Popular indie-pop band will headline the event’s Golf and Guitars theme with a concert open to all ticketed spectators immediately after play January 21 on the Stadium Course at PGA West; ‘It’s a Whole New Game,’ and the concert is just one of the many new additions to the fan experience featuring great food, drinks, fashion, art and more
LA QUINTA, Calif. – For years, the experience of attending a sporting event has been all about the action on the field, court or, in the case of golf, the fairways and greens. The CareerBuilder Challenge is turning that notion on its head.
While there will still be plenty of thrilling drives, chips and putts from the top PGA TOUR players competing in the 58th-annual CareerBuilder Challenge from January 18-22 at the Stadium and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club, the event will also feature a whole new tournament experience in 2017. From wine tasting events and cocktails to craft beers and featured local cuisine, fashion, music and art, the CareerBuilder Challenge will be the place to be this January in the Coachella Valley.
Chief among the new offerings will be a Saturday concert following play featuring popular indie-pop band Fitz and the Tantrums. As part of the tournament’s Golf and Guitars theme, the concert will be open to all spectators with a Saturday ticket and will take place adjacent to the driving range between the Stadium and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST shortly following the conclusion of third-round play on January 21.
CareerBuilder Challenge tickets and complete tournament information are available at www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com.
“There’s so much excitement in store for this year’s CareerBuilder Challenge that we can’t wait for the tournament to get here,” CareerBuilder Challenge Executive Director and Desert Classic Charities CEO Nick Raffaele said. “This tournament has always featured amazing golf on some of the country’s best courses and among its best weather. Our goal is to match that golf-viewing experience with what we do in terms of entertainment outside the ropes. It’s about so much more than golf here – you can come out to enjoy a fun afternoon in the sun, sip on some great cocktails and sample our amazing local cuisine. At the end of the day, you’ll be able to top it all off with a thrilling concert experience, all without ever leaving the golf course.”
The Coachella Valley’s social scene is renowned for its accessibility to golf, fine dining and cuisine options and music festivals. All of these avenues will intersect at the CareerBuilder Challenge, which promises to be the sporting and entertainment hub of Southern California for one memorable week in 2017 with the heightened fan experience it is developing.
The CareerBuilder Challenge’s main entrance at the Stadium Course at PGA WEST will be dressed up to impress its spectators as the tournament’s gates will open up to food trucks (back to the CareerBuilder Challenge for the third consecutive year by popular demand), free fan activities and tournament exhibitors.
The new Club 9 Lounge will be the hub of off-course action, located between holes 1 and 9 at the Stadium Course and featuring a fresh-dining, lounging and relaxation experience open to all fans. From Friday, Jan. 20- Sunday, Jan. 22, Club 9 will feature a special art preview of the La Quinta Arts Festival – named the No. 1 arts festival in the country. The La Quinta Arts Foundation, which presents the festival, will display its commemorative poster for the March festival at the Club 9 Lounge, where copies of the poster and tickets to the La Quinta Arts Festival will be available to purchase.
Inside the ropes, CareerBuilder Challenge tournament ambassador and 42-time PGA TOUR winner Phil Mickelson – the tournament champion in 2002 and 2004 and a five-time major championship winner – is already committed to headlining a field of 156 PGA TOUR pros and 156 amateurs to compete over 72 holes.
Jason Dufner won his fourth PGA TOUR title – his first since claiming the 2013 PGA Championship – at the 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge by shooting 25-under-par 263 through the regulation 72 holes (four rounds) and besting David Lingmerth on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Discounted ticket specials to the CareerBuilder Challenge are available at www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com through Dec. 31 (all ticket options will revert to at-the-gate pricing on Jan. 1, 2017). Daily grounds passes start at just $20, and there are options for weekly passes as well as upgraded VIP experiences. All active duty, reserve, and military retirees, along with one guest, may attend the CareerBuilder Challenge any day for free. Children 15 and under also receive free admission when accompanied by a paying adult (limit 2 children per adult). All grounds ticket options are eligible for viewing at all tournament courses. Daily parking passes ($10) and weekly parking passes ($30, good Jan. 18-22) are also available at www.CareerBuilderChallenge.com.
The CareerBuilder Challenge – the Coachella Valley’s longest-running charitable event, organized and operated by Desert Classic Charities – has raised more than $57 million for Eisenhower Medical Center and other local charities since its inception as the Palm Springs Golf Classic in 1960.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the only end-to-end human capital management company covering the entire candidate lifecycle and employee lifecycle for businesses. As the global leader in its industry, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of talent acquisition and management. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing solutions for talent and labor market analytics, job distribution, candidate sourcing, tracking, onboarding, HRIS, benefits administration and compliance. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.
About Desert Classic Charities
Since its inception, Desert Classic Charities, the charitable entity that organizes the PGA TOUR event in the Coachella Valley, has contributed more than $57 million to Coachella Valley charitable organizations. The scope of giving is broad and includes support for structured and mentoring programs for children, social services, and food and safe shelter for the less fortunate. Desert Classic Charities is dedicated to continuing its mission to serve human needs in the Coachella Valley and beyond by generating funds and opportunities every year through the event.
About PGA TOUR
The PGA TOUR is the world’s premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China.
The PGA TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.
Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 227 countries and territories in 30 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2015, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $160 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.3 billion.
The PGA TOUR’s web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
Contact:
Gayle Cochrane, Desert Classic Charities – Gayle@desertclassiccharities.com – 760-469-8781
Damian Secore, BZA Public Relations – DamianS@bzapr.com – 818-462-5614
Greg Ball, BZA Public Relations – GregB@bzapr.com – 760-271-9183
