Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am

TAMPA, FL, December 15, 2006 - The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am collects a "hat trick" of all three Major Awards from the Champions Tour Tournament Association (CTTA), including the inaugural Champions Tour President's Award, the Player's Award, and the 2006 Champions Tour Management Award.

"The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am winning the ‘trifecta' of major awards at the Associations Annual Meeting is a tribute to our tournament staff, volunteers, fans, the Tampa Bay community, the title sponsor and all of the companies that support our tournament with their sponsorships," said Amy Hawk, Tournament Director of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. "We are honored to have received such prestigious recognition." 

At the recent CTTA Annual Meeting, the Champions Tour staff gave out some new awards designed to measure the progress and growth of Champions Tour tournaments. The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am ran away with all three top awards.  The inaugural Champions Tour President's Award is given to the event that best exemplifies the Champions Tour commitment to presenting its product, charity, and involvement in the community. In the world of the Academy Awards this would be the Oscar for "Best Picture."

The next two awards would be considered the "Best Supporting" Oscars. The 2006 Champions Tour Management Award is judged in five categories by the Champions Tour staff on site at events each week, in such categories as co-Branding, Attendance, Title Sponsor Integration, Charity and Sales & Marketing. The Players Award is awarded based on player feedback of specific tournaments in such areas as Player Amenities, Transportation, Organization, Set Up and Communication, and Overall Presentation (of all tournaments).

"We are particularly pleased with the Players Award," continued Hawk.  "When the players are ranking you highly, then you are giving them all the reasons to return and play the following year," Hawk concluded.

The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am also won an award for best title sponsor integration.

About the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am & Tournament Format

In its first three years, the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am Foundation, Inc. raised over $1,870,000 through corporate sponsorships and other charitable donations.  Since its inception 18 years ago, this tournament has contributed over $6.8 million to Tampa Bay area charities.

This year's charities are: A Blooming Place for Kids, Derrick Brooks Charities, LifePath Hospice and Palliative Care, Tampa General Hospital Foundation and The Children's Home.

The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am Charity Foundation Inc. is a 501 C 3 not-for-profit organization founded in October of 2003.

The tournament format includes a full 76-player Champions Tour field.   In addition, 76 amateurs and celebrities will have the opportunity to play under actual tournament conditions throughout the weekend.  The Champions Tour players will compete with each other in the normal scoring format.  On Friday & Saturday - One (1) amateur with one (1) professional will play in a team format (76 twosomes).  Team scoring will be one best ball of two.  The pairing will remain the same throughout the competition.  On Sunday, 16 pro-am teams will advance based on low score.  Of the 16 amateurs, 5 are guaranteed to be celebrities.  Starting times will be made based on the professionals score in the competition. 

The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am will be played at the TPC Tampa Bay in Lutz, FL, February 12-18, 2007 and will be aired live on The Golf Channel (Friday) and NBC Sports (Saturday and Sunday).

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.  The Champions Tour will feature a minimum of 29 official Charles Schwab Cup events offering $54.1 million in prize money in 2007 and its highest average purse ever of $1.86 million.  The Champions Tour's primary purpose 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.  Our web site address is PGATOUR.com.