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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAYJune 6, 2016Kent FrandsenMichaela O'ShaughnessyVince PellegrinoDavid RobinsonCarmel, Indiana VINCE PELLEGRINO: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Crooked Stick Golf Club for the 2016 BMW Media Day. I know everybody is here to listen to me today and not play golf, so hopefully, we're going to just extend the program. Just kidding. We're going to play golf today. It going to be a great day. Great weather out there. I see a lot of familiar faces here in the audience from when we were here in 2012. I appreciate all the support we have been receiving from the Indianapolis community and the media for the BMW Championship. We have some exciting topics and announcements today regarding the championship before we have brunch and play some golf. First off, we would like to share a welcome from our 2015 BMW Championship winner, Jason Day. If you're a golf fan, you know Jason's the world's No. 1 player, with five victories in 2015 and already three this year, with winning just three weeks ago at THE PLAYERS Championship. So, he, obviously, won the BMW last year at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, Illinois and 2016 will be Jason's first appearance here and playing at Crooked Stick. So we're excited to have him and let's hear a few words from Jason. (Video played.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: We're certainly excited to have the No. 1 player in the world coming back or coming to Crooked Stick for the first time, along with the other Top-70 players in the game. As he mentioned, if you get a chance after the press conference, come and take a look at these historic trophies for the BMW Championship. Some great names on there that many of you will recognize. So, great way to kick things off today. I'm going to run through the agenda a little bit here. Immediately following the press conference, we're going to field all media interview requests and questions that you may have. We're going to have a brunch out in the patio here, golf will be at noon. You should receive your groupings and parings for this afternoon. We'll let you know. Let us know if you haven't. And then following golf we're going to have a post-round reception here in the clubhouse if you can join us for that. Later in the program we're going to hear from several of the people that made the Championship possible. It's a great collaboration between the Western Golf Association and the PGA TOUR Crooked Stick Golf Club to host this championship. First up will be David Robinson our tournament -- the chairman of the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholar Foundation. Kent Frandsen, who is the tournament co-chair from Crooked Stick. And then, we're going to have an Evans Scholar talk to everyone here, Michaela O'Shaughnessey. She's originally from Ft. Wayne and caddied at Orchard Ridge Country Club. But also with us today are several other WGA and other Crooked Stick representatives, who have played key roles in the Championship. Our Western Golf Association directors, our tournament -- Western Golf Association Tournament Chairman, Mr. Jason Kinander is up here in front. Jason. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: Our Crooked Stick member Western Golf Association director and the head of our directors in the state of Indiana, Johnston Irwin, is here with us today. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: From Crooked Stick Golf Club, we have got our director of golf, Tony Pancake, is here. Thanks, Tony, for being here. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: So before we hear from our speaker, I'd like to provide you with a brief background on the BMW Championship. As many of you know the BMW Championship is the penultimate event on the PGA TOUR playoffs for the FedExCup. It was introduced in 2007 for the first time and this year, we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the BMW Championship. So we're excited about that. The Western Golf Association, which is the host organization for the championship, was founded in 1899. We started out running the Western Open and it's now become the BMW Championship. We also conduct the Western Junior Championship and the Western Amateur Championship, which is one of the premier amateur tournaments in the country. Which, in 2020 will be hosted right here at Crooked Stick, as well. So we're excited about that championship in the future. We've had a great run of championships. Starting in 2012. 2012, 2013 and 2014, the tournament was named tournament of the year on the PGA TOUR. So we're excited about that. As you know, there will be the Top-70 players in the FedExCup points will be here at Crooked Stick, following the Deutsche Bank championship which will be in Boston the week before. The Top-30 after the BMW Championship will move on and go to the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup champion will be crowned. Our tournament features an eight and a half million dollar purse with 1.53 million dollars going to the champion. Our former champions as we talked about, listed on these trophies, but just to name a few here, Jason Day, obviously winning last year, Rory McIlroy, who won it here at Crooked Stick in 2012. Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods. So, 2012 was our first year at Crooked Stick. We're excited to be back. 2012 was a great year for the championship. We attracted over 140,000 people to Crooked Stick. Raised almost 3 million dollars for the tournament's sole charity, the Evans Scholars Foundation. This year we're expecting to have over 150,000 people attend the championship and have a 30 million dollars impact locally on the community. So we're really excited for this September. It's going to be great championship with some players who haven't been here in 2012 and excited to see them compete on this famous Pete Dye golf course. So, now for more background on the Western Golf Association and the Evans Scholars Foundation, I would like to welcome up the Western Golf Association Evans Scholars Chairman of the Board, David Robinson. David. (Applause.) DAVID ROBINSON: Thank you. Good morning. It's wonderful to be here in Indianapolis. It's always nice for our team to feel the warm reception that we all get here, and I'm just excited for the tournament, and we're grateful for all of you for taking your time today. As Vince noted, the Evans Scholars Foundation is the sole beneficiary of the BMW Championship. And it's the nation's largest privately funded scholarship program and certainly, the largest scholarship program for caddies. We have really enjoyed a great relationship with BMW over the years. Just incredible. I mean, since becoming our partner in 2007, Jason took a little of my thunder there, but the BMW Championship has helped raise 21 million dollars for the Evans Scholar program. So the synergy that we enjoy with BMW is terrific. It's fantastic. I got to believe it's one of the better relationships on the TOUR. Evans Scholars are chosen based on four criteria. Their academic record, certainly. They must be a caddie, I should have mentioned that first, actually. They have to have demonstrated financial need. And then we look for strong character traits. Their involvement with their school, clubs, whatnot. The scholarship, we think, on average is valued at about $80,000. So, we're running scholarships through 19 universities, but on average one Evans scholarship is worth about $80,000. In 2015 and 2016, we had 910 Evans Scholars in school at 19 universities, including 14 of those where we have chapter houses. More than 10,100 men and women have graduated from college as Evans Scholars since 1930. So that's just a remarkable static that we're really proud of. The 2012 BMW Championship, played here at Crooked Stick, raised 3.1 million dollars for the program. And I think that we're excited and looking forward to raising even more this year for the tournament. I've served as a WGA director since 1994. And my club in Michigan, where I'm a member, has had 90 Evans Scholars over the years. So I can tell you firsthand, with firsthand experience, the impact that the scholarship makes on these kids and their families. Since our founding in 1930 by famed Chicago amateur golfer Chick Evans, we have raised and spent more than 350 million dollars on tuition. So, just an extraordinary amount of money. And the cost of higher education is not going down, it's going up. We have a lot of models that kind of show how it's going up, but it's really becoming an unbearable burden for a lot of families. In recent years the number of caddies who have applied for an Evans scholarship is probably up 40 percent. So there's a tremendous need. And we can really help to break down those barriers for those families. Our goal as a board, is to send more than 1,000 kids to school by 2020. And we're putting plans in place to do just that. This year, the Evans scholarship was recently -- we have concluded our process for this year and more than 260 caddies will begin attending universities across the United States. And we'll spend more than 20 million dollars next year on tuition alone. We're proud of the significant impact the program has made on caddies throughout the state of Indiana. 11 young men and women from Indiana were recently awarded Evans scholarships and will begin college this fall at either Indiana University or Purdue. In addition, and we're excited about this, we have sent 14 scholars to the University of the Notre Dame in South Bend in just the past four years. And that number will continue to grow as we expand to the East and the West Coasts. So between these three universities alone, our program can boast of 1,050 alumni in the state of Indiana alone. So, again, we want to thank you all for your support. We want to thank you for coming this morning. Happy to see everybody. I'm in charge of weather today, so you guys are going to have great time. And now it's a real pleasure and an honor for me to introduce Michaela O'Shaughnessey, a recent graduate from Purdue University. And she was just telling me that leaving college after four years with no debt wasn't enough so, she's going to be starting grad school in a few weeks, on her own dime. (Laughter.) So come on up. Michaela. And welcome to Crooked Stick. (Applause.) MICHAELA O'SHAUGHNESSEY: I would like to start by thanking you for allowing me to speak to all of you. Nearly one half of a million dollars is the financial burden that has been lifted from my family by the generosity of the Western Golf Association's Chick Evans Scholarship. I'm the youngest of five sisters. With so many children, money was really tight in our household and frugal living was a way of life. My parents home schooled all five of us through the 8th grade. My dad worked from home and my mom worked evenings at a restaurant down the street to make this possible. As we entered high school, they made the financial sacrifice to send all five of us to Bishop Leurs High School in Ft. Wayne. As they wanted us to not only have the best education, but also allow us to grow in our Catholic faith. Something that has always been important to me and my family. All five of us started caddieing somewhere between the ages of 12 and 13. My three oldest sisters caddied at Ft. Wayne Country Club and my other sister and I caddied at Orchard Ridge Country Club. Caddieing provided my sisters and I with a great network of successful adult's our community and allowed us to find support in many caring members, as well as build