(ATLANTA, November 1, 2006) — The BellSouth Classic, Atlanta’s annual stop on the PGA TOUR event since 1967, has announced a record-breaking total contribution of $1.717 million to charities from the 2006 BellSouth Classic. Atlanta-area charities will receive the majority of the contributions and the total exceeds the previous record amount set in 1997 by more than $700,000.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), the event’s primary recipient of tournament proceeds since 1981, will receive $880,000, junior golf related programs $35,000, and other charities more than $800,000. More than $527,000, for charities other than CHOA and junior golf, was generated from the Atlanta Classic Foundation’s Birdies for Charity program. With this total donation, the tournament has now contributed more than $12.3 million to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and over $15 million to Atlanta charities overall.
"It is so satisfying for our volunteers to know their efforts on behalf of the BellSouth Classic have changed so many lives," said Dave Kaplan, Tournament Director of the BellSouth Classic. "Giving back to the community is at the heart of the Classic and all tournaments of the PGA TOUR."
"BellSouth has a tradition of service to the community and the BellSouth Classic has been a cornerstone of that support," said Duane Ackerman, chairman and CEO, BellSouth Corporation. "We are proud of our contribution to the Atlanta community, and especially to the families and children who are direct beneficiaries of the tournament proceeds."
"We are very pleased with this year’s donation and that it put us over the $12 million mark in total contributions to Children’s," said Joe Guy, President of the Atlanta Classic Foundation, the tournament’s organizing body. "This level of contribution happens because of the generous corporate commitment provided by BellSouth, other participating sponsors and the tireless efforts of our nearly 1,800 volunteers."
"Each year this significant contribution from the BellSouth Classic enables Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to purchase the most advanced equipment and to increase the level of care to our young patients," said Gene Hayes, President, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation. Hayes adds that this year’s donation will be directed towards the capital campaign for current hospital expansion initiatives.
Over the years, the money raised by the tournament has helped Children’s develop its state-of-the-art facilities and further enhances its reputation as one of the nation’s finest children’s hospitals.
Other recipients of 2006 BellSouth Classic proceeds include the Atlanta Junior Golf Association, the Georgia State Golf Association’s Yates Scholarship Fund, The First Tee of Atlanta, the First Tee National Schools Program and the Project One Junior Golf Academy totaling $35,000. Donations to miscellaneous charities totaled $802,000 with the majority of that amount coming from the Birdies for Charity program.
The 2006 tournament was won by Phil Mickelson who also won the event in 2005 and 2000. Mickelson became the tournament’s first three-time champion. The 2007 BellSouth Classic will be played at the TPC at Sugarloaf in Duluth, GA, May 14 through 20, more than a month later than the past several years. Expected to compete are Mickelson, two-time BellSouth Classic titleholder Scott McCarron, two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen, Sugarloaf resident Stewart Cink and many more of the world’s finest professional golfers.
Contact:
John Marshall
Media Director
(770) 436-2643
Brent Fowler
BellSouth Corporation
(404) 249-2839
