For Release: Monday, December 7, 2015
PGA TOUR AND RUST-OLEUM ANNOUNCE MOVE OF RUST-OLEUM CHAMPIONSHIP FROM CLEVELAND
TO IVANHOE CLUB NEAR CHICAGO
-Web.com Tour Event will be played June 6-12-
IVANHOE, Ill. / PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR and Chicago area-based Rust-Oleum Corporation today announced the Web.com Tour’s Rust-Oleum Championship will have a new home beginning in 2016, Ivanhoe Club in the northwest Chicago suburb of Ivanhoe, Ill., which is very near Rust-Oleum’s corporate headquarters in Vernon Hills.
A three-year agreement for 2016-18 is in place. The 2016 Rust-Oleum Championship will be played the week of June 6-12.
The Rust-Oleum Championship field will feature 156 competitors and offer prize money of $600,000.
Golf Channel will televise all four competitive rounds in the United States (June 9-12), with the event reaching a potential 93 million more households via the PGA TOUR’s international broadcasting operation.
The Rust-Oleum Championship will be played for the third year in 2016, having been hosted at Lakewood Country Club in the Cleveland suburbs the last two years. With the Rust-Oleum Championship’s move to Chicago, a new event, the DAP Championship, will be played at Cleveland’s storied Canterbury Golf Club. Rust-Oleum and DAP are members of the same corporate family, RPM International, Inc. of Medina, Ohio. The DAP Championship announcement was also made today.
Rust-Oleum is a global leader in manufacturing innovative consumer and industrial coatings that empower do-it-yourselfers and professionals alike.
Proceeds from the Rust-Oleum Championship will be directed to the following organizations, with Rust-Oleum Cares the primary partner:
- Rust-Oleum Cares – An organization dedicated to giving back to the community. Rust-Oleum has been supporting organizations, causes and activities that strengthen education, promote wellness and serve the needs of others.
- Sports Shed
- The First Tee of Greater Chicago
- Evans Scholars Foundation
- Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association
- Lake County Haven
- Orchard Village
- Partners for Progress
“The Web.com Tour looks forward to bringing the Rust-Oleum Championship to Chicago, one of America’s great cities for golf,” said Bill Calfee, president of the Web.com Tour. “Rust-Oleum has been a wonderful partner the last two years in Cleveland and we think the move to their hometown and Chicago’s strong affinity for golf will make for a very successful Rust-Oleum Championship. The Ivanhoe Club is going to serve as a terrific venue for Web.com Tour players, who will be in the midst of their pursuit of a PGA TOUR card for 2016-17.”
“With Rust-Oleum’s deep roots in the Chicagoland area, we’re especially excited to host this prestigious tournament right in our own backyard,” said Tom Reed, president and chief operating officer of Rust-Oleum. “More importantly, we’re proud to support the vital and important work of our charity partners.”
The Ivanhoe Club opened in 1991, originally with 18 holes. In 1995, the Club added a third nine holes, making it a 27-hole facility. The project was overseen by world-renowned architect Arthur Hills. The three nines are named Forest, Prairie and Marsh. Ivanhoe is one of a few select clubs to earn the Certified Signature Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status in America. In 2006, Ivanhoe embarked on another large capital project, which resulted in its current 10,000-square-foot interior clubhouse renovation.
http://www.ivanhoeclub.com/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=373298&ssid=287639&vnf=1
(“Our Story” by Ivanhoe Club)
“Going on 20 years as a member of the Ivanhoe Club, I am so proud and honored that the PGA TOUR has selected our club to host the 2016 Rust-Oleum Championship,” said Rust-Oleum Championship co-chairman Denny Belcastro. “Now everyone can experience the outstanding facilities and golf course design and challenge we as members have enjoyed for years. The Web.com Tour players will be challenged by our best-in-class course and be treated to a world-class experience during the event. The membership is excited and has already taken steps to make sure that this event will be a hallmark tournament on the Web.com Tour.”
The 2014 and 2015 editions of the Rust-Oleum Championship were both exciting affairs. In 2014, Steven Alker outlasted Dawie van der Walt with a birdie on the 11th extra hole, ending the longest playoff in Web.com Tour history. This past June, Shane Bertsch fired a final-round 66 to defeat Lucas Lee by one shot.
The Web.com Tour had an annual stop in the Chicago area from 2002-2008, with LaSalle Bank and Bank of America (2008) serving as title sponsor. Kemper Lakes in Kildeer was home to the first event in 2002, with The Glen Club in Glenview playing host over the last six tournaments. Among the winners at The Glen Club was Jason Dufner in 2007. Dufner would go on to capture the 2013 PGA Championship.
