PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y., has been named the host of The 39th PGA Club Professional Championship, the showcase event for PGA Professionals, which will expand to 312 players, June 22-25, 2006, and will feature a purse of $500,000.

The nation's premier PGA Professionals will compete at Turning Stone's Atunyote Golf Club and Shenendoah Golf Club. The CPC field will play one round each on the two courses, with the final 36 holes contested at Atunyote Golf Club.

Both courses have hosted Regional PGA Club Professional Championships, with Atunyote Golf Club the site of The 2004 Eastern CPC and Shenendoah Golf Club hosting the 2002 Eastern CPC. This year, the Regional CPC format was discontinued in order that more emphasis may be placed on enhancing the 41 PGA Section Championships. The Section Championships will determine the 312 contestants for the 39th CPC.

In 2006, The PGA Club Professional Championship and 41 PGA Section Championships will feature a total combined purse of $1.5 million.

"The PGA Club Professional Championship is the premier event for our member professionals, and we believe that allowing more emphasis on the Section Championships will better serve our presenting sponsors who have been with us from the beginning in enhancing this Championship," said PGA of America President Roger Warren. "The expanded field that begins in 2006 allows for more PGA Professionals to gain the opportunity to play in their Association's national championship. The CPC will not change its tradition of being played at premier venues and will continue to receive the outstanding national coverage and support of our media partner, The Golf Channel."

Turning Stone Resort & Casino in the Central New York PGA Section becomes the 13th state to host The PGA Club Professional Championship, which originated in 1968.

"We're thrilled to have the event here, and to have that caliber of golfers play our courses," said Turning Stone Resort & Casino Chief Operating Officer Frank Riolo "It's certainly a tribute to the designs and condition of our golf courses to be selected as host site of The CPC."

Atunyote Golf Club, a Tom Fazio design, opened for play in July 2004. The course was listed by Travel & Leisure Golf as one of the "10 Best New Public/Resort Courses," and was selected in 2004 by GOLF Magazine in its "Top 10 New Courses Your Can Play."

Atunyote, (pronounced "uh-DUNE-yote"), is the Oneida Nation word for "eagle." The course features a traditional parkland setting with gently rolling hills, rock formations, a preserved deadwood marsh, a stream and waterfalls and several lakes and ponds. A New England-style clubhouse opened this spring. The par-72 Atunyote layout measures 7,315 yards from its back tees.

Designed by Rick Smith, Shenendoah Golf Club opened in May 2000 and has earned a niche in the 2005-06 Golf Digest directory of "America's 100 Greatest Public Courses" and was ranked No. 2 in New York in GolfWeek's "America's Best" public access courses.

Shenendoah Golf Club was crafted from a natural landscape to create wooded parkland holes, open pastures that retain the feeling of a links course and also features several low-country holes. Golf Digest's 2002-03 "Best Places to Play" rated Shenendoah Golf Club the No. 1 public access course in conditioning. The par-72 layout can be stretched to 7,129 yards from its back tees.

The 39th PGA Club Professional Championship will be presented by Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra; Buick and Club Car. The Greg Norman Collection is the Official Golf Apparel of the CPC, while The Golf Channel is an exclusive media partner and The PGA Tour a contributing partner.

The 2005 PGA Club Professional Championship, June 23-26, will be contested at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

The PGA Club Professional Championship Future Sites
The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, S.C. - June 23-26, 2005
Turning Stone Resort & Casino - Atunyote Golf Club and Shenendoah Golf Club, Verona, N.Y. - June 22-25, 2006
Crosswater Club & The Meadows Golf Club, Sunriver, Ore. - June 21-24, 2007