News & Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 11, 2010

University of Maryland's Gary Williams to Serve as Tournament

Host for 2010 Melwood Prince George's County Open

UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland - (Jan. 11, 2010) – Melwood Prince George's County Open Tournament Director, Teo Sodeman, today announced that University of Maryland men's basketball head coach Gary Williams will serve as the Tournament Host for the 2010 Melwood Prince George's County Open.  The PGA TOUR sanctioned Nationwide Tour event will be played at the University of Maryland Golf Course May 31^st - June 6^th, 2010.

"We are thrilled that Coach Williams has agreed to play such a prominent role in our event. This Tour and tournament has a global reach and his presence will certainly enhance the tournament's stature," said Sodeman. "His love of golf, the University of Maryland and devotion to philanthropic work are well known and made him a natural choice for us."

"I was very happy our University was selected to host this Nationwide Tour event the next two years," said Williams. "It is a great opportunity for the University to showcase its outstanding facilities and to help the local community. I am very pleased to be a part of it."

Williams entered the 2009-10 season as the seventh-winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball. Williams has 625 wins over 31 seasons as a head coach and his 17 career 20-win seasons also ranks him seventh among active coaches. He has led Maryland to 13 NCAA tournament berths in the last 16 seasons including seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, two consecutive Final Fours and the 2002 NCAA championship.

This past September, he was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He has been a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist on three occasions (1995, 1997 and 2002) and was selected as the National Coach of the Year in 2002 by Basketball America and CBSSportsline.com.

Williams has always been very generous with his time when it comes to charity. He was the recipient of the Champion Award in 2004 for his outstanding work with Coaches vs. Cancer and he is also very involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, National Autism Research, National Physical Education Council, Salvation Army and Babe Ruth Museum to name just a few.

For the past two years, Williams has been part of the Comcast SportsNet broadcast team for the PGA TOUR's AT&T National, hosted at the historic Congressional Country Club and he joins fellow sports celebrities Wayne Gretzky and Jerry Rice in hosting 2010 Nationwide Tour events.

"The tournament has quickly become one of the premier events on the Nationwide Tour, and we believe the partnership with the University of Maryland will help us continue to grow this community event for years to come," said Sodeman. "Maryland will be an excellent venue and we are very pleased with the overwhelming support we have already received from the University, club members and the local business community."

Golf Channel will once again broadcast the Melwood Prince Georges County Open in the U.S.  It will also be distributed to 72 countries worldwide, including Japan, South Korea, China, Sweden, Argentina and Brazil, by the PGA TOUR.

The University of Maryland's 18-hole, semi-private golf course is located within the Washington D.C. Capital Beltway making it an ideal spot to host this event. The newly renovated 7,030-yard championship course consists of tree-lined fairways and a clubhouse that features a full-service golf shop, Mulligan's Bar and Grill, locker rooms and banquet facilities.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Tournament Office: (301) 599-2732

Tournament Director: Teo Sodeman
Website:  http://www.melwoodgolf.org/

MEDIA CONTACT

Brotman·Winter·Fried Communications

(703) 534-4600

Shaun May ext. 213

smay@bwfcom.com

ABOUT MELWOOD

Melwood Horticultural Training Center is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit serving more than 2,100 people with disabilities with job training, employment, housing and recreation in the Washington D.C. area. Melwood employees support more than 65 contracts made possible by the AbilityOne Program, which encourages federal agencies to contract with approved, qualified organizations that provide job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. This federal effort is emphasized by the fact that 62 percent of Americans with severe disabilities are unemployed. For additional information about Melwood capabilities and services for people with disabilities, call Melwood at (301) 599-8000, or visit www.melwood.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE TOUR
Founded (1990), owned and operated by the PGA TOUR, the Nationwide Tour identifies those players who are ready to compete and win on golf's biggest stage.  As the ""official proving ground"" of the PGA TOUR, two out of three PGA TOUR members are Nationwide Tour alumni.  Alumni have won 260 PGA TOUR titles, including 13 majors and three PLAYERS Championships.  Twenty-five PGA TOUR cards will be at stake on the Nationwide Tour in 2010.  Recognizing the Tour's growing stature, Nationwide Insurance has renewed its umbrella sponsorship of the Nationwide Tour through 2012.  The PGA TOUR, through the efforts of its three tours and their tournaments, sponsors, players and volunteers, supports over 2,000 local charities and has surpassed $1.5 billion in charitable giving.  To learn more about the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour and to follow the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card, visit www.PGATOUR.COM.

ABOUT NATIONWIDE

Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

Nationwide, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. 

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

From its pre-Civil War roots as Maryland's first agricultural college and one of America's original land grant institutions, the University of Maryland today is the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities.  Maryland is committed to excellence as the state's premier center of research and graduate education and the institution of choice for undergraduate students of exceptional ability and promise. For more information about the University of Maryland, visit www.umd.edu.

###

Back to List