From chicagoblackhawks.com:
(link)Current and past stars for the Chicago Blackhawks will trade their hockey sticks for golf clubs to compete in the first-ever Blackhawks Celebrity Shootout at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club on Monday, Sept. 7, the opening day of BMW Championship week.
“With the PGA TOUR Playoffs coming to Chicago, we thought it would be appropriate to bring the city’s most recent playoff team out to Cog Hill to showcase their competitive skills,” said Vince Pellegrino, vice president of tournaments for the Western Golf Association, which conducts the BMW Championship in partnership with BMW and the TOUR. “We look forward to seeing how well their skills transfer from the ice to Cog Hill’s manicured fairways and slick greens.”
The Blackhawks Celebrity Shootout, set to start at 9 a.m., will feature a 10-man field of Blackhawks alumni, current players and local media personalities in a nine-hole elimination competition. Play will begin on the 10th hole of Dubsdread, Cog Hill’s championship course, where Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and 68 other top TOUR stars are scheduled to be competing later in the week for a $1.35 million winner’s share of the championship’s $7.5 million purse.
The highest scoring player will be eliminated at the end of each hole until the final player is left standing on the 18th green. In case of a tie, there will be a chip off to determine who moves on. Current Evans Scholars will caddie for the celebrities.
Scheduled to participate in the Shootout from the Blackhawks are: three current Blackhawks players –
Cam Barker,
Dave Bolland and
Ben Eager; Hall of Famers Stan Mikita and Dennis Savard, and Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations and former NHL All-Star Dale Tallon. Media competing include, Rob Johnson, CBS 2; Dan Roan, WGN-TV; John Jurkovic, ESPN 1000 radio; and Steve Cochran, News/Talk 720 WGN Radio.
“The stakes won’t be quite as high on Monday as they will be in the BMW Championship’s final round Sunday, but with the players’ pride on the line, the Shootout should provide plenty of entertaining competition for fans who take advantage of the Labor Day holiday and come out to Cog Hill,” said Pellegrino.
The Blackhawks launch training camp later in the week in preparation for the 2009-10 regular season. Barker, Bolland and Eager all helped Chicago reach the 2009 Western Conference Finals for the first time in 14 years. The Blackhawks racked up 46 wins and 104 points during the regular season, the franchise’s most in 16 years.
Admission to Cog Hill on Monday for the Shootout is $10. Parking is free. Blackhawks season ticket holders will be admitted free by printing and displaying an e-mail offer being sent to them prior to the event. Each season ticket holder pass will be good for four adults (children 16 and under accompanied by an adult will be admitted free).
The BMW Championship – the third event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs – returns this year to Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Ill., the week of Sept. 7-13.
When the PGA TOUR’s top players arrive next week, a new, more challenging championship course awaits them thanks to a year-long renovation project by famed architect Rees Jones on Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course in 2008.
For more information on the BMW Championship, or to order tickets at any time, visit the championship’s Web site at: www.BMWChampionshipUSA.com or call 847-724-4600.
All proceeds from the BMW Championship benefit the WGA’s Evans Scholars Program, which provides full housing and tuition college scholarships to deserving golf caddies. This fall, more than 840 young men and women caddies will be attending college on Evans Scholarships.