Proceeds will go to First Tee, First Hand, and YMCA of Greater Kansas City
Overland Park, Kansas – The Greater Kansas City Golf Classic announced today that proceeds from the 2006 Champions Tour event will benefit three local organizations — The First Tee/Junior Golf Foundation of Greater Kansas City, First Hand Foundation, and the YMCA of Greater Kansas City. The tournament is managed by The Pride of Kansas City Foundation, and the organization has distributed in excess of $900,000 to Kansas City-based charities in the past three years. This year’s event will be held June 26 – July 2, 2006 at The Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, Kan.
"We are pleased, along with our sponsors – Sprint Nextel, HCA Midwest Health System, Garmin, and Cerner – to designate these three wonderful organizations to be the primary beneficiaries for this year’s event," said Bob Burris, Executive Director, Greater Kansas City Golf Classic. "We welcome the opportunity to provide assistance and help these organizations attain their individual goals."
The First Tee of Kansas City’s principal purpose is to function as a youth development organization that uses golf as the context to help young people acquire a set of Life Skills that will help them in all aspects of their life. The First Tee of Greater Kansas City is operated by The Junior Golf Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
"It is an honor for The First Tee of Greater Kansas City to be involved with the Champions Tour," said Patrick M. Zuk, Executive Director, The First Tee/Junior Golf Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
"The First Tee and the Champions Tour have an ongoing relationship at the national level and we are excited to enhance our involvement on the local level."
Established in 1995, the First Hand Foundation focuses on pediatric healthcare. The First Hand mission is to directly impact the health status of a young life. First Hand assists individual children who have clinically relevant, health-related needs and no financial net to cover these expenses. Through this individual focus, First Hand reaches children throughout the world who might normally fall through the cracks of insurance coverage and state aid. The foundation strives to provide assistance that creates independence, rather than dependence, for its recipients.
"The First Hand Foundation focuses on the needs of children who have fallen through the financial safety nets within the healthcare system. By connecting the child, the provider, the need and the financial wherewithal, we are able to directly impact the future of that individual child," said Jeanne Patterson, Director of the First Hand Foundation. "We applaud the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic for its philanthropic focus on children."
The YMCA nurtures the healthy development of children and teens; strengthens families; and makes its community a healthier, safer, better place to live. Ys are for people of all faiths, races, abilities, ages and incomes. No one is turned away for inability to pay. YMCAs’ strength is in the people they bring together.
"The YMCA is honored to have been selected as a charity for The Greater Kansas City Golf Classic," said H. Eugene Dooley, President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Kansas City. "The funds raised will allow us to provide programs that build strong kids, strong families and strong communities for people of all incomes."
YMCA programs are tools for building the values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. Longtime leaders in community-based health and wellness and aquatics, Ys teach kids to swim, offer exercise classes for people with disabilities and lead a variety of health and wellness programs. The YMCA also offers hundreds of programs in response to community needs, including before/after school child care, early learning programs (the Y movement is the nation’s and our area’s largest not-for-profit provider), teen clubs, youth sports and family programs.
The Greater Kansas City Golf Classic, will be held June 26 – July 2, 2006 at The Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, Kan. The unique format of the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic offers golf fans the chance to see 76 Champions TOUR legends team up with 76 amateurs in a team format, similar to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. The low 12 teams with scores posted during the Friday and Saturday Pro-Am will advance into Sunday’s final round.
The Greater Kansas City Golf Classic is managed by The Pride of Kansas City Foundation and benefits local children’s charities.
For additional information, please contact Bob Burris, Executive Director, at 913-814-7744, or email bob@prideofkc.org.
About The Pride of Kansas City Foundation
The Pride of Kansas City Foundation is a not for profit 501.C.3 private charitable organization initially formed to produce Kansas City’s annual Champions TOUR event and disburse the charitable proceeds raised. Ultimately, the Foundation will produce enriching community activities all-year-long that enhance the lifestyles of those who live in Kansas City, work in Kansas City and play in Kansas City. The Executive Board is made up of corporate and civic community leaders whose job will be to develop the guidelines for distributing charitable funds to the named charity.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
About HCA
HCA Midwest Health System operates 12 hospitals in the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Allen County Hospital, Menorah Medical Center, and Overland Park Regional Medical Center in Kansas; and Baptist-Lutheran Medical Center, Cass Medical Center, Independence Regional Health Center, Lafayette Regional Health Center, Lee’s Summit Hospital, Medical Center of Independence, Research Belton Hospital, Research Medical Center, and Research Psychiatric Center in Missouri. Nashville-based HCA (NYSE: HCA) formalized its $1.13 billion acquisition of Kansas City’s Health Midwest network of hospitals in April 2003. You may visit us online at www.HCAMidwest.com.
About Garmin
Based in Olathe, Kansas, Garmin International is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation, communication, and information equipment. The company has built and sold millions of products that serve automotive, consumer, wireless, marine, aviation, recreation, and fitness markets. From its StreetPilot® line of portable and easy-to-use automotive navigators – to the nüviâ?¢, a groundbreaking personal travel assistant – to the Forerunnerâ?¢ family of wrist-worn GPS training gear for fitness enthusiasts – Garmin makes products that improve people’s everyday lives. For more information visit www.garmin.com.
About Cerner
Cerner Corp. is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than 1,500 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of healthcare information technology. NASDAQ: CERN www.cerner.com.
About Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate
Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate is a private country club located in Overland Park, 10 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to the 18-hole championship golf course, the club features a 21,000-square-foot clubhouse that includes full men’s and ladies’ locker rooms, golf pro shop, fine dining and grill rooms.
About ClubCorp
Founded in 1957, Dallas-based ClubCorp is the world leader in delivering premier golf, private club, and resort experiences. Internationally, ClubCorp’s affiliates own or operate nearly 170 golf courses, country clubs, private business and sports clubs, and resorts. ClubCorp has more than $1.5 billion in assets. Among the company’s nationally recognized golf properties are Pinehurst in the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina (North America’s largest golf resort, home to the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens); Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio (site of the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational); Vista Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (site of the 2006 Champions Tour Puerto Vallarta Blue Agave Golf Classic); Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California (home of the Kraft Nabisco Championship); and The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia (America’s first resort founded in 1766). The more than 60 business clubs and business and sports clubs include the Boston College Club; City Club on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles; Columbia Tower Club in Seattle; Metropolitan Club in Chicago; and the City Club of Washington, D.C. The company’s 18,000 employees serve the nearly 200,000 member households and 200,000 guests who visit ClubCorp properties each year. Visit www.clubcorp.com for additional company information.
About The Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it has grown to 29 official events offering a minimum of $52.7 million in prize money in 2005 and its highest average purse ever of $1.82 million. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is 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. On Oct. 30th, the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour and their tournaments announced they had reached the $1 billion milestone in charitable donations dating back to the first recorded donation in 1938. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Rick George is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Our web site address is PGATOUR.COM.
Contact:
Greater Kansas City Golf Classic
Bob Burris
Executive Director
email: bob@prideofkc.org
phone: 913-814-7744
Greater Kansas City Golf Classic
Brian Wright
Media Director
email: brian@prideofkc.org
phone: 913-484-7861
