Kansas City Champions Tour event moves to Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate

(OVERLAND PARK, KS) -- The Pride of Kansas City Foundation unveiled today its plans for the 2005 Bayer Advantage Classic, the annual PGA Champions Tour event in Kansas City. The announcements, made at a news conference at the Sheraton Overland Park, included changes in the tournament's name, format, host golf club and a new charity partnership.

The tournament, entitled the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am the past two years, has changed its name to the Bayer Advantage Classic. The name reflects a new format, which eliminates the celebrity component and focuses on 54-hole stroke play competition with a field of 76 Champions Tour professionals.

The event will be showcased at a new venue, moving to the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, Kansas, after two years at The National Golf Club of Kansas City. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, owned by Dallas-based ClubCorp, opened for play in 2001 and is regarded as one of Kansas City's most demanding courses.

Pride of Kansas City Foundation Chairman Steve Palermo also announced that Children's Mercy Hospital will become the primary beneficiary of the tournament.

The hospital has received charity funds from the past two tournaments, but will elevate its involvement with the Bayer Advantage Classic in 2005. The hospital and its volunteer base have worked with Kansas City golf legend Tom Watson the past 25 years in the highly successful Children's Mercy Classic.

"The Pride of Kansas City Foundation is extremely excited to keep the Bayer Advantage Classic in the Kansas City area, and are now bringing the first ever professional sports event to Johnson County," Palermo said. "We look to strong support from the local residents as well as the entire Kansas City community to help make the 2005 tournament a success, and in particular, raise a great deal of money for the Pride's primary charitable beneficiary, Children's Mercy Hospital."

The 2005 Bayer Advantage Classic is scheduled for June 6-12, 2005. Bayer Advantage, the leading flea control product for dogs and cats marketed by Bayer Animal Health, enters its third year as title sponsor of Kansas City's Champions Tour event.

"We are extremely excited about the many changes to the tournament for 2005 and look forward to building on the momentum that has been created over the last two years," said John Payne, President and General Manager of Bayer Animal Health. "Bayer's involvement with this event has always been about raising money for local charities and we have enjoyed good success so far. We are proud of our new partnership with Children's Mercy Hospital and their level of commitment toward helping all of us make next year's event the most successful yet."

"Children's Mercy is very appreciative of the ongoing support we receive from the Pride of Kansas City Foundation and Bayer Corporation through the Bayer Advantage Classic," said Randall O'Donnell, President and CEO of Children's Mercy Hospital. "This funding provides support for our medical research program, which is the only exclusively-pediatric research program in the region and which is a national leader in finding causes, new treatments and cures for childhood diseases."

The 2005 Bayer Advantage Classic will mark the 15th consecutive year that Kansas City has hosted an event on the Champions Tour, which features the world's premier professional golfers age 50 and older. In its 25th season, the Champions Tour has grown to 30 official events offering over $52 million in prize money.

"We thank the National Golf Club of Kansas City for hosting the first two years of the Bayer Advantage tournament in Kansas City," said Champions Tour President Rick George. "The tournament has made significant strides and we anticipate additional enhancements will be made possible at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate, which will allow it to gain even more momentum and raise more funds for the beneficiaries of The Pride of Kansas City Foundation."

"We are thrilled to have the tournament played at our course," said ClubCorp's chief executive officer and president John Beckert. "We have always felt that the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate would be a perfect venue for a tour event. We are proud to welcome the Champions Tour and excited to see how some of the greatest players in the game handle this demanding golf course."

The Pride of Kansas City Foundation, the non-profit host organization, will be operating the tournament in its entirety, taking over the management role from Peter Jacobsen Productions. The Pride has hired Bob Burris, last year's tournament director, to the new position of Executive Director.

The tournament, which offers a $1,650,000 purse, will be televised on The Golf Channel. George Brett will again serve as Honorary Co-Chairman of the event.

The Pride of Kansas City Foundation is comprised of a Board of Directors representing some of Kansas City's top business and civic leaders. The organization was formed to raise money for local charities while hosting national-caliber events that bring pride and awareness to Kansas City. In the first two years of the organization's existence, the Pride has distributed in excess of $500,000 to Kansas City-based charities.