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The first drive of the morning makes Mike McCoy nervous every time. Three co-workers or clients and professional golfer Jeff Sluman watch from behind as he carefully sets the ball on the tee, takes a quick practice swing and then takes his first real swing of the day.

But over the next four hours of playing in the Principal Charity Classic CIBER Pro-Am – and over the course of the next few days – the executive vice president of human resources and communications for Wells Fargo Home and Consumer Finance Group loosens up. Professional golfers begin to mingle with amateurs and business mixes with entertainment.

The Principal Charity Classic has become one of the premier business outings in Greater Des Moines. The three-day tournament attracts business executives and their top clients, who are there to network while watching 78 Champions Tour players vie for a share of the $1.725 million purse. The event also is surrounded by weeklong activities, including the pro-am tournament, where amateurs are paired with a professional golfer, golf clinics and parties.

“It’s a blast,” said John Stenberg, president of Pigott Inc., which rents a skybox overlooking the 18th hole at the tournament’s site, the Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. “It’s just a great time to be out there. You get to see not only a lot of people from within our community, but you get to see professional golf played at a very high level.”

This year, more than 200 businesses sponsored the event, bringing in a total of $1,926,200 (not including the title sponsor), up 6.5 percent from last year and 114 percent from when Allianz SE was the title sponsor. The tournament also generates $3 million to $4 million in hotel, restaurant and other revenues in Greater Des Moines.

In its inaugural year as title sponsor last year, Principal Financial Group Inc. helped raise the Charity Classic to a No. 4 ranking among Champions Tour events, compared with 21st out of 26 tournaments when Allianz was the main sponsor. The rankings are based on several criteria including attendance, community integration and generated charity dollars. It also won “Most Improved Event.” Charitable donations surged to $575,000 from an average of $150,000.

Beating last year’s charitable donations could be tough this year, said Mary O’Keefe, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Principal and board member of the Principal Charity Classic. “The economy was tougher this year,” she said, “so we really had to hustle to keep our sponsorships up.” Plus, the cost of putting on the tournament increased.

But with a local company now leading the charge, sponsorships have come pouring in as businesses see the tournament as a great networking, marketing and charitable opportunity.

The decision for Pigott to participate for the first time last year was influenced by Principal taking over, Stenberg said. “I think that had a lot to do with the fact that the sponsorship was now based in Des Moines, and Principal Financial Group is a good customer, and (now-retired CEO) Barry Griswell is doing a lot of great things for the community, so it’s good to be on board with some of the great stuff he’s doing,” he said.

Pigott spent around $20,000 this year for advertising and a skybox for 30 people, which included food and beverages. It uses the skybox as a “thank you” to top customers and employees. “It’s really our biggest event of the year,” Stenberg said.

Holmes Murphy & Associates also rents a skybox suite, where it will invite more than 600 people, mainly clients, over the course of the week. “This is our way of thanking our customers, and they seem to have a great interest in this tournament,” said company chairman Doug Reichardt.

Local businesses also see this as adding a quality-of-life component that could attract and retain top talent in Des Moines.

“This is as much about the community and improving the quality of life in the communities that we serve as it is a business event,” McCoy said.

Sponsorship dollars go toward defraying the cost of putting on the tournament, with any money left over going to five charities, including the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, which hosts the event. New this year was the Birdies for Charity program, where people could pledge a certain amount of money per birdie made during the tournament to a charity of their choice among the extensive list. Last year, 750 birdies were made.

The other benefit to many business executives and their top clients is the chance to play in a team of four with a professional golfer for $12,000. Wells Fargo & Co. had about a half-dozen teams, McCoy said. The Wednesday and Thursday events often sell out.

The foundation for running the tournament was already in place when Principal took over as title sponsor, but many of the events and the way the tournament was managed changed, O’Keefe said. Organizers visited other PGA tournaments and got feedback from the business community on whether they would support something like this. Wells Fargo stepped in as presenting sponsor, also taking an active role in organizing the tournament.

A board made up of some corporate sponsor executives makes the decisions, and a management company runs the event.

“It’s quite an ordeal,” McCoy said. “When you start looking at all the staging and the stands, put up the skyboxes, get officials and all the volunteers, you go ‘Wow, this is a big deal for Des Moines.’ A lot of planning goes into something like this.”

In addition to this work, the players give countless hours during the tournament, showing up at business meetings to give a short presentation, signing autographs and giving golf clinics to business professionals and children.

“When you get paired with a pro, you don’t know what to expect,” McCoy said. “You’re thinking: I’m an amateur; these guys are the professionals. To even want to be going out and playing golf with three or four other amateurs can’t be any fun for them. And as soon as you’re with these guys, they immediately put you at ease, make you smile and laugh and give a few tips for the game. …Without the sponsors and pro-ams and the revenues it generates, they wouldn’t have a chance to do what they’re doing. They really understand that; they internalize it.”