great communication skills. After years of hard work, and early, early mornings, all four of my older sisters and I consecutively received the Evans Scholarship to Purdue University. Without the Evans Scholarship going to college would have been nearly impossible for me and my four sisters. Because of my family's financial constraints attending a university without the scholarship would have resulted in extreme debt. And attending a university outside of the Ft. Wayne area would have not been an option. My four older sisters received degrees in actuarial science, nursing, biomedical engineering, and speech pathology. Following in their foot steps, I just earned my bachelors degree in movement and sports science, and I will be pursuing my masters at IUPUI in Indianapolis beginning one week from today. (Applause.) Thank you. The group living aspect of the Evans Scholarship allowed me and my housemates to live and work with men and women of all different backgrounds and to build friendships that really feel more like family. My housemate -- because my housemates and my family inspired me to keep up my academic excellence in college, I was able to achieve a 4.0 academic GPA four out of my eight semesters at Purdue. In addition to pursuing academics, I also had the opportunity to serve on the executive board at the Purdue University chapter and build some leadership skills. The Evans Scholarship has made such a lasting impact on my family. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Western Golf Association and those of you who have supported the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholarship to help make my dreams become a reality. My parents, my sisters, and I are forever grateful for how the scholarship has changed our lives. I am so excited that the BMW is returning to go my home state and allowing all of this renewed attention on the Evans Scholarship. I know that it will once again shine a new light on the Evans Scholars. Thank you. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: Thanks, Michaela. That's really what the championship is all about. It's, obviously, the spectators and our corporate partners get to come out and watch some incredible golf, but at the end of the day, we can all feel great about what the proceeds are. That the proceeds benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation. So, as an Evans Scholar myself, I couldn't be more proud of the work the organization is doing to support hard working caddies. So thanks to Michaela for being such a wonderful example of what the scholarship's all about. I would like to invite up Kent Frandsen, who is the tournament co-chairman for Crooked Stick Golf Club to say a few words. Kent. (Applause.) KENT FRANDSEN: Thank you, Vince. Thanks to all of you for coming today. I would like to begin by reading a few remarks from our honorary chairpersons, Pete and Alice Dye. They are unable to be here today, but they did want me to share a few words with all of you. They stated that we are excited to, once again, host the Top-70 players in the world for the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. We built this course in 1964 and it has always held a special place in our hearts. It is rewarding to go see how the club has matured over the years, and we are extremely proud to share this championship course with the PGA TOUR professionals and everyone who attends this year's BMW Championship. Crooked Stick's members are thrilled to, again, partner with the Western Golf Association and host this year's championship. We have made some significant investments in our course since 2012. Some of which will present new challenges to the Top-70 players in the world. After the success of the 2012 event, we knew that we would be interested in hosting this again. We didn't know that it would be quite so soon, but when we received the inquiry a couple of years ago, from the Western Golf Association, about hosting this again in 2016, we jumped at the opportunity. This will be the 10th national, or international, championship conducted at Crooked Stick since 1982. I dare say that this club is unique among the top private clubs in the United States, in the extent to which it gives back to golf and charities like the Evans Scholars Foundation. Our members have been extremely supportive of all these competitions. The membership approved hosting this championship with no opposition. And as a former president of this club, to tell you that we got no, no votes is truly remarkable. But it does just go to reflect how supportive the membership feels about hosting events like this. We have gone -- made some extra steps to make the championship even better. We learned from 2012, and we think we'll have a better competition and a better experience for the people who come. I would like to especially recognize our Co-chairman, John Crisp, who has done a great job, especially leading efforts to attract the needed corporate hospitality for the event. We are pleased that had we have already exceeded the level of corporate support this year that we experienced and enjoyed in 2012. I also want to recognize our great staff led by PGA professional and director of club operation, Tony Pancake and our golf course superintendant, Jake Gargas. We simply could not do this without their talents. The course improvements were begun in 2014 and completed last year, and they include renovating 90 bunkers with a new drainage system to better deal with the heavy rains that always seem to follow the PGA TOUR and fall at inopportune times. We have added seven new bunkers along the 7th and 10th holes. The tee boxes on the 3rd and the 10th and the 13th holes have been reconstructed or added. We also added a lake, you'll notice to the left of number 17, which reflects some of Pete Dye's early design thoughts. And this will add, certainly, a significant hazard to an already challenging finish. There was also a Major reconstruction and improvement of our practice areas, including an expanded range, tee, a new short game area, and new putting green near the first tee. The elevated putting green in front of the clubhouse has also been expanded. Crooked Stick worked directly with Mr. Dye to make these updates, and we're excited to unveil them as part of the 2016 Championship. We welcome you again to Crooked Stick, and I hope you enjoy your time on our beautiful course today. Thank you. