Photo Credit: Courtesy American Century Championship
Sports fans and star gazers, get your selfie stick ready and head to Lake Tahoe this week for the always fun American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, taking place July 14-19. Justin Timberlake, an avid golfer with a six handicap, makes his debut at the 26th annual event, a haute floating tailgate party where boats line up on the 17th fairway of Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and sun worshippers toss footballs to the participants. You’ll need to hold that stick high to get a shot of you and Shaquille O’Neal, who will deejay at PEEK Nightclub inside Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on Saturday.
O’Neal isn’t golfing but an impressive lineup of more than 80 sports and entertainment celebrities, including Steve Kerr, coach of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley, NFL MVP and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, TV personality Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and a host of current pro athletes and retired Hall of Famers, will be on the links. The tournament raises money for multiple charities and offers free admission to military personnel and guests.
With major television exposure (NBC Sports, NBCSN, Golf Channel) and a purse of $600,000, the American Century Championship is the most prestigious celebrity tournament in golf. After two days of practice rounds and the Celeb-Am tournament, the first round of the American Century Championship tees off in South Lake Tahoe on the shores of the largest alpine lake in North America. Snagging Timberlake, who is known for using his golfing skills for philanthropic endeavors, was a big coup for the tournament.
“We’ve been talking to Justin Timberlake for years about joining the American Century Championship field and his schedule coincides with our tournament dates this year,” said Jon Miller, President of Programming for NBC Sports, which owns and operates the tournament. “He will be a dynamic attraction for the galleries and a perfect fit with the celebrities who come to Lake Tahoe every July.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy American Century Championship
Other prominent competitors chasing the $125,000 first prize include John Elway, Anthony Anderson, Roger Clemens, Cris Collinsworth, former 49er Alex Smith, Jim McMahon, Kim Alexis and defending champion Mark Rypien. Tim Brown and Jerome Bettis are competing just before their induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. John Smoltz is set to join the all-time baseball greats in Cooperstown in August.
The famous faces from the worlds of sports and entertainment stars will join two bona fide heroes in the field: United States Army Sergeant Major Rodney Gorman, and retired United States Army Corporal Chad Pfeifer, both winners of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Warrior Open. Gorman, a Gulf War veteran who has also experienced multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, is 90 percent disabled with several shrapnel wounds including in his left forearm. Pfeifer, who finished fifth in last year’s tournament, lost his left leg to an IED explosion in Iraq in 2007.
As part of the tournament’s special tribute to America’s military, all active duty, reservists, National Guard and veterans can receive two complimentary tickets per day, including one for a guest at the 26th annual tournament. All service men and women who would like to attend can apply by going here and redeeming the special offer.
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