( ))ATLANTA (October 27, 2022) – Prior to volunteering at the Georgia State Golf Association’s Adaptive Golf Clinic at RiverPines Golf Club on Tuesday, tournament officials presented a $55,000 check to the program. At the beginning of the year, the Mitsubishi Electric Classic took on the inaugural PGA TOUR Charity Challenge, a fantasy-league based challenge developed to create greater engagement and awareness of tournament-led initiatives. Upon participating in the challenge, the tournament selected GSGA Adaptive Golf Program as its benefiting charity. Matt Vanderpool, Chief Executive Officer of the Georgia State Golf Association, accepted the check on behalf of the program.
“The Georgia State Golf Association is incredibly grateful to our friends at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic for selecting our Adaptive Golf Program as their beneficiary for this year’s PGA TOUR Charity Challenge,” said Vanderpool. “Our program seeks to empower individuals with physical, cognitive, or sensory impairments to enhance one’s life through the game of golf. The generous support provided through this initiative will allow us to expand our reach and positively impact the lives of many more individuals across the state.”
The Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Georgia’s only PGA TOUR Champions event, competed against 88 other PGA TOUR, TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour tournaments in the fantasy golf league. Each tournament went head-to-head for 33 weeks (37 events), in the hopes of raising money for their respective benefiting charities.
The tournament’s eight-player fantasy team consisted of Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, K.H. Lee, Matthew Wolff, Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im and Collin Morikawa. With this star-studded team, the tournament topped the weekly leaderboard two times to earn $10,000 in addition to the $5,000 awarded for participating on behalf of GSGA Adaptive Golf Program. The tournament’s fourth overall finish added $40,000 to their grand total.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the results of this year’s PGA TOUR Charity Challenge,” said Ashley Hamilton, tournament director. “Our participation afforded us the opportunity to champion our community and we made the most of it. We are excited to see how these funds will enhance the lives of the athletes partaking in the GSGA Adaptive Golf Program.”
Annually, the Georgia State Golf Association hosts an adaptive golf clinic at TPC Sugarloaf during the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. The tournament looks forward to welcoming them again in May.
For more information about the GSGA Adaptive Golf Program, visit: gsga.org/adaptive.
For more information about the tournament, visit: mitsubishielectricclassic.com.
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About the Georgia State Golf Association
Founded in 1916, the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) received its official charter on June 24, 1924. Since that date, the GSGA has grown to one of the largest state amateur golf associations in the country, with nearly 340 member clubs and 80,000 individual members. With a mission to promote and preserve amateur golf in the state of Georgia, GSGA offers a computerized handicapping service, course rating and measuring, and annually conducts a full schedule of statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups. Other services include statewide junior golf and Adaptive Golf programs, award-winning Golf Georgia Magazine, membership recognition and rewards programs, management of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and a charitable foundation administering two college scholarship programs.
About Mitsubishi Electric Classic
The Mitsubishi Electric Classic returns to the metro Atlanta area May 1-7, 2023, and looks forward to welcoming players on PGA TOUR Champions such as Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and Jim Furyk. The Mitsubishi Electric Classic proudly stands as a premier golf tournament on the PGA TOUR Champions, but this event is much more than a golf tournament. The event, which will benefit local charities through the Gwinnett Championship Foundation Inc., has raised over $3.6 million since the first tournament in 2013. Follow the Mitsubishi Electric Classic online at mitsubishielectricclassic.com, on Facebook, on Twitter (@MEClassicGolf) and on Instagram (@mitsubishielectricclassic).
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter (@ChampionsTour), on Instagram (@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (@pgatourchampions).
All events are televised in the United States, with most receiving complete coverage on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Tournament programming is available via 25+ TV linear partners in 180+ countries and territories, with 25 channels carrying long-form and/or highlights coverage, and 200+ hours of live coverage distributed in 135+ countries and territories. Programming is also available via the OTT platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR in every market outside of the United States, excluding China and Korea, with live coverage distributed in 130+ countries and territories.
Media Contact:
Sydney Lowe
slowe@gwinnettsportscommission.com
770-814-6058