BMW of North America Continues its Commitment to Performance-Driven Sports at This Year’s 2010 BMW Championship

Lemont, IL – September 9, 2010… Cog Hill Golf & Country Club will welcome 70 of the world’s top professional golfers today through September 12 for the 2010 BMW Championship, the third leg in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.  All proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, one of the nation’s largest privately funded college scholarship programs, providing full university tuition and housing grants to deserving young caddies.

Since BMW became a presenting sponsor of the tournament in 2007, the BMW Championship has raised a total of $7.3 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

BMW recently announced a two-year extension of its partnership with the PGA TOUR and the Western Golf Association (WGA), serving as a presenting sponsor of the tournament through 2014.

“We’re very proud to continue our strong support for the Evans Scholars Foundation through this prestigious golf championship,” said Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW North America. “BMW has been an important part of the international golf community and the competitive sporting world for more than 26 years, offering financial support as well as technological expertise to athletic teams around the world. Recently, we announced a six-year partnership with the United States Olympic Committee, serving as the Official Mobility Partner from now through 2016 and supporting four United States Olympic sports. This partnership further underscores BMW’s commitment to joy, performance and efficiency – three ideals that are upheld throughout the BMW Championship.”

In addition to raising funds for the Evans Scholars Foundation through the Championship, BMW also offers a summer internship program that invites the scholars to work for BMW, offering them invaluable insight into their future careers after graduation. This past summer, two new BMW Evans Scholars interns joined the BMW team. They are:

• Lisa Ephraim – Ephraim graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a Bachelor of Science in accountancy. She currently works in the central region of BMW North America in Schaumburg, IL, assisting both the BMW and MINI marketing teams. Her responsibilities include planning and executing BMW Championship events as well as assisting with tournament marketing initiatives, and she will be on-site at this year’s Championship to help BMW activate their on-site programs.
• Anthony Gumieny – Gumieny is a rising junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is majoring in economics and philosophy. He is currently working for BMW North America at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, FL where he contributes to a range of projects including test drive reservations, test drive allotment, test drive vehicle maintenance as well as on-site materials and branding opportunities. 

BMW will also continue its tradition of pledging a four-year Evans Scholarship in honor of the first player who scores a hole-in-one during the tournament, and this year BMW will provide a new BMW to any player who achieves a hole-in-one on the 14th hole during the tournament.

John Kaczkowski, WGA President and CEO, expressed the Association’s appreciation for BMW’s ongoing support of the Evans Scholars Foundation.

“We are grateful for BMW’s keen interest in, and strong backing of, the Evans Scholars Program,” noted Kaczkowski.  “Now in its fourth year, BMW’s internship program for Evans Scholars has been very successful for BMW and the Evans Scholars Program. Through our partnership with BMW, the championship continues to be an excellent vehicle to promote and financially support the Evans Scholars Program.”

As it has done every year, BMW has also created a special package for its owners. BMW has encouraged owners of its vehicles to attend and be a part of the BMW Championship by giving away more than 2,500 complimentary tickets to BMW owners.  Additionally, drivers who bring their BMW vehicles to the tournament are granted priority parking as well as exclusive access to the BMW Owners’ Pavilion which offers a prime view of the 14th green.  All BMW vehicles parked in the BMW Owners’ parking lot will also receive a complimentary car wash.

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 336 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 99 MINI passenger car dealers, and 31 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the internet at: www.bmwgroupna.com. Consumers can also follow BMW of North America at www.facebook.com/BMWUSA. Additional BMW Championship information, videos and photos are available at www.bmwusanews.com/BMWChampionship.

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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address: www.press.bmwna.com.  Additional information, images and video may be found at www.bmwusanews.com.  Broadcast quality video footage is available via The NewsMarket at www.thenewsmarket.com.

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Evans Scholars Foundation: Created in 1930, the Evans Scholars Foundation started with two Northwestern University students and has been managed since its inception by the Western Golf Association. To date, the foundation has offered more than 9,000 college scholarships to golf caddies, and during the 2009-2010 academic school year, more than 850 caddies received Evans Scholarships, totaling more than $10 million.

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