RICHMOND, Va. -- Top executives from Fortune 500 companies and other organizations will meet this November for the first ever Professional Golf Sponsors Summit (PGSS), to be held at Georgia's famed Sea Island Resort. Only c-level executives whose companies sponsor PGA TOUR golfers or have a similar association with professional golf have been invited. The sole purpose of the PGSS is to form new relationships that will ultimately drive business between the participating companies.

"As great as the value is from our sponsorships of PGA TOUR golfers, we want to further leverage the opportunity and we think this is an efficient way to buy and sell products and services between these like-minded companies," says Dave Mattson, CEO of Sandler Training, a training provider which sponsors PGA TOUR golfers John Rollins, Woody Austin and Omar Uresti.

Mattson cites as inspiration for the PGSS a New York Times article about NASCAR's Fuel for Business Council. As part of the Council, NASCAR sponsors, including representatives of Coca-Cola and Sprint Nextel, have begun to meet each quarter. Recent Council meetings saw deals inked between participants UPS and Cintas, as well as between Best Western and Office Depot.

"With that in mind, we have come up with the ideal time and place for professional golf sponsors to get together, discuss how we can use our sponsorships to better effect, enter into some mutually advantageous business relationships and, not incidentally, have a great time together," says Mattson.


According to Golf Digest, Sea Island features the best service, finest food and most luxurious rooms of any golf resort in America. As a special bonus, Summit attendees will have the opportunity to play on Sea Island's most premier golf course, the spectacular 340-acre Frederica, designed by Tom Fazio and Sir Michael Bonallack.

"At Sea Island, we'll meet, network, sell, cross-promote and put our heads together to figure out how we can make our sponsorships mean more in bottom-line business terms," Mattson says. "If it goes as well as we think it will, we'll begin new and exciting ventures together."

If your organization has an association with professional golf and is interested in participating in the Professional Golf Sponsors Summit, please visit www.thepgss.com for registration information.

For more information, contact Catherine Baab-Muguira
Bergman Group, (804) 200-6939