The Rust-Oleum Championship will be the only PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in the greater Chicago area in 2016.
The Web.com Tour is The Path to the PGA TOUR. Each year, 50 PGA TOUR cards for the following season are available via the Web.com Tour – 25 during the Regular Season (January through August) and 25 at the four-event Web.com Tour Finals (September/October).
Tournament management will be provided by Global Golf Management, with Scott Cassin serving as tournament director. Cassin is familiar with the Web.com Tour having served as tournament director of the LaSalle Bank Open/Bank of America Open from 2004 to 2008.
“I am excited to be working once again on the Web.com Tour as tournament director of the Rust-Oleum Championship,” said Cassin. “The Web.com Tour is all about competition as well as fun and unparalleled access for the fans, which is exactly what this tournament will provide to the Chicago area. In addition, the folks at Rust-Oleum know how to put on a great show and the membership at the Ivanhoe Club has already demonstrated a tremendous desire to support the event, be it volunteering, sponsorship or player amenities. We expect the Rust-Oleum Championship to be another great Chicago tradition!”
ABOUT RUST-OLEUM
For nearly a century, Rust-Oleum has been the global leader in manufacturing innovative coatings that empower do-it-yourselfers and professionals alike across categories including small project paints, clearners, primers, automotive, industrial, high performance coatings and wood care. Its wide breath of brands and products include such trusted names as Rust-Oleum, Stops Rust®, Painter’s Touch®, Krud Kutter®, Universal®, EpoxyShield®, Varathane®, Zinsser®, MultiSpec®, Testors®, Modern Masters®, and Watco®. Visit rustoleum.com for more information.
ABOUT IVANHOE CLUB
The Ivanhoe Club opened in 1991, originally with 18 holes. In 1995, the Club added a third nine holes, making it a 27-hole facility. The project was overseen by world-renowned architect Arthur Hills. The three nines are named Forest, Prairie and Marsh. Ivanhoe is one of a few select clubs to earn the Certified Signature Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status in America. In 2006, Ivanhoe embarked on another large capital project, which resulted in its current 10,000-square-foot interior clubhouse renovation. As a premier private country club and golf facility located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Ivanhoe Club offers a “world-class experience” to its members and guests. The club and golf course have consistently been ranked among the top 25 of “Best in State” by Golf Digest magazine.
ABOUT THE WEB.COM TOUR
Founded (1990), owned and operated by the PGA TOUR, the Web.Com Tour continues to identify those players who are ready to compete and win on golf’s biggest stage. In 2013, the Web.com Tour became The Path to the PGA TOUR with all 50 available PGA TOUR cards coming through the Web.com Tour and the season culminating at the four-event Web.com Tour Finals. Web.com became the Tour’s umbrella sponsor on June 27, 2012. A 10-year agreement (through 2021) is in place. The Tour will enter its 27th year of competition in 2016. Three out of four PGA TOUR members are Web.com Tour alumni. Tour alumni have won 425 PGA TOUR titles, including 21 majors and five PLAYERS Championships. The PGA TOUR, through the efforts of its tours and their tournaments, sponsors, players and volunteers, surpassed $2 billion in charitable giving in Jan. 2014. To learn more about the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour and to follow the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card, visit PGATOUR.COM, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ABOUT WEB.COM
Web.com Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WWWW) provides a full range of Internet services to small businesses to help them compete and succeed online. Web.com is owner of several global domain registrars and further meets the needs of small businesses anywhere along their lifecycle with affordable, subscription-based solutions including website design and management, search engine optimization, online marketing campaigns, local sales leads, social media, mobile products, eCommerce solutions and call center services. To get more information, visit web.com; follow Web.com on Twitter @webdotcom or on Facebook at facebook.com/web.com. For additional online marketing resources and small business networking, please visit Web.com’s Small Business Summit.
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CONTACTS:
Scott Cassin
Tournament Director, Rust-Oleum Championship
Tel: 312-446-1770
Email: scottc@nullglobalgolfmanagement.com
Vince Pierri
Manager, Public Relations
Tel: 847-816-2273 Cell: 847-997-6294
Email: Vincent.Pierri@nullrustoleum.com
Stewart Moore
Director of Communications, PGA TOUR
c/o PGA TOUR
Tel: 904-543-5227 Cell: 904-540-2765
Email: stewartmoore@nullpgatourhq.com
Jeff Adams
Director of Communications, Web.com Tour
c/o PGA TOUR
Tel: 904-273-3397 Cell: 904-607-6142
Email: jadams@nullpgatourhq.com