Craig Stadler at Fall Golf Show!

The PGA Nationwide Tour’s Fresh Express Classic and PGA Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup gave the 2011 Bay Area Fall Golf Show its latest major endorsement, re-signing as sponsors of the three-day golf expo, Oct. 28-30 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Tickets, exhibitor information, lists of activities and more are available online at bayareagolfshow.com.

As a thank you to the 5,000-plus golfers who make the Bay Area Fall Golf Show a success each October, producers Varsity Communications have upped the ante for 2011, teaming with Shankmeister.com to bring 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler to this year’s show for a personal appearance.

In addition to signing autographs and taking pictures with show attendees, Stadler will hold court on the golf show Main Stage to share stories from his three decades on the PGA Tour, and answer questions from the audience.

The Charles Schwab Cup, Nov. 3-6, is the championship event of the PGA TOUR Champions Tour, featuring the game’s greats going head-to-head at San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park for a winner’s purse of over $440,000. At last year’s event, John Cook outlasted an elite field including Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Fred Funk, Tom Lehman and others to win his second-straight Charles Schwab Cup Championship, while Langer’s fourth-place finish clinched the season-long title and a $1 million cash prize.

The Fresh Express Classic, held Apr. 12-17 at TPC Stonebrae, has meanwhile become one of the marquee events of the PGA TOUR Nationwide Tour schedule, with this year’s winning purse of $108,000 exceeded by just one other tournament in the season’s first five months. The 2010 winner, 2008 NCAA Champion Kevin Chappell, is now excelling in his first full season on the PGA TOUR, and currently ranks 81st in the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup points standings.

As part of their sponsorship, both tournaments will have the chance to showcase their events, and the courses that host them, to the over 5,000 attendees expected to pack the hall throughout the three-day show, the largest fall golf show on the West Coast and one of the largest of the season in the United States.

Also, locally based Igolping recently committed to our Fall Golf Show this October. Igolping will feature their state of the art fitting area on-site where consumers can come improve their swing, get properly fitted, learn course management and lower their score. The three-day show has developed a significant and loyal following among Bay Area golfers, who return each year to take advantage of clear-out prices on name-brand clubs and equipment, connect with dozens of exhibitors in the golf, travel and related industries, and bank savings for the coming year on rounds of golf, country club memberships and much more.

Major retailer Golf Mart will return as a presenting sponsor, packing a 4,000 square-foot on-site superstore with the latest clubs, accessories and apparel, and lining the indoor driving range with reps from up to a dozen of the industry’s leading manufacturers. In addition, Black Oak Casino, San Ramon Valley Golf Club, Summer Winds Resorts and several other sponsors are back on board for 2011, excited at the chance to market their services to an eager crowd of golf consumers.

To inquire about exhibit, sponsorship or volunteer opportunities, call David Stolber at 1-888-367-6420 x.1204 or e-mail david@varsitycommunications.com.

www.bayareagolfshow.com