NEWS RELEASE For Release: Monday, August 15, 2005 Ticket Info: www.saschampionship.com or 1-800-531-7PGA (7742) Contact: Chris Madigan, [email protected] or (203) 354-7465

Free Admission to SAS Championship on Tuesday, September 27, Courtesy of NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes

CARY, N.C. – The SAS Championship presented by Forbes is partnering with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes to bring hockey and golf fans together on Tuesday, September 27. Carolina Hurricanes Day will be full of various special events, and there will be no admission charge courtesy of the Hurricanes.

“Our involvement in the community is very important to us,” said Matt West, Vice President of Business Operations for the Carolina Hurricanes. “The SAS Championship provides another avenue in which we can reach out to the Triangle. We’re thrilled to be involved with this well-respected community event.”

“Tuesday has always been a fun-filled, action packed day for the SAS Championship,” said Jeff Kleiber, Tournament Director. “Partnering with the Hurricanes to give our fans free admission is only one of the many bright spots of the day. The Champions Tour pros will be practicing all day long, and we will have a Walking Clinic, a Skins Game and The First Tee of Wake County Youth Clinic. ”

The gates will open at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, as they will all week. Champions Tour practice rounds will take place throughout the day. At 1:30 p.m., a Walking Clinic will focus on course management skills for all Tournament attendees. Following the Walking Clinic will be the second annual Skins Game at 3:00 p.m. featuring Champions Tour players teaming up with members of the Carolina Hurricanes in a five- hole, alternate shot event with a $10,000 charitable purse. Closing out the day will be The First Tee of Wake County Youth Clinic at 5:00 p.m. Champions Tour players will be involved in all events and will be announced soon. There is no charge for any clinic and all who are interested are encouraged to attend.

The SAS Championship and the Triangle area have become one of the most popular stops on the Champions Tour. Boasting one of the largest non-Major purses on the Tour, the Tournament annually draws one of the strongest player fields of the year. ran away with last year’s title, adding his name to the SAS Championship winners’ circle that already includes D.A. Weibring and two-time winner .

The SAS Championship has supported various educational organizations since 2001. In partnership with the Triangle Community Foundation, SAS has donated Tournament proceeds to nonprofits like Communities In Schools of Wake County (CISWC). CISWC operates the Tournament’s signature project, the SAS Community Learning Center in a public housing community in Raleigh, NC. CISWC offers educational programming to help young people succeed in school and in life and was named the 2003 Champions Tour Charity of the Year.

Tickets for the SAS Championship are on sale and can be purchased by logging onto www.saschampionship.com, by calling 1-800-531-7PGA (7742) or by visiting participating area Triangle Harris Teeter Locations after September 12.

About SAS SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites -- including 90 percent of the Fortune 500 -- to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know®.

About the Carolina Hurricanes The National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes bring the fun and excitement of major-league sports to the Triangle. From October to April the Hurricanes play 41 regular-season games at the RBC Center, the 18,700-seat state-of-the-art arena they share with State Men’s Basketball. Since settling into their permanent Raleigh home in 1999, the Hurricanes have brought the 2002 NHL Stanley Cup finals, the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and the night-in and night-out thrills of Carolina Hurricanes’ hockey.

About Octagon’s Golf Division Octagon’s Golf Division manages some of the finest professional golf events including two Champions Tour events, The ACE Group Classic and the SAS Championship presented by Forbes; two LPGA Tour events, the Sybase Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury and the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic; and one Nationwide Tour event, The Rex Hospital Open. Octagon’s Golf Division also represents nearly 40 golfing professionals including Davis Love III, Chris Smith, Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel, Emilee Klein, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, and brothers, Bobby and Lanny Wadkins.

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