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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILLMay 4, 2005Wayne NooeTony PonturoPre-Round WAYNE NOOE: Thank you very much. I'd like to talk to you about the golf tournament coming up, also the recent renovation to the River Course. We're excited about this year's events, not because of the field we have but because with the new River Course being on tap for the players, we are very excited about that. As you know, we closed the golf course last May after the last tournament to do some work to it. We ended up renovating and replacing all 18 greens, all the bunker complexes around the greens, new irrigation system and new tees, and we recontoured five of the holes. The biggest change you would notice would probably be on 18. The green was moved about 20 yards to the left, closer to the water, with fringes to the left of the fairway into play even with shots into the green. 16th hole, you would notice that had we bulkhead walls on the golf course to make the golf course fit in the naturally terrain a little more. The one thing that Mr. Dye was emphasizing a lot during the renovation was that he wanted the golf course to be more difficult for the better player but more playable for the average player. I think he achieved that in the way the bunkers were placed around the greens and having chipping areas for the higher handicap player to play around those trouble spots. I think we achieved everything we wanted to do. I think from the players' standpoints the biggest thing will be the putting surfaces. The initial talks we had about renovating the golf course centered around the poa annua on our greens. I think the players will see that the greens are smoother, much faster than they have been in the past. When they hit a good putt now, it should be true and online. You should not see some of the inconsistencies in speed and bumpiness they could experience sometimes with our greens. We're happy with the way the renovation has gone. We have gotten positive comments from our players. We feel that all the goals we set out to achieve, we did. Interesting to see what happens with the players this week. The greens are firm. It will be interesting to see how they play the course. TONY PONTURO: Just to represent really the Anheuser Busch corporate site. We're proud that we are accomplishing what we set out to do, to have one of the best LPGA events on the tour. The proof is in the reaction of the fans and players, and probably most importantly, you the media who will react in how it is presented. The players continue to come out and say the right things for us and continue to look out on the horizon with the event. Kingsmill has the tradition of 25 years of love here. With our volunteers it makes it easier. Having just got off the course with Annika, having put up with our foursome for four hours. As Ty Votaw said to me today, "This is the most dramatic skybox on the whole LPGA Tour." From our standpoint, being a major sponsor of sports around the world, the people look at this as a big time event makes us proud. So we appreciate the comments of all the players, and from Anheuser Busch's standpoint look forward to this event for years to come. Q. Wayne, I guess it is an easier decision to make the transition from the PGA Tour to the LPGA. What was the impetus when you made that decision? TONY PONTURO: I think we looked overall quite frankly at the value. We are the official beer of the PGA Tour. We respect what the PGA brings. The purses were getting higher. There was difficulty to get the quality field here and, you know, it was just the time of year and, you know, all sorts of other factors. We just sort of stepped back and said, can we have a top level of that versus maybe an event that was perceived as being at the bottom quarter. At some point you have to move forward. We opted to go with trying to be the best. It had nothing to do with on the course, the resort, the volunteers. As you all know there is a lot of investment relative to the purses in the men's. With our 2.2 million purse, we're trying to do our bit for the ladies. It became, "can you still do a quality event on the tier at the right investment for the right return and give a quality golf event for this community?" I think we have accomplished that goal. Q. There are so many tournaments Canadian Women's Open that are having some problems with sponsorship. Other than finding a couple of million dollars, is there any advice you have for them? What is the answer? TONY PONTURO: Obviously, the LPGA is going through some transition. I think you really have to try to knock on some corporate doors and get people out here to experience it. I think the players from Annika Sorenstam to a player that people don't know. I think the experience from the Pro Am standpoint is extremely important. I think if people come to at the event, they feel good about it. It just going to take persistence to gets sponsors out here and sort of feel it and touch it and understand it. It doesn't take you long to be any kind of package business to understand that the female consumer and purchasing decision are important. For sponsors to not look at something that would obviously have that appeal would probably be crazy. So it is just going to take some concerted effort to get people out there. And really, you know, you can get 20 sponsors out of a hundred thousand versus one out of 2 million. More and more of that may be the way to go, so it is affordable for more rather than have one or two take the full brunt. Q. Tony, you said the event would be here for a long time to come. Can you bring us up to date maybe on just where Kingsmill and the LPGA are in agreement on this? TONY PONTURO: This is our second year of a three year exception. I think I have that right. We are contracted for '06. We are already discussing the possibility of extending early. I think it continues to be important that we as people who are putting on the tournament for the sponsors and for the fans to understand this is a long term significance and you don't want to get too far out in front because things change. But I think there are no reasons as we sit now that we are not looking to extend this a little early and take this out although 23 years as we go out in time.
PAUL ROVNAK: Do we have any more questions for Wayne or Tony? Thank you.
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