2011 Champions Tour stop in Biloxi moves tournament one month earlier, will begin in late March
(JACKSON, Mississippi) – Some of professional golf’s biggest names and some succulent Southern cuisine will unite next week (Sept. 27 – Oct. 3) in Mississippi when the Annandale Golf Club in Madison plays host to the PGA TOUR’s 2010 Viking Classic.
The Viking Classic is the first event of the Tour’s 2010 Fall Series and has once again attracted an impressive field, led by major championship winners John Daly, David Duval, Lee Janzen, Trevor Immelman and Steve Elkington. Other notable players who will be in the hunt for a piece of the $3.6-million purse include Henrik Stenson and Rocco Mediate as well as past winners of the event Chad Campbell and hometown favorite Heath Slocum.
“We’re excited that the Viking Classic is drawing another field that will bring some of the best players in the game to the state of Mississippi,” said Viking Classic Tournament Director Randy Watkins. “The players love coming to Annandale because it’s an old-school, Jack Nicklaus design that provides a great test of golf set on a beautiful piece of land. It’s a terrific venue for the players and fans alike.”
The Viking Classic marks the second time this year that some of the world’s best professional golfers have come to the Magnolia State. The PGA’s Champions Tour played the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic to rave reviews at Fallen Oak in Biloxi last spring.
The star golfers at this year’s Viking Classic will be joined by celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse, who will headline the Viking Culinary Tent’s lineup of cooking demonstrations during tournament week. In addition to playing in the Viking Classic BankPlus Pro-Am on Wednesday, Sept. 29, Lagasse will also be hosting live cooking demonstrations on Thursday, Sept. 30 and Friday, Oct. 1. Tickets for the demonstrations are $100 and all proceeds will benefit Friends of Children’s Hospital.
“Mississippi is honored to partner with the PGA TOUR and Viking, which are established brands of the highest order, thanks to sustained excellence and cutting edge innovation,” said Mississippi Development Authority Director of Tourism Mary Beth Wilkerson. “Like them, Mississippi is known as a destination where visitors can experience best-in-kind attractions throughout our five distinct regions, including our Blues and Country music trails, casino resorts, state parks, culinary excellence, the Mississippi River, southern hospitality, and our history, heritage and architecture.”
Viking Range Corporation (www.vikingrange.com) includes cookware and culinary products which continue to expand and are distributed directly to gourmet shop retailers throughout the USA. Viking considers itself not only a major appliance manufacturer, but a culinary company involved in all aspects of the kitchen and the world of food and wine – The Viking Life. Through cooking classes, gourmet events and online instruction, the Viking Life makes the savory world of Viking tangible.
For more information on the Viking Classic or to purchase tickets for the event and/or the cooking demonstrations, please visit www.vikingclassic.com or call the Tournament Office at 601-898-GOLF (4653).
Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic Moves 2011 Dates at Fallen Oak
The Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, a Champions Tour event played at the renowned Fallen Oak, has moved its playing dates to March 28-April 3, 2011. The championship rounds will be held April 1-3 with three Pro-Ams played on March 29-31. Last year, the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic was held April 28-May 2.
This year’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic was won by David Eger and drew more than 60,000 golf fans to the area as well as a field that included 15 major champions and six World Golf Hall of Famers. In addition, a worldwide television audience watched the action on the Golf Channel, which reaches more than 160 million estimated households globally.
“We’re looking forward to building on the momentum of last year’s inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and once again showcasing the great state of Mississippi to the professional golf world,” said Mary Beth Wilkerson, the state’s tourism director. “Hosting an event of this stature allows us to put on display a fantastic golf course like Fallen Oak as well as all of the other great non-golf activities our state has to offer.”
Fallen Oak is an amenity of Beau Rivage, the casino resort situated on the Gulf Coast in Biloxi. The Tom Fazio-designed course ranks No. 19 on Golf Digest magazine’s “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” out of roughly 13,500 U.S. public access courses. It has also been rated the No. 1 course in Mississippi by national golf publications.
Located 15 miles north of the Beau Rivage on 510-acres adjacent to the DeSoto National Forest, Fallen Oak is a “sister” course to Shadow Creek in Las Vegas and both are MGM Resorts International properties.
Contact:
Gary Trask, 978.228.0314
Buffalo Communications
gtrask@billycaspergolf.com
Dan Shepherd, 703.891.3320
Buffalo Communications
dshepherd@billycaspergolf.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
