Field Set for 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge

April 12, 2012

GREENSBORO, GA – A 16-team field of NCAA head coaches and celebrity alumni are set to compete in the sixth annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament. Top national coaches such as Frank Beamer, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier and many others will hit the links, all vying for their share of the $520,000 scholarship purse for their respective universities.

The nation’s premier head coach and celebrity golf event will be held April 29 – May 1 at the Reynolds Plantation resort on Lake Oconee outside Atlanta. In the past five years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge has provided $2.55 million in scholarship and charitable contributions.

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 four NFL Hall of Famers, two Heisman Trophy winners, 15 national Coaches of the Year, three gold medalists, and professional golfers who have earned eight professional tour majors wins, 151 total tour wins and more than $80 million in earnings.

“As college football’s most charitable bowl game, this event is enormously important to us in terms of what we can give back to our partner conferences and universities,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “At this year’s event, we will surpass the $3 million mark in charity and scholarship donations as we continue to grow the field and donations each year with the help of some of the best college coaches in the nation.”

The field of competitors for the featured round is scheduled to include four former winning teams including 2011 tournament champions Paul Johnson and Jon Barry of Georgia Tech, 2010 champions Jimbo Fisher and Terrell Buckley of Florida State, 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.

Three teams squaring off in this year’s pair of Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games are also set to participate – Clemson, NC State and Tennessee. The Wolfpack and Volunteers will match up in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to open the season on Aug. 31 and will be followed – the next day – with a Clemson-Auburn Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to conclude the event’s first-ever opening weekend doubleheader.

The 16 university teams will be vying for the $125,000 first-place prize with all teams receiving a portion of the $520,000 scholarship purse.

The field of competitors for the featured event is scheduled to include:

Team – Coach, Celebrity Alabama – Nick Saban, Johnny MussoClemson – Steve Fuller Georgia Tech – Paul Johnson, Jon Barry (Current Champions) Florida State – Jimbo Fisher, Terrell Buckley Maryland – Randy Edsall, Stan Gelbaugh Miami – Al Golden, Gino Torretta Mississippi State – Dan Mullen, Fred McCrary North Carolina – Larry Fedora, Roy Williams NC State – Tom O’Brien, Tom Gugliotta Ohio State – Urban Meyer, Jeff Logan Ole Miss – Hugh Freeze, Sean Tuohy South Carolina – Steve Spurrier, Sterling Sharpe Tennessee – Derek Dooley, Stanley Morgan Virginia – Mike London, Jim Dombrowski 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: 2011 Georgia Tech (Johnson/Barry/-11), 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 $520,000 scholarship purse, an additional $135,000 charitable donation will be made to 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 $13 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.

About the Chick-fil-A Bowl The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and hosts the longest-running rivalry series between the ACC and SEC. Now in its 45th year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has established itself as one of the nation’s elite bowl games with a string of 15 consecutive sellouts and has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the nation. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $110 million in team payouts during its 44-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $13 million to organizations in need since 2002. Other events under the Chick-fil-A Bowl brand include the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge head coach and celebrity golf event and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game season-opening game over Labor Day weekend which will host two games to open the 2012 season for the first time in its history.