Two sisters lead the way for major Bank of Utah, PGA Tour tournament partnership

ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — The PGA Tour tournament down at the Black Desert Resort in Ivins is called the Bank of Utah Championship for a reason — the bank is sponsoring this year’s tournament, pouring in millions of dollars in funding, as it’s broadcast worldwide. 

Two sisters who were born in raised in St. George are among the key players credited for this major partnership, and the way the process unfolded is something they will remember for the rest of their lives. 

Ashley Dove, the vice president of tournament business for the Black Desert Resort, and Lacey Sansevera, executive vice president of the Bank of Utah, floated the partnership idea to each other as a joke at first. 

But soon, the prospect of sponsorship became a regular conversation between the two, when they realized how much their organizations were aligned on several key aspects. 

“Through those… sister check-ins, we started to learn a lot more about these new organizations that we were with… their shared values, goals, relationships, processes, all of these different things, the culture,” Dove said. 

They took a leap of faith and decided to pitch the idea to their bosses. 

“Let’s do let’s do this,” Sansevera recalled saying at the time. “Let’s get a meeting set up and let’s try to get our leaders together and I think if you get them in the room and you show them how we are aligned and how this can help each party really achieve everything … they’re going to get it.” 

After a lot of back and forth between the two organizations, both parties agreed to the partnership, which happened rather quickly because of the sisters’ relationship. 

“I think it helped streamline the process,” Dove said. “I mean, this was quick in terms of title sponsorship deals. This is unheard of — lightning fast.” 

What started as a casual sisterly conversation has now evolved into a partnership that’s putting their hometown on the world stage.