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 News from Around Banderas Bay | January 2006 
Nicklaus' Signature Course at Vista Vallarta to Host New Mexican Champions Tour
 noticias.info
| Vista Vallarta Golf Club
Colonia San Nicolas
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Phone: 52 332-290-0030
vistavallartagolf.com
foremexico@ourclub.com |
Puerto Vallarta - The PGA and ClubCorp announced that the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Vista Vallarta Golf Club in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico will be the site of a new Champions Tour event next spring.
The Puerto Vallarta Championship will be played March 27 – April 2, 2006.
The 54-hole stroke-play tournament will feature a 78-player field and official prize money of $1.6 million, with the winner collecting $240,000. The official competition will be preceded by two days of pro-am play sponsored by First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services.
The Golf Channel will air all three rounds in the United States.
Vista Vallarta Golf Club is managed by ClubCorp. It opened for play in 2001 and was the host site of the 2002 World Golf Championships/EMC World Cup, which was won by the Japanese team of Shigeki Murayama and Toshi Izawa.
“We are excited that Vista Vallarta has been chosen as a site for a Champions Tour event,” said ClubCorp CEO and president John Beckert. “Vista Vallarta is a beautiful course and this event should only further ClubCorp’s efforts to establish Puerto Vallarta as an international golf destination.”
In addition to the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, Vista Vallarta has an 18-hole Tom Weiskopf-designed course. ClubCorp owns two other properties in Puerto Vallarta, including Marina Vallarta Club de Golf and The Owners Club at Puerto Vallarta. ClubCorp also owns Cozumel Country Club in Cozumel.
“Vista Vallarta is the perfect venue for a Champions Tour stop,” said Billy Sitton, managing director of Latin America for ClubCorp. “Not only will the course provide challenging golf for the players, but the surroundings will enhance the viewer experience.”
“The selection of Vallarta Golf Club for a new Champions Tour event is another significant milestone for Mexico,” said Charlie Fote, chairman and CEO of First Data. “We have a long history of doing business in Mexico. The tournament has the potential to attract other companies to the country and prove that Mexico has the right business environment to accomplish great things for commerce and consumers.”
“The Champions Tour continues to have good news to share regarding the 2006 season,” said Champions Tour president Rick George. “This is our seventh announcement since January about a new tournament or a title sponsor extension. Puerto Vallarta is one of the great destinations in Mexico. Our players look forward to spending the week at the Puerto Vallarta Championship where they’ll compete on a terrific Jack Nicklaus design and enjoy the wonderful hospitality the facility and area have to offer.”
The Champions Tour currently has 28 tournament agreements in place for the 2006 season, the same number of tournaments that are on this year’s schedule.
About ClubCorp
Founded in 1957, Dallas-based ClubCorp is the largest owner and operator of private clubs in the world. ClubCorp's affiliates include more than 170 golf courses, country clubs, private business and sports clubs, and resorts internationally. ClubCorp has approximately $1.5 billion in assets. Among the company’s nationally recognized golf properties are Pinehurst in the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina (North America’s largest golf resort, home to the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens); Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio (site of the 2003-2005 World Golf Championships – NEC Invitational); Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California (home of the Kraft Nabisco Championship); and The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia (America’s first resort founded in 1766). The more than 60 business clubs and business and sports clubs include the Boston College Club; City Club on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles; Citrus Club in Orlando, Florida; Columbia Tower Club in Seattle; Metropolitan Club in Chicago; Tower Club in Dallas; and the City Club of Washington, D.C. The company’s 18,000 employees serve the nearly 200,000 member households and 200,000 guests who visit ClubCorp properties each year. Visit www.clubcorp.com for additional company information.
About Vista Vallarta
Vista Vallarta is located in the foothills overlooking Puerto Vallarta and offers breathtaking views of the Sierra Madre Mountains and Banderas Bay. The club includes two 18-hole golf courses, the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and a Tom Weiskopf-designed course. Amenities at the club, which is open to the public, include practice facilities, a pro shop and clubhouse.
About Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta, a world-class resort town, is located at the heart of Banderas Bay, one of the largest and deepest bays in the world. The seventh most frequented international destination by Americans, Puerto Vallarta offers seven 18-hole golf courses, exceeding the number of championship golf holes offered in Los Cabos.
About First Data
First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC), with corporate headquarters in Denver, Colorado (U.S.A.), helps power the global economy. As a worldwide leader in electronic commerce and payment services, First Data provides credit, debit, smart card and stored-value card issuing and merchant transaction processing services; Internet commerce solutions; and check processing and verification services to financial institutions in more than 70 countries on six continents. Its Western Union and Orlandi Valuta money transfer networks include approximately 202,000 agent locations in more than 195 countries and territories. With more than 30,000 employees worldwide, First Data has offices throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America and North America. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.firstdata.com.
About the Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2005. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it has grown to 28 official Charles Schwab Cup events offering a minimum of $50.3 million in official prize money in 2005 and its highest average purse ever of nearly $1.8 million. Rebranded the Champions Tour in late 2002, its 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. Through 2004, the three Tours of the PGA TOUR and their tournaments have generated more than $910 million for charity since the first recorded donation was made in 1938, with nearly $89 million raised in 2004. 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. Its Web site address is PGATOUR.com. |
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