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PGA Tour's Champions Tour Comes To Houston Augusta Pines Golf Club selected as the site for newest Champions Tour event Contact King Hill HOUSTON, Texas (August 11, 2003) - The PGA TOUR and Augusta Pines Golf Club today announced a multi-year agreement that makes Augusta Pines the host of a Champions Tour event for the next three years. The first Augusta Pines Charity Classic is scheduled for the week of October 4-10, 2004. It will be unofficially hosted by Champions Tour winner and University of Houston alumni, John Mahaffey. Mahaffey is joined by a large contingent of former U of H golfers who also compete on the Champions Tour -- Ed Fiori, Tom Jenkins, Bruce Lietzke, Bill Rogers, Rocky Thompson, Bobby Walzel, Kermit Zarley and Fuzzy Zoeller. Keith Fergus turns 50 next March. The Augusta Pines Charity Classic will be a 54-hole individual stroke-play event with a purse of $1.6 million and an estimated economic impact of $30 million. The host organization and title sponsor will be announced at a later date. The tournament will air on The Golf Channel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The announcement was made today at a reception in Houston at Augusta Pines Golf Club, which is located north of downtown Houston. "We are pleased to forge this new relationship with Augusta Pines and are excited to bring the Champions Tour back to Houston after a ten-year absence." Rick George, Champions Tour President said. "Augusta Pines is an ideal facility to welcome the Champions Tour back to Houston and The Woodlands area. Dennis Wilkerson, owner of Augusta Pines Golf Club, had the following to say about the announcement. "I've dreamed of bringing the Champions Tour back to Houston and The Woodlands for 10 years. This is an exciting opportunity for Augusta Pines and its charities, as well as the Champions Tour and its players. We look forward to a successful event and lasting relationship with all those involved." ProLinks Sports, a seasoned event-management company which specializes in Champions Tour events, has been hired as the management company for the tournament. They also manage the Kinko's Classic in Austin, SBC Championship in San Antonio, 3M Championship in Minneapolis, FleetBoston Classic and Allianz Championship in Des Moines. About Augusta Pines Augusta Pines is an 18-hole golf club designed by Tour 18, Inc., innovators in golf course technology. The facility features a state-of-the-art practice facility (including six target greens and two pitching greens with sand bunkers). The 100,000-square-foot clubhouse suggests the charm of a stately antebellum mansion which is capable of accommodating 300 guests. The course negotiates mature pines, dogwoods and oaks. The tees and fairways are Baby Bermuda grass, while the greens feature TifEagle. Its dramatic finishing holes are back-to back island greens, the par-3 seventeenth and par-5 eighteenth. A total of 30 acres of lakes come into play on eleven of the eighteen holes. Augusta Pines officially opened December 8, 2000. For more information regarding Augusta Pines, contact King Hill at 832/381-1000 or visit their website at www.augustapinesgolf.com. About the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Since its inception in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour with just two events and purses totaling $250,000, it offers 31 official events and $57.9 million in prize money in 2003. The Champions Tour operates under the umbrella of the PGA TOUR. Its primary purposes as a component of the PGA TOUR are to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. Since 1938, the combined charitable donations from all three Tours of the PGA TOUR has reached $740 million. In 2002, $72.4 million was generated for charity. The PGA TOUR's web site address is www.pgatour.com. About Pro Links Sports, LLC In May 1997, Hollis Cavner, Greg Aune and Tracy West formed Pro Links Sports in order to maximize various strategic opportunities as a full-service golf management company. While operating on a relatively small scale (35 employees), PLS has quickly established itself with strong capabilities in the following five areas: tournament management, hospitality planning, corporate outings, corporate merchandise and player appearances. Pro Links Sports, LLC is based in Dallas, TX. For more information about Pro Links Sports and for sponsorship information for the Augusta Pines Charity Classic, contact Greg Aune at (972) 488-8545. |