Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am

 
 
2006 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am Announces Record $688,000 for Local Charities
 
January 12, 2007

Tampa, FL - June 19, 2006 - Today, the 2006 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am raised a record $688,000 to be distributed to Tampa Bay area charities during a press conference held at Lee Roy Selmon's restaurant. This brings the total charitable contributions from the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am to over $1,780,000 over the past three years.

Following the 2005 tournament's record level of giving, the tournament's board of directors decided to increase the number of charities from four to five. The following charities were selected to share in the proceeds from the 2006 tournament: The Spring of Tampa Bay, Inc., Junior Achievement of West Central Florida, Inc., Special Olympics Hillsborough County, Pepin Heart Hospital and Dr. Kiran C. Patel Research Institute at University Community Hospital, and Easter Seals Florida, Inc.

"Last year at this time, we announced that we were not just trying to host the best event on the Champions Tour, but we also wanted to accelerate the amount of the contributions to our community," said Bob Basham, vice-chairman and co-founder of OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. "We are pleased and proud that our level of giving continues to increase and these funds allow more and more charities to continue with their great works," Basham concluded.

"2007 looks to be the biggest yet for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am," added Tom Shannon, tournament chairman.

The 2007 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am will be the first of four additional years with Outback Steakhouse as title sponsor of the tournament under a new contract with the Champions Tour. Additionally, the tournament will be held a week earlier (February 12-18, 2007) and will move to network television with NBCSports providing weekend coverage and The Golf Channel providing the Friday coverage.

"With the new elements of our contract and coverage in place, we believe we will be able to attract more celebrity talent and ensure the position of this tournament as the absolute ‘must play/must see' event on the Champions Tour schedule," Shannon concluded.