Buick Open Donates a Record $617,000 to Charity GRAND BLANC, Mich., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Buick Open announced that it has donated a record $617,000 to Southeastern Michigan charities from proceeds raised through the 2003 tournament. Held annually at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, the Buick Open has now raised more than $6.4 million for charities since 1982. "We're excited to be able to announce a record donation to the Buick Open charities," said Larry Peck, Buick's golf marketing manager. "We know how important these funds are to them and we are very proud to make a significant contribution to these dedicated organizations." After expenses are paid, all tournament proceeds go directly to charity. The previous record donation from the Buick Open was $554,000 from the 2002 tournament. Among the charities who received donations from the 2003 Buick Open are Easter Seals of Genesee County, which raises additional funds through the sale of Buick Open tickets; the American Red Cross Genesee-Lapeer Chapter, which provides transportation services for the tournament; Whaley Children's Center, which handles the "will-call" booth at the tournament; and the Genesee County regional office of the American Lung Association of Michigan, which provides volunteers to operate the Buick Open telephone center. Among the other beneficiaries of the Buick Open charity donations are the Children's Home of Detroit, Lighthouse of Oakland County, the Boy Scouts, Angela Hospice and theConsortium on Child Abuse and Neglect. Several other organizations are scheduled to receive proceeds from the 2003 Buick Open. Buick also announced today that the purse for the 2004 Buick Open, scheduled for July 26-August 1 at Warwick Hills, will bea record $4.5 million. The defending champion is Jim Furyk, who took home a check for $720,000 at the 2003 Buick Open. For tickets or information call 1-800-878-OPEN or go to http://www.ticketmaster.com/ . Now in its fifth decade of PGA Tour sponsorship, Buick is the title- sponsor of four PGA Tour events in 2004: The Buick Invitational (February 9-15) at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif.; the Buick Classic (June 7-13) at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York; the Buick Open (July 26-August 1); and the Buick Championship (Aug. 23-29) at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. The official car of the PGA Tour since 1984, Buick has an endorsement agreement with Tiger Woods, the World's number one player. In 2002, Buick became the official car of the PGA of America and assumed the title- sponsorship of the Buick Scramble, the world's largest amateur golf tournament with more than 80,000 participants annually. Through its PGA Tour events Buick has donated 27.6 million dollars to local charities since 1982. DATASOURCE: Buick CONTACT: Al Abrams of Buick, +1-212-367-4527, Web site: http://media.gm.com/ http://www.gm.com/

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