San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
-based charitable organization, established in July 1961. They are the organizers of the annual
Farmers Insurance Open
The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the San Diego, California, area in the early part of the season known as the "West Coast Swing".
The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy William ...
, an annual
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
golf tournament at
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a 36-hole municipal golf facility on the west coast of the United States, owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla, just south ...
in San Diego solely for charitable purposes. The proceeds of the Farmers Insurance Open often go to the Monarch School, although in 2011 they reported to have donated over $1.3 million to over 200 charities. The Century Club are also major fundraisers of the San Diego County Junior Golf Association, investing in San Diego golf education.
The club has its origins in the organizers of the San Diego Open who were looking to broaden their support base beyond corporate sponsors San Diego County Chevrolet Dealers Association and
Convair
Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, it ...
.
Wickes Furniture
Wickes Furniture was a privately held chain of furniture stores based in Wheeling, Illinois. The company was founded in 1971 with a showroom in Fridley, Minnesota, and at its peak, operated 43 stores in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, M ...
and
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
collaborated and established the Wicks/Andy Williams San Diego Open in late 1967-early 1968. In 1983, Isuzu Motors and Williams began sponsoring the tournament and from 1986-1991,
Shearson Lehman Brothers
Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearson In 1992,
Buick Motor Division
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General Mo ...
became the official sponsor of the tournament until 2009 when the
Farmers Insurance Group
Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independen ...
became its official sponsor. As of November 2011, The Century Club of San Diego has 56 Active members, 9 Provisional members, 8 Associate members and 28 Honorary Members.