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By Ron Vinson
Special to PGATOUR.com

You could fill up 14 Super Bowl stadiums with children who have benefited from charities receiving contributions through the Shell Houston Open.

"Over the past 15 years, Shell Oil and the Houston Golf Association have made it a top priority to generate more than $42 million for hundreds of youth-related charities through the Shell Houston Open," noted Kevin Ilges, Director, U. S. Social Responsibility & Business Support, Shell Oil Company. "It is estimated that more than a million children have benefited by the cooperative efforts of Shell Oil, HGA and the Shell Houston Open Charity Partners during that time.

"The Shell Houston Open has become much more than a sporting event because of the charitable funds produced by tournament-related activities," he added.

With the 2007 Shell Houston Open, the PGA TOUR will pass $800 million in total charity contributions since 1938. Combined with charitable donations from the Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour events, more than $1.1 billion has been generated for charities over the history of the PGA TOUR.

Among the Shell Houston Open core charities are: Acres Home Youth Foundation, Boys and Girls Harbor, Cenikor Foundation, Chinquapin School, Interfaith Chapel of The Woodlands, Make a Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast & Louisiana, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, and Star of Hope. There also are about 200 additional charities and non-profit organizations receiving donations.

"While millions has been generated through our PGA TOUR event and other golf-related activities, we are most proud of the fact the funding is put to work in our local community," said Steve Timms, president and CEO of the Houston Golf Association. "The causes we support are indeed diverse. Yet our focus has been and will continue to be helping kids."

Synonymous with professional golf since its landmark television series Shell's Wonderful World of Golf first aired from 1962-1970, Shell is the sole Founding Partner of the World Golf Foundation, which oversees the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., and also is the founding corporate partner for The First Tee®, a WGF outreach program that has brought the game of golf and its character-building values to hundreds of thousands of children worldwide.