April 15, 2011
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson and former Yellow Jacket basketball standout Jon Barry will again team up in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge. This will mark the fourth consecutive year the dynamic duo will take to the course to compete for $415,000 in scholarship money at the fifth 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 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
Alabama: 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 – Dell 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.
–RamblinWreck.com–
