Brooks, Lorenzen, Tubby to play in Chick-Fil-A Bowl Challenge

Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks and former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen will compete in the annual Chick-Fil-A Bowl Challenge celebrity golf tournament at Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee outside Atlanta April 28. Brooks and Lorenzen will be golfing for a share of a $350,000 scholarship purse.

The field will also include defending champions Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe from the University of South Carolina. In all, 11 teams are scheduled to hit the links, all vying for the $120,000 first-place scholarship prize. Former UK basketball coach Tubby Smith will be representing Minnesota along with partner Jim Petersen, a former hoops star at the University of Minnesota who also went on to play in the NBA.

“Don’t expect this to be a nice way for the coaches to unwind after spring practice,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “These guys are very competitive and we fully expect that spirit to carry over to the golf course. We’re looking for a great event with some low scores and a lot of money heading back to these schools for scholarship.”

The current field of competitors includes:

TEAM:                                   COACH:                               CELEBRITY:
Alabama                              Nick Saban                          Johnny Musso
Georgia Tech                     Paul Johnson                     Jon Barry
Kentucky                             Rich Brooks                         Jared Lorenzen
Maryland                             Ralph Friedgen                  Neil O’Donnell
Minnesota                          Tubby Smith                       Jim Petersen
Mississippi                          Houston Nutt                    Kris Mangum
N.C. State                            Sidney Lowe                      Monte Towe
South Carolina                   Steve Spurrier                   Sterling Sharpe
Vanderbilt                           Bobby Johnson                 Will Perdue
Virginia Tech                      Frank Beamer                    Dell Curry
Wake Forest                      Jim Grobe                           Billy Packer

Additional teams may be added prior to the event.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge features pairings that include a university head coach and a celebrity or former athlete from the same school competing in a scramble format against other university teams from around the country.

In addition to the $350,000 scholarship purse, another $130,000 of the proceeds will be donated to selected charities. The Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge is a significant contributor to the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s overall charitable and scholarship donations. The Chick-fil-A Bowl leads all bowls in the country in charitable giving, including record gifts of more than $1.2 million in 2008 alone.

For more information on the event, visit www.Chick-fil-ABowlChallenge.com.