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 | | The Open Championship Underway | |
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Round 1 of the 149th Open is underway, with Royal St George’s welcoming a star-studded field from July 11-18 including five (5) past Valero Texas Open champions – of which one who previously won The Open.
We wish the entire player field good luck as they battle for the Claret Jug!
| Valero Texas Open Champions |
 | Corey Conners |  |
| Charley Hoffman | |
| Adam Scott | |
| Jordan Spieth (champion of The Open in 2017) | |
| Jimmy Walker | |
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| | $9.565M Distributed Through Champions fore Charity | |
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Champions fore Charity fundraising program hosted it’s annual Celebration of Champions on Thursday, June 24th at The Rustic. Representatives from over 260 organizations – charities, schools and program sponsors -- from San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi attended the luncheon as funds raised through the seven month-long Champions fore Charity campaign were distributed to the 155 participating agencies. Based on the generous support from donors, $8.97M was contributed with a collection of 99.979% of the total fundraising commitments.
The Champions fore Charity campaign is a charitable initiative organized and supported by the Valero Texas Open, providing over 224 charity organizations throughout the greater San Antonio community and beyond with a fun and unique fundraising platform. The charities also received several financial incentives like the 7% Matching Gift, which totaled nearly $594,000 cumulatively.
The tournament’s legacy of giving back continues and at the helm leading the charge was this year’s Tournament Chair, Eric Fisher, Senior Vice President of Wholesale Marketing & International Commercial Operations for Valero. Eric was able to attend the luncheon and remind everyone that this year’s Valero Texas Open raised a jaw-dropping $16 million for charity, bringing the cumulative total to more than $187 million in charitable giving. Additionally Laura Vaccaro, Vice President of Community Investment & Engagement for Valero helped celebrate and congratulate the hard work, dedication and passion that the charity representatives put forth to better the community through the various services they provide on a daily basis.
Champions fore Charity Ambassadors, Randy Carroll (KJ 97 radio host), David Chancellor (WOAI news anchor) and Kimberly Crawford (KABB “Daytime with Kimberly & Esteban”) helped to announce the record-breaking total of $9.565M distributed to charities from the 2020-2021 fundraising program – a part of the $16M announced from this year’s Valero Texas Open for charity.
 |  | Champions fore Charity Ambassadors, Randy Carroll David Chancellor and Kimberly Crawford |
Truly donors are champions fore supporting charities. Charities are champions fore supporting our community!
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| | Guess the Champion Contest | |
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This year instead of guessing the number of birdies that took place at the Valero Texas Open, donors from Champions fore Charity had the opportunity to guess at who would be the 2021 champion through the “Guess the Champion Contest”. Forty-three (43) donors correctly guessed this year’s champion, Jordan Spieth, for a chance to win a Stay & Play Package provided by TPC San Antonio and the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.
The winner for the Stay & Play Package was drawn and unfortunately could not attend the Celebration of Champions. However, the charity the donor supported was CRRC of Canyon Lake which received an incentive bonus of $5,000!
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| | Drawing fore More Awareness | |
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During the fundraising campaign the Drawing fore More Awareness offered a fun way to keep participating charities and schools engaged and motivated. Throughout the seven month campaign, charities were entered into a drawing for every $500 worth of pledges they received for a chance to win $2,500. Six (6) lucky charities earned a cumulative total of $15,000 from the Valero Texas Open tournament proceeds.
The drawings took place on Facebook Live with the help of program ambassadors, Randy Carroll, Kimberly Crawford, and David Chancellor as they each alternated for each contest to randomly draw a qualified charity.
 | Arms of Hope |  |
| ChildSafe | |
| Day 1 Bags | |
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| Family Service | |
| The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation | |
| The Ecumenical Center | |
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| | Final Top 10 Charitable Leaderboard | |
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A special congratulations to this year’s top-10 performing charities from the 2020-2021 fundraising campaign. The totals listed below are specifically the amounts raised by each charity, not including incentives earned.
| #1 | Arms of Hope | $583,000 |
| #2 | San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind & Vision Impaired | $539,000 |
| #3 | The Ecumenical Center | $250,000 |
| #4 | Aid the Silent | $180,000 |
| #5 | Roy Maas Youth Alternatives | $179,000 |
| #6 | I Care San Antonio | $173,000 |
| #7 | Dreamhill Estates Educational Resource Center | $167,000 |
| #8 | The Blood & Tissue Center Foundation | $165,000 |
| #9 | Children's Rehabilitation Institute TeletonUSA | $163,000 |
| #10 | Day 1 Bags | $159,000 |
| Champions fore Charity Corporate Partners |
Champions fore Charity, thanks to its corporate supporters, is able to deliver 100% of all funds contributed to participating organizations. Please visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com to learn more about the Valero Texas Open and its Champions fore Charity program.
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| | Golf Returns to Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020 | |
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Golf made a spectacular return to the Olympics at Rio 2016 and will be a major attraction this summer at Kasumigaseki Country Club.
The USA is regarded as the world's leading nation in terms of the number of its male players at the top of the world rankings. However, the men's event at Rio 2016 was won by Justin Rose (Great Britain), who was then ranked 11th in the world.
Rose made not one but two pieces of history: not content with recording the first ever hole-in-one at the Games, he went on to become the sport's first Olympic champion in 112 years. Other countries with a deep pool of talent include Spain, Sweden and Australia.
Looking ahead to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 later this month, Team USA hopes to build on its 2016 performance, where Matt Kuchar earned the bronze medal in golf’s return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1904. In this year’s summer Olympics from July 29 – August 1 , the men’s USA roster includes four (4) Americans: Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Justin Thomas. San Antonio resident Abraham Ancer will be representing Mexico and 2019 Valero Texas Open Champion, Corey Conners, will represent Canada. Who will bring home the gold?
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