots and putting with purpose.
His mother, Amber, walked alongside the group, capturing photos and cheering him on – watching her son honor his father in a way few experiences could replicate.
It was emotional, but it was also joyful. The kind of moment this tournament creates again and again.
Off the course, Silas is a baseball player who loves to throw heat from the mound and root for the San Diego Padres.
A Tournament With Multiple Missions
Long before it became a platform for colon cancer awareness, professional golf in Tucson had already established deep roots. Since the 1960s, the Tucson Conquistadores have served as the tournament’s host organization, using the event as a vehicle to give back to the community. Over the decades, that mission has translated into more than $37 million raised for local and national charities, with a strong emphasis on youth athletics across Southern Arizona.
That impact is still felt today. From partnerships with programs like First Tee-Tucson to direct support of amateur sports, the tournament continues to create opportunities for young athletes – many of whom may never step onto a professional stage but benefit from the structure, access, and life skills those programs provide. It’s a legacy piece of the Cologuard Classic that runs quietly in the background, but one that has helped define golf in Tucson for years.
“We figured out a great way to blend what might seem like two very different missions and use this tournament to help accomplish two very different goals, but in a meaningful way. Very impactful either way,” Goettel said.
As cases of colon cancer continue to rise in younger populations, the urgency behind screening has intensified.
“[Colon cancer is] running rampant through the younger ages as well. So to me, 45 is too late,” Kelly said. “I think it should be turned to 21, you know, standard of care. I mean, that’s the kind of world I envision, where there is no colon cancer.”
Colorectal cancer is now the #1 cause of cancer death in men under 50 and #2 in women under 50 in the U.S.
“People don’t talk about it,” Kelly said.
‘The Most Beautiful, Painful Tournament’: The Story Behind the Cologuard Classic