CONCORD, Mass – After exhausting all possibilities for rescheduling the 2006 Bank of America Championship, which was postponed earlier this month because of excessive rain and flooding at Nashawtuc Country Club, officials from Nashawtuc Charities, Bank of America and the Champions Tour today announced that the tournament will not be played this year. They also announced that portions of funds set aside for this year’s purse would be used to ensure that local charities receive significant contributions, as they have throughout the tournament’s history, and that all daily tickets will be honored for grounds admission to the 2007 Bank of America Championship.
The tournament also will invite several Champions Tour players to return to Nashawtuc this summer for a private event for local amateurs who would have played in canceled pro-am events, and the Champions Tour will provide promotional opportunities over the coming months to Bank of America as title sponsor for the event.
The PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour’s twenty-sixth annual Bank of America Championship had been scheduled to take place June 5-11. On Saturday, June 10, tournament, Bank of America and Tour officials announced the postponement of the entire tournament because of course conditions.
"We’ve been in constant discussions since June 10 with everyone involved, including the Champions Tour and players, Bank of America, other corporate partners, volunteer leaders, Nashawtuc Country Club members and Nashawtuc Charities, which owns and operates the tournament, to determine whether to reschedule the tournament for this fall or cancel it," West said. "We simply could not fit all the pieces together in a way that maintained this historically significant event at a sufficiently high competitive level."
"This was a difficult decision to reach, but ultimately it was the right decision for everyone involved – the fans, volunteers, corporate partners and, especially, the dozens of community organizations that will continue to benefit from the Bank of America Championship," said Rick Parsons, brand marketing executive, Bank of America. "We greatly value our relationship with the Champions Tour and Nashawtuc Charities, who helped turn a difficult situation into a workable solution."
"Through a collaborative effort involving Bank of America, Tracy West and her tournament staff, Nashawtuc Charities and the Champions Tour, we think there is a rainbow at the end of this storm," said Champions Tour president Rick George. "All of the parties put their heads together in an attempt to find a positive solution to an unfortunate situation. Bank of America has been terrific throughout the whole process and their input and understanding was critical to making everything work. Charity is one of the key reasons sponsors, volunteers and communities give so much of their time and resources in support of a Champions Tour event, and we wanted to make sure the designated charities received significant contributions once again this year from the Bank of America Championship, in spite of the weather. In the near future we will announce those details but we think we have accomplished that. In the meantime, we thank everybody, including the players, for the spirit of cooperation they brought to the discussions and the patience they had in dealing with a particularly unique set of circumstances."
The twenty-seventh annual Bank of America Championship will take place June 18-24, 2007 at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord. Updates on tournament activities can be found at www.bankofamericachampionship.com.
Contact:
Tracy West
Tournament Director
Bank of America Championship
978-371-0116
Nick Ingala
Media Relations
Bank of America Championship
508-238-2800
Joe Goode
Senior V.P.
National Media Relations
Bank of America
617-434-7314
Jeff Adams
Director of Public Relations
Champions Tour
904-273-3397
