NEWS RELEASE For Release: Monday, Sept. 20, 2010
Contact: Jay Allen, Tournament Chairman (479) 271-7007 or jaycom@sbcglobal.net
David Shoemaker, Director of Sales (479) 657-6410 or david.shoemaker@octagon.com
Kristin Fowler, Marketing & Communications Coordinator (919) 531-3123 or kristin.fowler@octagon.com 2010

ROGERS, ARK. – The P&G NW Arkansas Championship presented by Walmart has announced more than $235,000 will be donated as part of this year’s tournament to benefit local and regional charities. This includes cash contributions totaling $170,000 as well as an additional $66,500 raised through the tournament’s charity ticket program. The LPGA Tour event in its fourth year of existence took place Sept. 6-12 at Pinnacle Country Club.

The First Tee was a special focus of the tournament’s charity outreach this year, in which 24 participants representing 12 Chapters of The First Tee in Arkansas and five neighboring states competed in the inaugural First Tee MARS Challenge which provided them the opportunity to visit with LPGA Tour professionals during one of the event’s Pro-Am days. Twelve of those participants also competed in the live tournament rounds, Friday, Sept. 10 and Saturday, Sept. 11.

Through the tournament, The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas received a $100,000 gift in support of an initiative to develop a permanent golf facility in the area. Each of the 12 participating First Tee chapters also received individual cash contributions of $5,000.

The tournament also made cash contributions to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and the PGA South Central Section Foundation in support of girl’s high school golf programs in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Springdale.

In addition to these charitable cash contributions, for the third year in a row the tournament also provided an opportunity for a broad range of local charities to sell weekly ticket badges to the event, with each badge valued at $50. The charities were able to keep 100 percent of the ticket proceeds with the opportunity to qualify for matching funds. Eight charities from throughout Northwest Arkansas participated in this program.

According to Tournament Chairman Jay Allen, seven local charities sold at least 50 weekly badges and qualified for the special matching funds. These charities include:

First Tee of Northwest Arkansas
Pagnozzi Charities
Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter
Junior Auxiliary of Rogers-Bentonville
Youth Bridge
Boys and Girls Club of Benton County
Fayetteville Boys and Girls Club

“Our LPGA event in Northwest Arkansas is first and foremost an event to benefit this whole community and our quality of life here,” Allen said. “The charitable component of our event is a priority for us and we’re pleased with the progress we made this year, but we fully expect to build upon and continue to grow our charitable impact in Northwest Arkansas for years to come.”

For more information on the P&G NW Arkansas Championship, its charitable beneficiaries, and participating charity ticket sellers, please visit www.NWAChampionship.com.

About Procter & Gamble
Four billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Gain®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun® and Fusion®. The P&G community includes approximately 127,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 8,400 retail units under 55 different banners in 15 countries. With fiscal year 2010 sales of $405 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. A leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity, Walmart ranked first among retailers in Fortune magazine’s 2010 Most Admired Companies survey. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartstores.com/. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com/ and http://www.samsclub.com/.

About Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned company founded in 1911 and employing more than 65,000 associates at over 370 sites, including 135 factories, in 68 countries worldwide. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, U.S.A., Mars, Incorporated is one of the world’s largest food companies, generating global sales of more than $28 billion annually and operating in six business segments: Chocolate, Petcare, Wrigley Gum and Confections, Food, Drinks, and Symbioscience. These segments produce some of the world’s leading brands: Chocolate – M&M’S(r), SNICKERS(r), DOVE(r), GALAXY(r), MARS(r), MILKY WAY(r) and TWIX(r); Petcare – PEDIGREE(r), WHISKAS(r), SHEBA(r), CESAR(r), NUTRO(r), GREENIES(r), and ROYAL CANIN(r); Wrigley – ORBIT(r), EXTRA(r), STARBURST(r), DOUBLEMINT(r) and SKITTLES(r); Food – UNCLE BEN’S(r), DOLMIO(r), EBLY(r), MASTERFOODS(r) and SEEDS OF CHANGE(r); Drinks – KLIX(r) and FLAVIA(r); Symbioscience – WISDOM PANEL(tm), SERAMIS(r), CIRKUHEALTH(tm) and COCOAPRO(r).

About the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association)
The LPGA is the world’s leading professional golf organization for women. Founded in 1950, the association celebrates a diverse and storied membership with more than 1,700 members representing 29 different countries. With a Vision to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the very best of women’s golf, LPGA Tour Professionals compete across the globe, while dedicated LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP) directly impact the game through teaching, coaching and management. The Duramed FUTURES Tour serves as the official developmental tour of the LPGA, consistently producing a pipeline of talent ready for the world stage. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Follow the LPGA on its television home, Golf Channel, and on the web via: www.LPGA.com, www.facebook.com/lpga.official, www.twitter.com/lpga, and www.youtube.com/lpgavideo.

About Octagon Golf & Outdoors
Octagon Golf & Outdoors is a division of Octagon, the world’s largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency. Octagon Golf & Outdoors focuses on premium event/property management, developing key player relationships and providing strategic corporate solutions. The division currently manages two Champions Tour events, three LPGA Tour events, one Nationwide Tour event and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. For more information visit www.octagongolf.com.
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