Carts line up before a shotgun start at an Applied Underwriters Invitational event.
Months after graduating from Tufts University in 1985 with a B.A. in economics, Loren Shapiro joined the consulting division of IMG, the sports marketing behemoth founded by the late Mark McCormack.
“My first job there was running rodeos out West in a partnership with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,” Shapiro said. “We had developed a program called the Winston Tour, which was named after the cigarette company that sponsored it and modeled after the Winston Cup on the NASCAR circuit.”
One time between competitions in Texas, he accepted an invitation to play in a charitable golf outing at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
“During that round, which was my first scramble ever, a light bulb went off in my head,” said Shapiro, who had played on the golf team at Tufts. “And I suddenly asked myself, why not stage tournaments like this all ov...