Golden to Participate in 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge
GREENSBORO, Ga.- Thirteen of the nation’s top NCAA head coaches including Al Golden, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Frank Beamer and Jimbo Fisher are scheduled to team up with former collegiate and professional athletes to compete for $415,000 in scholarship money at the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament May 1-3.
The nation’s premier head coach and celebrity golf event will be held at the beautiful Reynolds Plantation resort on Lake Oconee outside Atlanta. Over the past four years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge has provided $1.9 million in scholarship and charity to its participating universities.
Over the three-day event, several tournament rounds will be played in addition to the featured, televised round of coaches and celebrities. The complete field of head coaches, professional golfers, former athletes and celebrities includes six Heisman Trophy winners, 13 members of the College Football Hall of Fame, 22 All-Americans, 12 Coach of the Year winners, eight NFL Hall of Famers, 13 Super Bowl Champions, and players whose accomplishments combine to total 162 NFL All-Pro or Pro Bowl selections.
“In keeping with our mission to be the leader in charitable and scholarship donations, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is honored to host all these coaches and players – getting them off the football field and onto the golf course to compete for scholarships for their universities,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO.
The field of competitors for the featured round is scheduled to include three former winning teams including 2010 tournament champions Jimbo Fisher and Terrell Buckley, two-time winners Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe from South Carolina who won the event in 2008 and 2009 and Frank Beamer and Dell Curry from Virginia Tech who won in 2007. The two past champions, Florida State and South Carolina, faced each other in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl where FSU became the first school to win both the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge and the Chick-fil-A Bowl in the same year.
The 13 university teams will be vying for the $120,000 first-place prize with all teams receiving a portion of the $415,000 scholarship purse.
The field of competitors for the featured event is scheduled to include:
Team – Head Coach/Celebrity Alabam – Nick Saban/Chris Mohr Clemson – Dabo Swinney/Steve Fuller Florida State – Jimbo Fisher/Terrell Buckley Georgia Tech – Paul Johnson/Jon Barry Maryland – Randy Edsall Stan Gelbaugh Miami –Al Golden/TBD Mississippi State – Dan Mullen/Fred McCrary NC State – Tom O’Brien/Torry Holt Ole Miss – Houston Nutt/Wesley Walls South Carolina – Steve Spurrier/Sterling Sharpe Tennessee – Derek Dooley/TBD Virginia Tech – Frank Beamer/Del Curry Wake Forest – Jim Grobe/Riley Skinner
The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge main event features pairings that include a university head coach and a celebrity or former athlete from the same school competing in a scramble format against other university teams from around the country.
Past winners: 2010 Florida State (Fisher/Buckley/ -7), 2009 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12, playoff winners), 2008 South Carolina (Spurrier/Sharpe / -12), 2007 Virginia Tech (Beamer/Curry / -10).
In addition to the $415,000 scholarship purse, additional proceeds will be donated to selected charities including Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Homes. The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is a significant contributor to the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s overall charitable and scholarship donations. The Chick-fil-A Bowl leads all bowls in the country in charitable giving, including gifts of more than $7 million since 2002.
The tournament is being taped by ESPN for broadcast in the fall. The date of the broadcast will be announced this summer.
For more information on the event, visit www.Chick-fil-ABowlChallenge.com.
