Seth Curry’s team wins the ‘Smash for Cash’ competition
STATELINE, Nev. – American Century Investments’ (ACI) chief marketing officer Erik Schneberger announced that Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry won the Smash for Cash competition, donating a whopping $10,000 to a charity of his choice.
The Smash for Cash competition took place on Wednesday and Thursday at hole No. 14, measuring the ball and club speed of the celebrity and amateur golfers to calculate their Smash Factor—measuring how efficient their golf swings were. “It was a great activation with a lot of engagement with the celebrities,” said Schneberger.
This was the first time they utilized the AI-powered system, and some celebrities broke the system—Joe Theismann, former MVP and All-Pro NFL Quarterback scored a wild 28.38 before it was amended to a more realistic 1.45. Stephen Curry scored the individual highest score at a 1.52.
Teams that swung an average score of 1.43 or higher donated $500 to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and Schneberger reported a total donation of $17,000.
Though Curry hasn’t yet said what charity he has selected for the $10,000 donation, the charitable aspect of the American Century Championship is a major draw for all celebrities that participate.
ACI has a long history of charitable donation, directing 40% of their profits to medical research. “ACI, at our core, is about higher callings,” said Schneberger. “Our clients who invest us aren’t just investing in their future, but everyone’s future.”
Stowers Institute for Medical Research has guaranteed funding through ACI, a real boon for the organization as funding sources for science become more challenging to obtain.
And as the celebrity golf championship has grown, more funding gets put toward important and life-changing medical research. Schneberger, who started at ACI in 2019, said “Moving forward (with the tournament) was absolutely the right call.”
Whether the Smash for Cash event will return next year is up in the air. “You never know what we’ll do next year,” said Schneberger. And it’s true of the whole tournament—the lineup of celebrities, the weather conditions, and how people play all changes from year to year. “But that’s the best part of live sports. It comes together in a way you can’t predict.”
Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.
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