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: Thank you, Kent. It's truly one of the premier clubs in America and it's great that they continue to invest in the golf course and make some of these tremendous changes that will not only enhance the experience for our spectators to come championship week, but also test the best players in the game of golf. At this point in time, I want to recognize and thank all the scholars who are here with us today, the Evans Scholars. We have got a bunch of them here from various universities in Indiana. We want them to come up front. These are the men and women who are going to be caddieing for you today, so want them to come up front and give them around of applause as Evans Scholars. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: So we'll have an Evans Scholar in each group today and appreciate them coming out and supporting the media day and, certainly, feel free to ask them questions about the scholarship, about their experiences at school. And we appreciate all the hard work that they put forth in earning the scholarship and being with us here today. So thank you very much. (Applause.) VINCE PELLEGRINO: As the tournament approaches, we're coming off the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 and we would be remiss to not mention that 2016 also happens to be the 100th anniversary of BMW, our title sponsor of the championship. As Dave and others have mentioned, it's a great partnership with BMW and it wouldn't be possible without their support of the championship. One of the many ways that BMW supports the championship and the Evans Scholars Foundation is through their hole-in-one scholarship that they have. BMW will donate a hundred thousand dollars scholarship for the first hole-in-one recorded at the BMW Championship this year. In 2015 Jordan Spieth scored a hole-in-one in the first round of the BMW Championship and later on this summer, we're going to be announcing the recipient of that hole-in-one scholarship. Spieth's hole-in-one as you'll see here, marked the fourth time in the last five years that a player's had a hole-in-one at the BMW Championship. So we're grateful for the hole-in-one scholarship and naturally we're hoping that we have another one here at Crooked Stick. Maybe even on the new 17th hole that Kent just talked about. BMW also provides many benefits to their owners. If you're a BMW owner you'll have upgraded parking for the championship week. One of the biggest perks that BMW offers is the BMW Owner's Pavilion which is located on the 17th tee. You see up top here the wildly popular the BMW Owner's Pavilion was in 2012 and the new Owner's Pavilion on the 17th tee for this year's championship. The venue features some of the best views of golf on the golf course as well as open air seating, air conditioning, flat screen televisions, enhanced food and beverage service. So once the BMW owners are inside the championship, they can access the Owner's Pavilion with a guest by showing their key fob. We also want to take a moment here to recognize the volunteer support that we have had for this year's championship. We all know that Indianapolis has a strong record of volunteer turn out for sporting events. But the excitement and support we have received from the local community and volunteers willing to travel to be a part of this championship has been really impressive. Our goal of securing 2,200 volunteers for the championship was exceeded six months prior to the championship. Huge testament of the Hoosier hospitality and that everybody speaks so highly of. We'll have representatives in our volunteer core from 29 different states, four country, including obviously the United States, but Japan, Ireland and nor way. The volunteers who include 152 of the Crooked Stick members will serve under more than 30 Committees to host the championship. So, certainly the volunteers are the life blood of the championship. We certainly, we wouldn't be able it raise the kind of funds that we do for the Evans Scholars Foundation without the hard work of the volunteers. So we're very appreciative of that. In addition to the volunteer support we have received, as Kent mentioned, we have had some just tremendous support from the corporate community in Indianapolis. Exceeding our goals and exceeding what was accomplished in 2012. A new feature for this year's championship is what's called the 1899 Club. Which will be located near the 14th green. You can see it here. It's an individual all-inclusive hospitality option. This is new from 2012. It allows you to choose your actual seat in the venue or a table green side. That's been wildly popular, our Sunday 1899 Club has already sold out for this year's tournament. So it's a 99 person capacity venue and we're really excited about that. Along with on the 17th hole something that's different than 2012, we have introduced sky boxes. Golfers right of 17 so they can witness all the action down the stretch of the players hitting it in that new like on the left-hand side there. So that was sold out well in advance, very quickly, and we had to construct more sky boxes which you saw in the previous slide on the 14th hole. So, on the 18th hole we're going to be