Bruno Event Team Selected to Manage Calgary’s Shaw Charity Classic | Sports Destination Management

Bruno Event Team Selected to Manage Calgary’s Shaw Charity Classic

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Mar 22, 2013
Sean Van Kesteren announced as Tournament Director

Bruno Event Team announced today they were hired to manage the Shaw Charity Classic which will take place August 26th to September 1st, 2013 at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Alta.  Bruno Event Team is the largest event management company in the United States dedicated exclusively to managing sporting events. 

Bruno Event Team also announced that long-time CN Canadian Women’s Open Tournament Director Sean Van Kesteren of Burlington, Ont. has accepted the role of Tournament Director for the Shaw Charity Classic.

The Shaw Charity Classic, an annual golf event on the Champions Tour, is a 54-hole stroke play tournament with a US $2 million purse. The field will consist of 81 Champions Tour professionals and the winner will receive US $300,000 and 300 Charles Schwab Cup Points. Among the Champions Tour stars eligible to compete in the Shaw Charity Classic are Fred Couples, Nick Price, Corey Pavin, Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, Peter Jacobsen, Mark O'Meara, Rocco Mediate and many more.

Bruno Event Team (BET) is a Birmingham, Ala., based sports marketing company that manages a wide variety of events in golf, motorsports, intercollegiate and high school athletics. BET has managed seventeen major golf championships in different markets, along with ten annual events on the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Web.com and LPGA Tour.  The Shaw Charity Classic is the second golf tournament for Bruno Event Team to manage in Canada, in addition to the highly successful Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Ont.

“We are honored to have been selected to manage the Shaw Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club,” stated Gene Hallman, President and CEO of Bruno Event Team.  “The Calgary community and Shaw Communications have already proven to be great partners on this event and I truly believe this has the potential to be one of the most successful Champions Tour events ever.  We are very pleased to have Sean Van Kesteren as our Tournament Director given his wealth of golf experience.”

Van Kesteren will join Bruno Event Team as Tournament Director of the Shaw Charity Classic after serving as Golf Canada’s Tournament Director for the CN Canadian Women’s Open the past ten years.   He also currently sits on the Board of Directors with the LPGA Tour’s Owners Association.

In addition to his responsibilities with the CN Canadian Women’s Open, Van Kesteren has managed a number of activities related to the RBC Canadian Open, most notably managing Sales and Business Development.  Prior to being involved in professional golf, he served in various capacities at Golf Canada, including Tournament Director, Amateur Championships and Manager of Rules and Competitions.    

“I am truly excited to be selected as Tournament Director for the Shaw Charity Classic,” stated Van Kesteren. “My 15 years with Golf Canada have provided me with tremendous experiences and now the opportunity to organize this prestigious event for Calgary is an exciting next step in my professional career. I look forward to making this event one of the best on the Champions Tour.”

Van Kesteren will begin his work as Tournament Director in early April in preparation for the August 2013 event.  For more information on Bruno Event Team and the Shaw Charity Classic, visit www.brunoeventteam.com and www.shawcharityclassic.com.

About Bruno Event Team
Bruno Event Team (BET) is a Birmingham, Alabama, based sports marketing and event management company formed in 1996 by Ronald Bruno and Gene Hallman. Bruno Event Team is experienced in all facets of event management, employing a year-round staff of 80+ employees in thirteen offices around the United States and Canada.  Bruno Event Team services each client with expertise in strategic planning, marketing, advertising, public and media relations, ticket and merchandise sales, sponsor relations, hospitality consulting, event operations, event financial planning and accounting, as well as volunteer coordination.   Visit www.brunoeventteam.com for additional information.

About The Champions Tour
Collectively, the Champions Tour has the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game with many of its 30 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame competing regularly in its events and numerous other major championship winners among its members. The Champions Tour is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. Points earned in 26 official Charles Schwab Cup events in 2013 will determine the Charles Schwab Cup champion, the season-long competition designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s leading player. The Champions Tour's primary purpose is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, protect the integrity of the game and generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays. In 2012, tournaments on all five Tours (PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, PGA TOUR Canada) generated more than $122 million for local charitable organizations, bringing the TOUR’s all-time total of charitable contributions to more than $1.8 billion. The Commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Mike Stevens is President of the Champions Tour. The PGA TOUR’s website is pgatour.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Follow the Champions Tour at Facebook.com/Champions Tour and on Twitter @ChampionsTour.

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