Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, MI — July 12, 2019
In a major announcement today The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren revealed a new Celebrity Foursome Exhibition anchoring Saturday’s second round of tournament play. All-Time Great, Jack Nicklaus, will highlight the group with local celebrity Kid Rock and Country Music Star Dierks Bently. It was also announced that Bently will headline the Community Concert on the driving range at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Saturday, September 14, 2019.
Celebrity Foursome
The tournament’s newest event, the Celebrity Foursome, will make its debut on Saturday of tournament week and feature golf’s greatest champion Jack Nicklaus, super-star recording artist and Michigan native Kid Rock, and Community Concert headliner Bentley.
In the coming weeks, an additional celebrity will be added to create a powerhouse foursome that will play a 9-hole team scramble exhibition match to benefit charity. The special group’s starting time will follow the last tournament pairing of round two, beginning on the 10th hole at Warwick Hills. Additional details, including celebrity pairings and charitable impact, will be announced soon.
Ally Financial’s Sponsorship Commitment
“We at Ally are thrilled to take The Ally Challenge to the next level by bringing one of the country’s biggest stars, Dierks Bentley, as our Saturday evening concert,” said Andrea Brimmer, Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer, Ally. “The concert and the addition of the Celebrity Foursome will make Saturday a can’t miss day at the tournament. These additions demonstrate Ally’s commitment to have the best of the best at The Ally Challenge and make this a premier event in the Flint/Grand Blanc area.”
Ally spearheaded the efforts to bring these crowd-pleasing activities to the tournament to continue to bolster support for the world-class PGA TOUR Champions event and increase the net proceeds that will benefit Genesee County Habitat for Humanity and United Way of Genesee County.
“Thanks to the unwavering support of Ally Financial, Saturday is shaping up to be an epic day at Warwick Hills,” said Chris Coffman, The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren Tournament Director. “Dierks Bentley is sure to thrill fans at the Community Concert and the addition of the Celebrity Foursome to Saturday’s schedule will be an instant fan favorite.”
Dierks Bently
Pegged as “one of Country music’s most enviable brands, equal parts affability and authenticity” (Forbes), Bentley continues to be a dominant voice for the genre with over 8.6 billion overall digital streams. The “ultra-personal material” (Rolling Stone) behind his current single “Living” follows Bentley’s 18th career No. One and ACM award-winning hit “Burning Man,” as he continues to reveal ambitious, complex sounds with lyrics inspired by his own personal journey through the writing and the recording of THE MOUNTAIN. Reaching a new creative high while “making music designed to challenge” (New York Times), Bentley co-wrote 10 of 13 tracks on THE MOUNTAIN, which earned him the highest debut sales of his career and became his seventh chart-topping album.
Bentley has amassed countless nominations from the ACMs, CMAs, Billboard Music Awards and more while also earning 14 GRAMMY nominations. “Fans get an all-night sing-along party” (Fresno Bee) on Bentley’s current 2019 BURNING MAN TOUR featuring special guests Jon Pardi, Tenille Townes and the Hot Country Knights with upcoming stops this week in Jacksonville, FL (7/18), West Palm Beach, FL (7/19) and Tampa, FL (7/20) . For more information visit www.dierks.com.
Jack Nicklaus
No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus, and no single person has changed the face of the sport more than Jack Nicklaus – the player, the course designer, the businessman, the philanthropist, and the goodwill ambassador.
Nicklaus’ competitive career spanned five decades, and his legend has been built with 120 professional tournament victories worldwide, including a record 18 major-championship titles (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens).
Known as the Golden Bear, Nicklaus’ legacy transcends his championship resumé, due to his global design work and licensing, and the commitment from Jack and wife Barbara to philanthropy, specifically efforts focused on pediatric care through the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.
Using his success as a platform to benefit others has earned Nicklaus the designation as the only sportsperson—and the fourth individual in history—to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Lincoln Medal.
Local Connections
“As a Buckeye from Ohio State, we kid often about our friends in Michigan, but in reality, people know I have tremendous respect and affection for the state of Michigan,” Nicklaus said. “Southeastern Michigan has a wonderful history in the game of golf, and I have been fortunate to be a part of some of that heritage.
Warwick Hills has been an outstanding venue since I first played there as an amateur more than 60 years ago. Today it is still a true test of tournament golf, and I can promise you that we will have a lot of fun competing in the Celebrity Foursome while at the same time raising money for charity.”
Kid Rock
Kid Rock burst onto the music scene in 1998, with his “Devil Without a Cause” album and hasn’t looked back. From hit singles like “Bawitdaba” and “Cowboy” to “Picture” and “All Summer Long,” the recording artist has blazed his own trail in the music world, having sold over 26 million albums to date and performing to standing-room-only crowds. Kid Rock holds the Michigan record for most tickets sold with 150,000 for a run of 10 consecutive sold-out shows, and recently set the Little Caesars Arena attendance record in his hometown of Detroit, with 86,893 attendees in six sold-out shows.
“Looking forward to returning to Warwick Hills to tee it up with Jack ‘The GOAT’ Nicklaus and my country music brother Dierks Bentley,” Kid Rock said. “You just can’t beat summertime Michigan golf!”
PGA Tour Champions
The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren, September 9-15, will be one of the premier Regular Season events on PGA TOUR Champions in 2019, which will give way to the third-annual Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs—a season-ending, three tournament series used to determine the Tour’s season-long champion.
All three rounds of The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren will be broadcast on Golf Channel.
For more information about The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren, please visit theallychallenge.com. For the latest Ally Challenge news and updates on social media, follow the tournament on Twitter and Instagram at @AllyChallenge and on Facebook at Facebook.com/AllyChallenge.
The Lasco Press will be on the course for week-long coverage of the event at Warwick Hills during the Tournament.