expanding our bleachers and private reserved see the to go a come date more spectators on the final hole. So you'll see, come championship week, the last five holes will have that stadium-like effect or we'll have a spectator seating and corporate hospitality that ring the greens and create a nice stadium effect for those players who are playing in the championship. Along with all the course and tournament updates we have touched on already I would like to take a few moments to touch on parking for this year's championship. I'll give you a brief overview of the parking plan today and we're going to send out a release later next week that provides a comprehensive plan with convenient and ample parking for all spectators. So, first, for the most important people, that's you guys, media parking, we are going to have it in close proximity to the championship. It will be a short shuttle ride over it the tournament. It will drop you off right at the main entrance here right in the front of the clubhouse. So we're we'll provide more details next week in a press release, but it will be very convenient for everybody to get to the golf course and cover the championship. For general spectator parking, we have got two different areas for parking. We have got a Tuesday through Sunday I'm sorry, Tuesday through Friday of the championship, tournament patrons will park at the corner of 146th and Towne Road, and have a commentary shuttle and will transport patrons to the main entrance of the championship. So you'll see that on the next slide here. The parking Tuesday through Friday. If we have inclement weather we're going to move the parking to the old airport, which is near Sam Jones Expressway exit off of I-465. So, Tuesday through Friday, general parking will be at 146th and Towne Road. And then if we need to move due to inclement weather -- but it never rains during championship week, so we'll be fine. And then Saturday and Sunday, to provide even more of a convenience for the spectators, we're going to be parking at CNO Financial. So regardless of the weather Saturday or Sunday, it will be at CNO Financial which is near 116th and Pennsylvania. In addition to these parking opportunities there's several other ways that patrons can get to the championship including alternative transportation options. We have a relationship with Uber. Certainly people can bike to the championship or walk. Traditional taxicab companies are providing a drop off and pickup location, which you can see here. This is new from 2012. All alternative transportation traffic will be directed to Towne Meadow Elementary School just off of Towne Road here, in close proximity to the championship. So again a dedicated drop-off pickup area will be marked and accommodations for bike and walk up traffic will be offered. So again, it takes us several years to put together plans for transportation parking with the help of the City of Carmel, Hamilton County and all the officials from INDOT, we have come up with a pretty comprehensive plan that will create a good experience for the patrons attending the championship. Last but certainly not least, in your media kit when you checked in, we have included instructions for registering for your media credentials for tournament week. Again we'll be using the PGA TOUR's on-line credentialing service for all the tournament credentialing, we suggest that we have one person from your outlet should be responsible for all the on line credentialing and ask that you coordinate this process with your team before registering individually. In the media kit you also find maps of locations for live remotes during the championship. So you can see here on the screen this is the 18th hole, here at Crooked Stick, golfers left, will have the media center, which will be your home away from home during that championship week. And then if you have a live remote we have got an area for you to do that during the championship week. All of our speakers that were here with us today will be available after this press conference to do one-on-one interviews. Additionally, we will have opportunities with several PGA TOUR players throughout the course of the summer, if anybody's interested in a one-on-one with a PGA TOUR professional, we'll get you with the Dittoe team to make that request and we'll facilitate that through the PGA TOUR members of the communications team on the PGA TOUR. So, some housekeeping items, prior to playing golf we're going to have a brunch that's going to be available to your right in the screened in porch here at 11 o'clock. With golf beginning at noon. We have got carts staged out front right in front of the clubhouse near the bag drop. The driving range and lock rooms are open for everyone. Each group will have an Evans Scholar in their group serving as a fore caddie. Western Golf Association is taking care of all the fees for the caddies, but certainly if they did a great job, we encourage you to tip them on top of what we're page them. They're going to be prices for close he's to the pin on number of and 17 and longest drive for both men and women. There will be refreshments out on the golf course and then again, as mentioned, a reception after play right here in the clubhouse and we hope you can join us for that. Again, we are here to answer any questions that you may have afterwards and appreciate you coming out here looks like we have got just a fantastic day for golf, so please enjoy the course and all the course changes that Kent mentioned. They have really done a great job. And Jake and his team are some of the best in the business in the agronomy staff. So thanks again for joining us, we appreciate you coming out and enjoy a great day of golf. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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