PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL – The PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour today announced its 2008 tournament schedule, which features 29 official Charles Schwab Cup events and official prize money of $55.2 million, with the average tournament purse growing to a record $1.9 million.
The Champions Tour will play in 16 states in the United States, plus the Dominican Republic and Scotland.
"The Champions Tour continues on a strong upswing; it’s a credit to the tournaments and title sponsors that we have the continuity and sponsorship support reflected in this 2008 Champions Tour Schedule," said Champions Tour President Rick George. "The presentation of our product at the courses we play, the high caliber of competition and distinguished list of champions which only keeps improving with the annual influx of notable players – enhances our schedule again in 2008. As a result, the Champions Tour is reaping the benefits of solid relationships between tournaments, title sponsors, players and staff that provide our Tour with a strong underpinning and many multi-year tournament extensions through 2010."
"The CTTA (Champions Tour Tournament Association) is gratified by the robust state of the Champions Tour and the momentum that continues to permeate every aspect of our tournaments from staging and promotion to the relationships with our title sponsors," said Amy Hawk, chair of the CTTA. "We’re delighted with the solid sponsorship base, a great line up of venues for our regular season events and our five major championships plus a good partnership with the GOLF CHANNEL. We are very encouraged by the Champions Tour’s continued evolution as it serves our sponsors, tournaments and especially our fans, with compelling competition and engaging entertainment."
The Champions Tour’s 29th season kicks off in Hawaii January 14-20 at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai on the Big Island followed by the Turtle Bay Championship (Jan. 21-27) on Oahu. The season will come to a close in late October at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma (CA) Golf Club, where several of the season’s award winners will be determined.
The major championship schedule features an elite list of venues, including Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY (Senior PGA Championship), one of Golfweek’s Top 100 Classic Courses in America for 2006 that hosted the 1980 and 2003 PGA Championships and the 1995 Ryder Cup. The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs will host the U.S. Senior Open on its Donald Ross/Robert Trent Jones designed East Course at the end of July. Both the JELD-WEN Tradition (Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort) and Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship (Baltimore Country Club) will return to their respective host venues for the second straight year. The site of eight British Opens, the Old Course at Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, will welcome the Senior British Open to its links July 21-27.
New to the schedule for 2008 is The Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, March 31- April 6. It will be played at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Punta Espada Golf Club, which attained No. 77 in Golf Digest’s rankings of the 100 Best Courses Outside the U.S just four months after opening.
One of the most popular and unique events in golf, featuring junior golfers and Champions Tour players competing side-by-side, the fourth annual Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach returns to the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links (and Del Monte Golf Course) over Labor Day weekend.
The Champions Tour’s longest running event, the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, enters its 31st year and will return to The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa in Savannah, GA, April 21-27.
All 29 events will feature national television coverage in the United States, with 23 airing complete coverage on the GOLF CHANNEL, the Tour’s exclusive cable network television home. Four official events will air Saturday and Sunday on NBC, with ABC and CBS televising one tournament each.
The Charles Schwab Cup, the Champions Tour’s year-long competition, will offer a record $2.5 million in annuities to its five leading point-earners and enters its eighth year. Designed to identify the Tour’s leading player, the Charles Schwab Cup will continue to be featured prominently in all cable and network telecasts next year.
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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 started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. In 2007 the Champions Tour features a minimum of 29 official events offering $54.1 million in prize money and an average purse of $1.86 million. The Champions Tour operates under the umbrella of the PGA TOUR which includes the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose as an entity of the PGA TOUR 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. 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.
Contact:
Michael McPhillips
Director, Communications
Champions Tour
Tel: 904-273-3470
