Enter now for a chance to play golf with a celebrity at 25th American Century Championship

With the 25th American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe South around the corner, you can now enter for a chance to play a round with a celebrity at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course as part of the July 15-20 silver anniversary festivities.

Winners will be picked July 1 by Edgwood Tahoe. The grand prize winner will receive two player spots in the Tuesday Celeb-Am on July 15, a player gift bag for both players and accommodations at a South Lake Tahoe casino property, Monday, July 14 and Tuesday, July 15.

2013 Winner Les Richardson with Actor Brian Baumgartner.

Five first place prizes will be awarded week long passes to the 2014 American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. Ten second place prizes will include a one-day pass to the celebrity golf tournament.

Fill out the form online for your chance to win, but remember one entry per person. Deadline to enter is midnight June 30, 2014. 

Where else but the American Century Championship could you have a chance to play with celebrities like Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Kevin Nealon or sports legends such as Steve Young, John Elway, Bode Miller, Jason Kidd, Aaron Rodgers, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens and Ray Allen? Nowhere but the American Century Championship.

Celebrating 25 years as the No. 1 celebrity golf event in the USA, more than 80 sports legends and entertainment celebrities will tee it up at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in pursuit of the $125,000 winner’s share of the $600,000 purse.

Daily tickets are currently available. The American Century Championship is offering exclusive free admission to this year's tournament for all active duty, reserve and veteran U.S. military personnel.

Tickets are $15 each day for the Lake Tahoe Celebrity-Amateur on Tuesday, July 16; practice round on Wednesday, July 17; and the American Century Celebrity-Am on Thursday, July 18; and $25 for each tournament round, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Kids 10 and under receive free admission – limit two, when accompanied by a paying adult.

Discounted Daily Tickets will be available beginning June 1 at 127 Raley's, Bel Air or Nob Hill Foods locations throughout Northern California and Nevada. Tickets are $12 (regularly $15) for access Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and $22 (regularly $25) for Friday, Saturday and Sunday tournament action or $18 with a grocery purchase of $50 or more for up to four tickets. 

For the latest details, photos, celebrity tweets and fan contests follow on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. 

American Century Championship welcomes Iraqi War Veteran Chad Pfeifer as 'Signature Celebrity'

The American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe will add a bona fide hero to its array of celebrity golfers July 15-20 as part of the tournament’s 25th anniversary.

Retired United States Army Corporal Chad Pfeifer, an Iraqi War Veteran and amputee whose golf-centered rehabilitation has turned him into a top-tier tournament player, will join the field of competition for $600,000 in prize money this July. 

September 28, 2013- Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, TX- Round Two of the Warrior Open concluded with Corporal Chad Pfeifer winning the Champion’s Cup for the third year in a row. Captain Matt Anderson and Staff Sergeant Ben Dellinger tied for the low-net Warrior Cup. As part of the American Century Championship’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, Pfeifer will join 80 sports and entertainment stars July 15th-20th at Lake Tahoe for the Silver Anniversary celebrity golf tournament, competing for a share of the $600,000 in prize money.

Photo by Grant Miller 

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the American Century Championship will honor America’s Armed Forces and recognize the service of Pfeifer at the tournament and on its live NBC Sports broadcasts. 

The American Century Championship is offering complimentary tickets to military for the celebrity golf tournament in appreciation of their service to the country. All active duty, reservists, National Guard and veterans receive one complimentary ticket and one complimentary guest ticket for each day of the tournament week beginning July 15. All service men and women who would like to attend the tournament must secure their tickets ahead of time online. At the events, participants must show photo ID along with the ticket voucher at tournament gates to receive the complimentary ticket(s).

Three-time winner of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Warrior Open and the 2011 National Amputee Tournament champion, Pfeifer is a working PGA Club Professional at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, AZ.  

While serving in Iraq in 2007, Pfeifer’s life changed when a bomb exploded under the patrol vehicle he was driving and he lost his left leg above the knee. 

He began hitting golf balls while doing rehab at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio at the urging of a fellow staff sergeant.

“Once I picked up golf it gave me an escape from depression, got me out of my hospital room, and let me take out some aggression on the golf ball rather than people close to me,” Pfiefer told the Golf Channel. 

Now 32, he used golf to help overcome the adversity and found a talent that had roots in his three-sport high school athlete days.  

He attended the Golf Academy of America to learn the business end of the sport and now brings his competitive skills to the 80-player field at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, where John Elway, Steph Curry, Aaron Rodgers, Jerry Rice, Ray Romano and Andy Pettitte hold forth each year.

 “The American Century Championship invitation was a stunner,” offered Pfeifer, whose hole-in-one during the 2012 Warrior Open was witnessed by former President George W. Bush.  “Golf has taken me to great places and I’ve met President Bush and many others, but Lake Tahoe in July is a special one.  I’m looking forward to competing with some athletes who know the meaning of the word at its highest level.”

