PGA TOUR announces top tournament winners in the 2016 PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge

From left: Andy Pazder, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President and Chief of Operations was joined by; Howard Baskin, Chief Financial Officer of Big Cat Rescue; physician and Valspar Championship volunteer Dorothy Christman, M.D.; and Valspar Championship Tournament General Chairman Les Muma as the Valspar Championship received a $50,000 check honoring the tournament as 2016 winner of the PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge sponsored by Myrbetriq® (mirabegron).

October 20, 2016

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL– The PGA TOUR is proud to announce that the Valspar Championship has earned $50,000 for local charities as the first place winner of the PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge sponsored by Myrbetriq® (mirabegron).  Part of the TOUR’s “Together, anything’s possible” charitable mission, the PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge sponsored by Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) is a friendly “vote-for-me” competition designed to raise funds for local charities while recognizing the talent, passion and commitment of the TOUR’s more than 100,000 tournament volunteers nationwide who have helped the TOUR achieve more than $2.14 billion in charitable giving.

Volunteer Challenge participants at 16 tournaments this year asked friends, family members and co-workers, to visit PGATOUR.com/Volunteers and vote for them as their favorite tournament volunteer.  At the end of the voting period on Saturday of tournament week, the volunteer with the most votes earned the opportunity to present a check on behalf of Myrbetriq for $10,000 in his or her name to the winner’s tournament charity of choice. The top vote-getter at the Valspar Championship was family practice physician Dorothy Christman, MD, of Palm Harbor, Fla., who selected Big Cat Rescue as recipient of the initial $10,000 in charitable funds.

As the tournament for which volunteers collected the most votes, the Valspar Championship will disburse the additional $50,000 it earned to benefit Tampa-area charities.  The DEAN & DELUCA Invitational came in second place and has earned $30,000 in additional funds to help Dallas-Fort Worth area charities, and the Honda Classic has earned $20,000 in additional funds to serve the West Palm Beach area after finishing in third place.

“The PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge sponsored by Myrbetriq® is a fun and effective way to raise funds for charity, while at the same time expressing gratitude to the tens of thousands of volunteers who annually donate their time helping to orchestrate each tournament,” said Andy Pazder, PGA TOUR chief of operations. “All of the participating tournaments did a fantastic job of motivating their teams, executing creative social media campaigns, and engaging community partners for the benefit of so many worthy non-profit organizations in the communities where the PGA TOUR plays.  We are very appreciative for their efforts and congratulate each of our top three tournament winners.”

The PGA TOUR Volunteer Challenge will be held in 2017 at 16 tournaments nationwide, beginning with the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, Calif., for which voting opens on November 7, 2016.  For more information about the program and to view a list of participating tournaments, please visit PGATOUR.com/Volunteers.