Sold Out Event Set for March 3 at Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa; Two Orange County High School Seniors to Receive $10,000 Scholarships
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 26, 2009 – Legendary golf icon, World Golf Hall of Famer and all-star personality Lee Trevino is scheduled to share his unique and colorful golf and life experiences in his signature, enthusiastic style at the annual Toshiba Classic Champions Breakfast presented by The Allergan Foundation Tuesday, March 3 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa. The popular and exclusive event is sold out.
“We are thrilled to sponsor the Champions Breakfast again,” said Tom Burnham, president of The Allergan Foundation. “Since we are an Irvine-based company, this strengthens our continuing partnership with Hoag Hospital in a manner beneficial to everyone: our employees, our families and the community we live in.”
Trevino, 69, is a 1981 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee who has won 29 times each on the PGA and Champions Tours. He owns PGA TOUR majors with the 1968 and 1971 U.S. Opens, 1971 and 1972 British Opens and 1974, and 1984 PGA Championships. He holds Champions Tour majors with the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, 1992 and 1994 PGA Seniors’ Championships, and the 1992 Tradition. He is entered in March’s $1.7 million Toshiba Classic, which will be televised on Golf Channel (tape delay) on Friday, March 6 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. PST and Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8 from 3:30-6 p.m. PST. The winner earns $255,000.
The 1967 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, Trevino won five Vardon trophies (low scoring average), played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams and captained the 1985 Ryder Cup team. He was the first player in U.S. Open history to shoot under par and in the 60s in all four rounds during his 1968 U.S. Open win. He previously served as an NBC golf analyst in between PGA TOUR and Champions Tour participation and has had many previous commercial and movie credits, such as his role in the golf-themed movie, “Happy Gilmore.”
The Champions Breakfast also serves as the stage to another proud, deeply-rooted Toshiba Classic tradition. The Toshiba Classic Scholarship Fund will use the breakfast to present two $10,000 scholarships to two of Orange County’s best and brightest students, Cori Chapin of Estancia High School and Cindy Vallejo of Laguna Hills High School. Funded by proceeds from the Toshiba Classic, the scholarship fund is a joint effort of the tournament sponsor, Toshiba America Inc., and Hoag Hospital Foundation.
The Toshiba Classic scholarship panel initially interviewed 24 Orange County high school seniors and determined 12 finalists. Two scholarship recipients are chosen by the scholarship panel, based on multiple considerations such as academic achievement, financial need and extracurricular activities. All 12 finalists receive Toshiba laptops. In the tenth year of the program, the Toshiba Classic Scholarship Fund will have donated a total of $189,000 in scholarships and 110 computers to outstanding Orange County students.
The 12 scholarship finalists were Chapin, Vallejo, Maggie Flicker (Corona del Mar High School), Aurora Garcia (Costa Mesa), Jenny Le (El Toro), Kellen Chen (Irvine), Christina Hernandez (Mission Viejo), Alice Cope (Newport Harbor), Brian Chen (Northwood), Brandon Poon (Trabuco Hills), Michael Tang (University) and Branden Fini (Woodbridge).
The Toshiba Classic’s marquee field includes defending champion and 2008 Champions Tour Player and Rookie of the Year Bernhard Langer, 2007 Classic champ Jay Haas, World Golf Hall of Famers Trevino, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Nick Price, Ben Crenshaw, Larry Nelson, Tom Kite, Isao Aoki, Hubert Green, Curtis Strange and Hale Irwin, the Toshiba Classic’s only two-time champion, and Toshiba Classic debutantes Ian Woosnam and Hal Sutton among other major champions from the PGA and Champions Tours.
Daily tickets are $20 if purchased in advance and are $25 at the gate. Season clubhouse badges providing admission to the grounds and clubhouse for practice rounds and the tournament are $100. All tickets, including corporate ticket packages, can be obtained by calling 949-660-1001 or visiting www.ToshibaClassic.com.
The 2008 Toshiba Classic raised $1 million for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and other local Orange County organizations. In the past 11 years, the Toshiba Classic has raised more than $11.1 million for charity, the most on the PGA Champions Tour.
The Toshiba Classic
Hoag Hospital Foundation produces the annual Toshiba Classic. During the last 11 years, the Toshiba Classic has raised more than $11.1 million for charity, the most on the Champions Tour. In the PGA Champions Tour’s 29-year history, only nine out of more than 600 tournaments have raised $1 million in net proceeds from an event in a single year. The Toshiba Classic has reached the $1 million mark nine consecutive years out of those 10. Televised to an international audience on Golf Channel, the Toshiba Classic enables millions of viewers to see some of Orange County’s greatest attractions. The tournament generates an estimated $20 million in annual economic impact for the county and state. For more information, please call 949/660-1001 or log onto ToshibaClassic.com.
Contact:
Toby Zwikel/Brian Robin/Damian Secore
818-462-5599/5610/5614
Jessica Roswell
949/660-1001
