Ginn Championship At Hammock Beach Features the Deepest, Most Talented Champions Tour Field in Nearly Three Years

All 30 of the top 30 Leaders From the 2007 Money List Are Present For the Pivotal Florida Swing Event That Sports a $2.5 Million Purse

PALM COAST, Fla., March 25, 2008 – Even with the depth of talent on the Champions Tour, delivering a field featuring all 30 of the top 30 money winners from the previous year is a rare occurrence. It’s a feat so rare that the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach is the first event in nearly three seasons to produce such a strong field.

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Mark O’Meara’s commitment to the field means all 30 of the top 30 money winners are ready to face the stellar Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course March 24-30. With such a gilded list of players, the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach boasts a field that is the envy of Champions Tour majors.

In fact, led by Gary Player’s nine major championships and career Grand Slam, the 78 players in the field boast a total of 51 major championships on the PGA TOUR. Those major champions account for 286 PGA TOUR victories and146 Champions Tour wins

All five of the 2008 Champions Tour winners are in the field, a list that includes two-time winner Scott Hoch (Allianz Championship, ACE Group Classic), Ponte Vedra Beach’s Fred Funk (MasterCard Championship), Boca Raton’s Bernhard Langer (Toshiba Classic), Pensacola’s Jerry Pate (Turtle Bay Championship) and Denis Watson (AT&T Champions Classic).

“This is something we understandably take a great deal of pride in seeing and something we know golf fans all over the area will take a great deal of enjoyment in seeing,” tournament director John Subers said. “You can count on one hand the number of events that carry a field with such depth and class, and we’re proud the Ginn Championship is one of those events.”

You’d have to go back to the 2005 Ford Senior Players Championship to find the last time a Champions Tour event featured 30 of the top 30 money leaders. But from 2007 No. 1 Jay Haas to No. 30 Des Smyth, all will be present and tested by a course ranked among the most beautiful – and difficult -- on the Champions Tour.

“There was quite a buzz around the tour before we went up there last year, because anybody who knows Bobby Ginn and his organization knows how well they do things,” Nick Price said. “None of us were surprised when we got up there and saw the effort they had all put into the event.

“It’s a wonderful golf course. I think it’s truly one of Jack’s best in Florida for sure, with, I think, five or six holes right on the ocean, which gives it a lengthy type feel. Once you get off those ocean holes and you go inland, those inland holes are very good as well, but the condition of the course was phenomenal least year.”

The combination of the Ocean Course – the first waterfront course designed in the state of Florida in more than 70 years – and the famous Ginn first-class hospitality is a powerful lure for Champions Tour elite players like Haas (who hasn’t finished outside the top six in six events this season), 2007 major champions Denis Watson, Tom Watson, Lakeland’s Brad Bryant and Loren Roberts (also the 2007 Charles Schwab Cup winner), as well as Hoch and Funk.

“I think most of all, the players look at the golf course No. 1. If it’s a good golf course, they’re going to come back, and it is. The condition of it is outstanding,” Haas said.

“I think it’s a combination of everything. One, it’s a good golf course, and another, everything’s on campus,” Funk said. “Everyone stays in the hotel there. It’s kind of fun, because everyone can interact on the golf course, but when they get off the golf course, everyone’s in the same place and can have a lot of fun. They put on a great event.

“The bottom line is people really like the golf course. It’s on the ocean there and it’s beautiful.”

Defending champion Keith Fergus (No. 11 on the 2007 money list), who picked up his first Champions Tour victory when he edged Hale Irwin (No. 10) and O’Meara (No. 14) by one shot at last year’s inaugural Ginn Championship, obviously likes the 7,113-yard Ocean Course. But such is the respect for the total Ginn Championship package that even golfing icons like Player (who plays in typically only five to six tournaments a year) and players who didn’t play in the inaugural 2007 event have this year’s event circled on their calendars.

“Well, it’s a fantastic facility, and I think there was an unknown going into the tournament last year, but everybody absolutely loved the golf course; they loved the facility,” said Peter Jacobsen, who missed last year’s event due to injury. “That’s what’s drawing everybody there -- the facility, which is not only the golf course and the hotel, but the aura of the Ginn Company too. It’s just a very inclusive family.”

The Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach is the first of Ginn’s four Champions Tour, PGA TOUR and LPGA events on the 2008 professional golf calendar.

It also occupies a key spot on the Florida Swing, which is always one of the most competitive stretches of golf during the season. Hoch owns victories in both previous legs of the Florida Swing and will be going for the third leg.

As the host course, the Ocean Course has already earned accolades from professionals and amateurs alike, who marvel at a closing stretch of three holes that earned the nickname “The Bear Claw” for the way they test every ounce of a player’s mettle. The course has already earned “Top 10 New Courses You Can Play” by Golf Magazine and earned a Silver Medal by Golf Magazine in 2004.

Televised by Golf Channel, the Ginn Championship will again feature one of the largest purses on the Champions Tour – $2.5 million, with a $375,000 winner’s check.

Purchasing tickets or getting involved as a volunteer is the best way to see these golfing legends up close. For ticket, volunteer, sponsorship and hospitality information, please contact the tournament office at (386) 246-6700.

About Ginn Resorts
Ginn Resorts is a privately-held resort development and management firm specializing in exclusive leisure lifestyle and vacation destination communities. The firm owns and operates communities across the United States and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Celebration, Fla., the firm’s principals have more than three decades of experience in creating large-scale, master-planned resorts and recreation-oriented communities. For more information, visit www.ginnresorts.com or call (321) 939-4700.

About Ginn Hammock Beach Resort
Ginn Hammock Beach Resort is a world class destination resort and private club on the Florida Palm Coast. With 2.4 miles of spectacular beachfront, the 12-story tower of luxury suites features countless amenities including golf courses, a multi-level water and swim pavilion, indoor atrium pool, spa and fitness center, casual and fine dining restaurant, Ocean Bar, Sushi Bar, Grand Event Lawn and in-room dining. Hammock Beach Resort is developed, owned and operated by Ginn Resorts of Celebration, Fla., a privately held resort development and management firm specializing in leisure lifestyle and vacation destination communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean. For more information, visit www.ginnresorts.com or call (321) 939-4700.