Royal Course at Ka'anapali Golf Resort to host 2010 Wendy's Champions Skins Game

Ka'anapali Golf Resort's Royal Ka'anapali Course will host the 23rd Wendy's Champions Skins Game, Jan. 16-17, for the third consecutive year, with PGA Tour legends competing for a $770,000 purse.

Fuzzy Zoeller (left) and Ben Crenshaw will host a free junior golf clinic after Saturday's Wendy's Champions Skins Game action at Ka'anapali Golf Resort.

«

»

Fred Couples will make his Champions Tour and Skin Game debut alongside tournament mainstays Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Loren Roberts, Ben Crenshaw and Nick Price.

For the fifth year in a row, players will compete in the alternate-shot, team event, ensuring memorable shot-making and tee-to-green excitement over two days and 18 holes. The event will be televised on ESPN (tape delay) on Saturday, Feb. from 4-6 p.m. EST and Sunday, Feb. 28 from 2-4 p.m. EST.

The Wendy's Champions Skins Game - which is free to the public - begins at 9 a.m. on both Saturday, Jan. 16 and Sunday, Jan. 17. Saturday's play is followed by a free junior clinic at the driving range hosted by Zoeller and Crenshaw.

"We're honored to again provide a gorgeous stage for the Wendy's Champions Skins Game at Ka'anapali Beach Resort," Chip Bahouth, president of the Ka'anapali Beach Resort Association and general manager of the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa said in a news release. "This is the perfect setting for families to come relax and enjoy watching some of golf's greatest players compete."

"Ka'anapali is ecstatic to welcome the Champions Tour to our golf course," said Ka'anapali General Manager Ed Kageyama, a PGA member. "This incredible group of players - as they do each year - will undoubtedly provide a wonderful show of skill, charisma and camaraderie."

Zoeller and Crenshaw return to Royal Ka'anapali to defend their title against 2007 champions, Nicklaus and Watson. Couples will partner with Price - also competing in his first Champions Skins Game - and Roberts teams with Player to round out the formidable field.

Each hole is a tournament within itself, as prize money carries over if no player wins a hole outright. The total purse is broken down to $30,000 for each of the first six holes, $40,000 for each of the middle six holes, $50,000 for holes 13 through 17 and $100,000 for No. 18.

The Royal Ka'anapali Course, a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design, opened in 1962 and has tested the skills of professional and amateur golfers. A par-71, 6,700-yard layout, the Royal Course combines wide fairways and undulating greens. The course has hosted many of golf's greatest legends: Arnold Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Jan Stephenson and Nancy Lopez.

The resort underwent a $13 million renovation in 2005-2006 and was given a 4.5-star rating (out of five) by Golf Digest in the magazine's recent "Best Places to Play" guide. Ka'anapali was selected by The Golf Channel to host "Big Break Ka'anapali" which aired in 2008.