Buick Open to Stay at Warwick Hills Through 2002
28 April 1998
Buick Open to Stay at Warwick Hills Through 2002
FLINT, Mich., April 28 -- Buick Motor Division today renewed
its ongoing commitment to the Buick Open, announcing that the tournament will
continue at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan through
2002.
The new four year commitment to keep the tournament in the Flint area
coincides with the 40th anniversary of the inaugural Buick Open (1958) at
Warwick Hills. This year commemorates Buick's 40th year as the PGA Tour's
original corporate sponsor.
"Warwick Hills has been a very gracious host to the tournament over the
years and we took forward to bringing four more years of exciting PGA Tour
golf to Southeastern Michigan," said Dave Lyons, Buick's manager of golf
marketing. "During the last 40 years the Buick Open has gone from a small
regional tournament with a first prize of $9,000, to a major international
sporting event attracting the top players in the world with a top prize of
$324,000, network television coverage and hundreds of thousands of dollars in
donations to worthwhile organizations."
Continuing the tradition as a tune-up for the PGA Championship, the Buick
Open dates for the next four years will be: 1999 (August 2-8); 2000
(August 7-13); 2001 (August 6-12) and 2002 (August 5-11).
As evidence of its continuing support for the Buick Open, Buick announced
that total prize money for the 1998 Buick Open (August 3-9) will be a record
$1.8 million, an increase of $300,000 over 1997.
Charity has always been the big winner at the Buick Open. More than
$3.4 million has been raised by the tournament for charity since 1982,
including a tournament record $500,000 in 1997. All net proceeds from the
Buick Open are donated to charity.
"This is a great day for everyone connected with the Buick Open, an event
that has become very important to the community and to the charities
benefiting from it," said Randy Wise, co-tournament director of the Buick
Open. "We are very excited about the opportunity to be part of this great
tournament for another four years."
Buick also announced details for the inaugural Flagstar Bank/Buick Open
Celebrity Challenge, a new celebrity-amateur charity golf tournament scheduled
for Monday, June 1 at Warwick Hills. Among the celebrities scheduled to
attend are Buick-sponsored PGA Tour professionals Chip Beck and David Berganio
Jr. Other early commitments include Eastern Michigan University Basketball
Coach, Milton Barnes, Bill Laimbeer (Detroit Pistons), Scott Mitchell (Detroit
Lions), and actors Daniel Baldwin, Richard Kam (Home Improvement) and Debbie
Dunning (Home Improvement). Invitations have been extended to several other
Hollywood celebrities. All proceeds from the event will be donated to
charity. To reserve playing spots or for more information about the Flagstar
Bank/Buick Open Celebrity Challenge, call 810-239-9435.
Buick's involvement in golf has grown from its initial tournament to its
current position as title-sponsor of four PGA Tour events: The Buick
Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.); the Buick Classic (Harrison, New York); the
Buick Open (Flint, Mich.); and the Buick Challenge (Pine Mountain, Ga.). The
official car of the PGA tour since 1984, Buick sponsors PGA Tour professionals
Steve Elkington, Ben Crenshaw, Chip Beck and David Berganio Jr. Buick is also
sponsor of ESPN's "PGA Tour shot of the week" and "Inside the PGA Tour"
programs and the exclusive domestic auto sponsor of USA Network's coverage of
the PGA Tour. Through its four tournaments, which are all televised
nationally, Buick has donated more than $13.6 million to local charities since
1982.
SOURCE Buick Motor Division