KNC Pro-Am packages and information are available at KNCGolf.com
RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – Strengthening its philanthropic ties to the Coachella Valley, the Kraft Nabisco Championship announced it has aligned with the newly merged Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, its main charitable beneficiary in 2014, to introduce the Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am presented by Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation on Wednesday, April 2 at Mission Hills Country Club.
“The Kraft Nabisco Championship is delighted to partner with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation which has one of the world’s leading patient care facilities in the Betty Ford Center. This brings the iconic legacies of honorary LPGA members Dinah Shore and Betty Ford together after 28 years,” Kraft Nabisco Championship tournament director Gabe Codding said. “The opportunity for the most historic event in women’s golf to partner with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to support the cause of addiction treatment and celebrate the legacy of former First Lady Betty Ford is truly special and significant.”
Added John Boop, head of the Betty Ford Center Foundation: “The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is pleased to take our relationship with the LPGA to the next level. As an active participant, hosting the Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am allows the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to further cement the bonds first started by Betty Ford nearly three decades before. I see it as drawing together two iconic organizations to celebrate one event. As a result, net proceeds from the Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am will underwrite financial assistance for patients at the Betty Ford Center, based in Rancho Mirage, California.”
The 43rd Kraft Nabisco Championship – held at Mission Hills CC April 1-6 – is, annually, the first of five major championships on the LPGA Tour. The $2 million tournament features the top 115 women’s golfers in the world representing over 28 different countries all playing for a $300,000 winner’s prize. Inbee Park, the No. 1 player in the world, won last year’s tournament with a score of 15-under-par 273, took the famous, celebratory leap into Poppie’s Pond and was awarded the champions white robe alongside the 18th green.
Individual and foursome packages to play in the Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am presented by Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation are available. For more information, visit KNCGolf.com or contact Dianne McPherson at 760-324-4546 or Dianne.McPherson@img.com.
The Gold Medallion package entitles four (4) golfers to play in the Pro-Am with a top LPGA professional, a premium gifting program including golf equipment, merchandise and accessories, food and beverage during the round, eight invitations to the Tuesday (April 1) Kraft Nabisco Pro-Am presented by Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Pairings Party, eight invitations to the Wednesday night (April 2) Pro-Am Awards Party, 16 week-long tournament grounds passes (Tuesday – Sunday), a VIP Parking Pass for the Pro-Am and eight off-site parking passes for all of tournament week (Tuesday – Sunday). The Silver Medallion Package is designed for a single player to participate and includes everything in the Gold Medallion package for one person plus a guest to the evening functions.
As part of this unique Pro-Am event, fans of the Kraft Nabisco Championship and supporters of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation will be able to play alongside the LPGA’s biggest names like Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Karrie Webb, Michele Wie and others in the LPGA’s first major of the year.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation has 15 sites across the United States, offering residential and outpatient services based on a Twelve-Step, abstinence-based treatment model. Services are available to individuals and their families and other loved ones. The new foundation also includes the nation’s largest addiction and recovery publishing house, a fully-accredited graduate school of addiction studies, an addiction research center, a prevention training program, an education arm for medical professionals and a unique children’s program.
Hazelden was founded in 1949 in Minnesota and is credited with spreading the abstinence- and Twelve Step-based, multidisciplinary care model that permeates the treatment industry. Betty Ford Center was founded in 1982 based on Mrs. Ford’s mission to “help others live their best possible life” and is recognized around the globe for its commitment to patient care.
About the Kraft Nabisco Championship
The Kraft Nabisco Championship is golf’s first major and one of the LPGA Tour’s most prestigious events. Founded in 1972 by David Foster and Dinah Shore, the Kraft Nabisco Championship earned the designation as a major tournament in 1983. Contested at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., since its inception, the Championship holds the distinction of being the second oldest golf tournament continuously held at the same course. For many, the event is most distinguished by one of golf’s most beloved traditions: the champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond, located adjacent to the 18th green. In 1988, the first champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond was taken by Amy Alcott, and since has become one of the most anticipated and memorable traditions in golf. For more information on the Kraft Nabisco Championship, please visit www.KNCGolf.com.
About IMG
IMG Worldwide is a global sports, fashion and media business with 3,500 employees operating in more than 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging: IMG College; IMG’s Joint Ventures in India, Brazil, China and Turkey; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Golf and IMG Tennis; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academy; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
About the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction. It is the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment provider, with a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center. With 15 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Texas, the Foundation offers recovery solutions nationwide and across the entire continuum of care for youth and adults. It includes the largest recovery publishing house in the country, a fully-accredited graduate school of addiction studies, an addiction research center, an education arm for medical professionals and a unique children’s program. Learn more at www.hazeldenbettyford.org.
Contact:
Damian Secore, Brener Zwikel & Associates, 818-462-5614, damians@bzapr.com
Brian Robin, Brener Zwikel & Associates, 818-462-5610, brianr@bzapr.com
Mike Scanlan, IMG Golf, 216-436-3544, mike.scanlan@img.com
Adrienne Barton, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 760-773-4341, abarton@bettyfordcenter.org
