Release:         On receipt, February 16, 2007
Contacts:        Jeff Starr, Tournament Director, 515-279-4653, jeff@principalcharityclassic.com or
                        Lainey Lundstrom, Ticket/Volunteer Manager, 515-279-4653, lainey@principalcharityclassic.com

The Principal Charity Classic Ticket Sales, Volunteer Registration Open Feb. 19

 

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – With just four months until golfers like Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan hit the links, tickets for The Principal Charity Classic are set to go on sale on Monday, Feb. 19 at www.principalcharityclassic.com or by calling the tournament office at (515) 279-4653. For fans of the PGA Champions Tour wanting to step “inside the ropes,” volunteer opportunities will be available at the Web site. 

The Principal Financial Group brings the Champions Tour golf tournament to Central Iowa June 5-10, 2007, at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. A field of 78 golf professionals will be competing for a $1.6 million purse. 

Ticket offers include:


Hosted by the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, The Principal Charity Classic is presented by Wells Fargo and has a new approach focused on charity and is designed “FORE Our Kids.” Event monies raised will benefit a group of five select charities – Blank Children’s Hospital, BRAVO, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, United Way of Central Iowa and Variety-The Children’s Charity. As a family friendly event, the entire community is invited to see top notch golfers in action while at the same time providing support to these local organizations. 

“The Principal Charity Classic is an example of Central Iowa at its best – our community working together, having fun and raising money for those in need,” said J. Barry Griswell, president and CEO of the Principal Financial Group, the title sponsor for the annual Champions Tour event. “This event will be historic for Des Moines and we want everyone to be part of the excitement.”

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer positions range from scoring the pro’s throughout their round to gallery control on the golf course. Each volunteer is required to buy a volunteer package for $75, which includes more than $300 worth of merchandise and tournament benefits.

“With the help of more than 1,000 volunteers from the community, the 2007 Principal Charity Classic promises to be one of the most exciting events this year.  We invite everyone to get involved,” said Jeff Starr, tournament director of The Principal Charity Classic.

About the Champions Tour

The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour now has 28 official Charles Schwab Cup events (a 29th, Bank of America Championship, was cancelled in June due to rain) offering $50.95 million in prize money in 2006 and its highest average purse ever of $1.82 million. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. On October 30th, 2005 the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour and their tournaments announced they had reached the $1 billion milestone in charitable donations dating back to the first recorded donation in 1938. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Rick George is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Our web site address is PGATOUR.com.

About the Bruno Event Team

Bruno Event Team is a Birmingham-based sports marketing and event management company. It employs a year-round staff of more than 40 people in seven states and has managed a number of professional golf events including the Champions Tour’s Regions Charity Classic in Birmingham, AL, several U.S. Senior Opens and the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open.

About the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation

The Greater Des Moines Community Foundation is Central Iowa's premiere philanthropic foundation. The Community Foundation works to meet its mission of improving the area's quality of life through thoughtful investment in community activities, programs, and projects. Established by community stakeholders for the purpose of improving quality of life in Greater Des Moines, the foundation initiates programs, coordinates resources and supporting organizations that enhance education, community betterment, arts and culture, health and human services.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial GroupÒ (The Principal ®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $206.0 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 16.3 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

1 "The Principal Financial Group" and “The Principal” are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2 As of June 30, 2006

Release: August 7, 2006
Contact: Terri Hale, Principal Financial Group, 515.283.8858,hale.terri@principal.com
or Rhonda Clark-Leyda, 515.247.6634, clark-leyda.rhonda@principal.com
or Jeff Adams, Champions Tour, 904.273.3397, jadams@pgatourhq.com