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Fundraising activities promise to make 2009 TELUS World Skins Game a success in the community and on the golf course


WEBWIRE

$21,000 already raised for Opération Enfant Soleil via online charity auctions, more to come

Québec City, Québec – Each year, the TELUS Skins Game offers Canadian golf fans the chance to get up close and personal with their favourite professional golfers. This year, lucky fans will get even closer to the action thanks to six different charity auctions offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as the chance to play in a Pro-Am tournament on June 21st and the unique opportunity to serve as the personal caddie for Fred Couples, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy, Ian Poulter or Mike Weir during the TELUS World Skins Game taking place at La Tempête Golf Club in Lévis, Québec on June 22nd and 23rd. Conducted in May, the auctions have already raised $21,000 for the event’s charitable partner, Opération Enfant Soleil, an organization that invests in the development of quality pediatric care in Québec.

“As an active partner of Opération Enfant Soleil for the past ten years, TELUS is delighted to see both the community and the PGA golfers embrace the important cause of quality care for our children,” said Jean-François St-Germain, vice- president of Public and Parapublic markets at TELUS Québec. “We look forward to raising even more money for the kids during the event in June. I’d like nothing more than to see Opération Enfant Soleil receive $1 million because one of the pros hit a hole-in-one!”

Funds raised at the 2009 TELUS World Skins Game will improve the quality of life for thousands of sick kids for years to come by supporting Opération Enfant Soleil. The charity will use the money to equip the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec’s Centre mère-enfant’s surgical unit with the latest in multimedia technology to facilitate complex pediatric heart surgeries. The new system’s extensive connectivity will enable real-time participation in surgeries from any location, thereby improving education opportunities and providing quick access to specialists, all of which will increase the success rate of the procedures.

“Thanks to their financial contributions and the direct involvement of partners like TELUS, premature babies receive high-quality care in their own regions, and children suffering from serious illnesses, such as cancer, benefit from the best technologies and treatments available, in major pediatric centres funded by our organization,” said Ginette Charest, executive director of Opération Enfant Soleil.

In addition to the charity auctions, TELUS and the five participating players will have the opportunity to raise funds through the “Charity on the Course” program which includes a “Million Dollar Hole” where Opération Enfant Soleil will receive $1 million if any of the five players hits a hole-in-one on a designated Par 3 on both the front and back nines. TELUS will also donate $2,000 for each birdie made, $3,000 for each eagle, and on a designated hole each day, it will donate $1 for each yard off the tee that the famous golfing fivesome accumulates.

“I’m looking forward to returning to Québec in two weeks for the TELUS World Skins Game, and appreciate the fact that the event has such a meaningful impact in the community,” said Mike Weir, who will be playing in his seventh TELUS Skins Game this year. “It’s already fun for the players, getting to visit some of Canada’s most beautiful cities and golf courses, and playing in front of the fans, but it makes it even more special when you know that those two days will leave such a valuable legacy.”

The TELUS World Skins Game will be visiting Québec City for the first time in the event’s history later this month and golf fans in the province have shown that they share the same excitement as the 2009 tournament promises to be one of the most successful yet.

Tickets for the internationally-themed event, which features five of the biggest names in golf each representing a different country, sold out in just under an hour, making it the second-fastest sell out in TELUS Skins Game history, behind the 2000 event at Predator Ridge in Vernon, British Columbia, which sold out in 20 minutes. The event has already also seen a record number of corporate hospitality suites sold, topping the previous tournament best in Banff, Alberta.

“Golf has always been tremendously popular in Québec, and we knew that the Québec City region would be a first-class host to the event, but the response has been greater than even we could have imagined,” said Brad Pelletier, senior vice president and managing director of IMG Canada, owner of the TELUS Skins Game. “Everyone involved in the 2009 TELUS World Skins Game looks forward to what we think will rank as one of the most successful tournaments in its 17-year history.”

Owned and operated by IMG in Canada, the TELUS World Skins Game has included many of the biggest names in the game including Jack Nicklaus, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Greg Norman.
The TELUS World Skins Game is also sponsored by Audi, Desjardins, Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, GREY GOOSE Vodka, Québec City Tourism, Québec Tourism and Samsung.



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