The American Century Championship has a history of promoting and fundraising for military and first responder causes. In 2002, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, three New York City firemen who had worked tirelessly at Ground Zero were added to the celebrity field and the tournament raised over $150,000 for the Uniformed Firefighters Scholarship Fund to aid the children of those lost in the tragedy.  

In 2003-2004 Mark Cuban’s Fallen Patriot Fund was the tournament’s charity beneficiary and $1.5 million was raised to aid military veterans with extraordinary needs upon returning home.

“Corporal Pfeifer’s participation will be a highlight of our 25th anniversary celebration,” said Jon Miller, President of Programming for NBC Sports Group, which owns and operates the tournament.  “He’s sure to be a gallery favorite in Lake Tahoe and fans around the country will be rooting for Chad to be a leaderboard contender all three days.”

Pfeifer will have to adapt to the tournament’s modified Stableford format and the welcoming par 5s at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, where some of the pro-athlete long-hitters at elevation putt for eagles during every round.  Among his other golf accomplishments is the Folds of Honor Foundation’s 2013 Patriot Cup Championship in partnership with PGA Tour standout Zach Johnson.  

NBC Sports, NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel will televise the tournament

Blockbuster week ahead for American Century Championship

A powerhouse lineup of sports legends including Charles Barkley, Olympic Gold Medalist Swimmer Michael Phelps, John Elway and Olympic skier Bodie Miller will join celebrities like Ray Romano, Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Kevin Nealon for the 24th annual American Century Championship at Tahoe South July 16-21, 2013.

Don't miss any of the action July 16-21 at Edgewood.

More than 80 of the biggest sports and entertainment stars and celebrities will tee it up at the famed Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course for this year's celebrity golf tournament, vying for the $125,000 winner’s share of the $600,000 purse.

                      

With an impressive field that highlights notable returning players and newcomers, the American Century Championship remains the longest-running and most prominent of celebrity golf tournaments. 

First-timers this year include former NFL Pro-Bowl wide receiver Andre Reed; former NBA All-Star Detlef Schrempf and Former MLB All-Star Tim Wakefield and Hall of Fame Contender Larry "Chipper" Jones and Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez Torres.

Dan Quinn, Ernie Els’ part-time caddie and five-time winner of the American Century Championship, is the top choice of Harrah’s/HarveysLake Tahoe Race & Sportsbook to win celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course and broadcast on NBC Sports.

Among the other big-name players available for public wagering at Harrah’s/Harveys: John Smoltz (5-1), John Elway (10-1), Jerry Rice (30-1), Ray Allen (40-1), Steph Curry, Chipper Jones and Aaron Rodgers (50-1), Alex Smith, Dan Quail and Michael Phelps (100-1), Steve Spurrier (200-1), and Shane Battier, Ray Romano and Urban Meyer (300-1). Celebrated perennial longshot Charles Barkley is listed at 500-1.

NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network will televise the tournament live as follows:

Friday, July 19:  4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET; 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PT (live) on NBC Sports Network

Saturday, July 20: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET; 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. PT (live) on NBC

Sunday, July 21:  3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET; 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. PT (live) on NBC

  

Tournament scoring is based on a modified Stableford format with 10 points for a double eagle, 8 for a hole-in-one, 6 for eagle, 3 for birdie, 1 for par, 0 for bogey, and minus 2 for double-bogey or higher. The 54-hole tournament has been played at Edgewood Tahoe’s 6,707-yard lakeside course since its inception in 1990.  

The NFL participants include Mark Rypien, who won the very first American Century Championship in 1990, Hall of Famers’ Jerry Rice and Marcus Allen; Denver Broncos coach John Fox; former All-Pro quarterback Joe Theismann; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer; Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski; former Pro Bowl wide receiver Tim Brown; and former NFL coach and ESPN football analyst Herm Edwards.

NBA basketball's stars will be represented by Shane Battier, forward with the world champion Miami Heat, and Detlef Schrempf, who played in Dallas, Indiana, Seattle and Portland in his pro career.

Hockey checks in with NHL All-Star Martin Brodeur, NHL All-Star Center Jeremy Roenick, and former All-Star Mike Modano; 1980 Olympic Gold Medal winner and team captain Mike Eruzione; and NHL All-Star Joe Sakic, the $1 million 2011 tournament hole-in-one winner.

Major league baseball greats scheduled to appear include Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith; All-Star pitchers Bret Saberhagen and Greg Maddux; outfielders Joe Carter and Kenny Lofton; and power-hitter Fred McGriff.

Advance tickets are available online and daily during the tournament at the gate.  Tickets are also being sold at 127 Raley's, Nob Hill and BelAir locations throughout Northern California and Nevada.

For the latest details, celebrity tweets and fan contests follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.