Vendors FORE Education Golf Tournament to Feature Indy Driver Sarah Fisher

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 12^th annual Vendors FORE Education golf tournament, sponsored by Wal-Mart vendors, will be held Friday, July 18, at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club, 3495 East Goff Farms Road, Fayetteville.

Sarah Fisher, the youngest woman to ever compete in the Indianapolis 500, will be on hand to talk with tournament participants about her auto racing experiences. Firestone Complete Auto Care is bringing Fisher to Northwest Arkansas in support of the tournament, which funds student scholarships through the Center for Retailing Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

Registration for the tournament can be found at http://cre.uark.edu/default.asp?show=golf. Lunch begins at 11 a.m. with tee time promptly at noon.

“We are very grateful to the tournament organizers Erik Wolff of E-Wolff Sales Solutions, Russ Heithoff of Strategic Retail Solutions, and Scott Mathews of Bayer Healthcare,” said Claudia Mobley, managing director of the Center for Retailing Excellence. “We are also very excited that our center board member, Firestone Complete Auto Care, has invited Sarah Fisher to the tournament to support this fundraising event. Her passion and determination in auto racing is an inspiration to us all.”

The Vendors FORE Education tournament began in 1996 as a social gathering for the vendor community and a means of building relationships. The group soon realized the event could provide financial assistance for university students who have the potential to become retail industry leaders. A primary mission of the tournament is to foster relationships between industry and academia.

The Center for Retailing Excellence has partnered with Wolff and Heithoff on the golf tournament since 2002. Since that time, the event has generated more than $43,000 in scholarships, which support students who may have missed out on other financial aid opportunities for various reasons.

Fisher was the third female and one of the youngest drivers ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Fans voted her the Indy Racing League’s most popular driver for four seasons. She announced in February 2008 that she would add “team owner” to her list of titles, doing double duty as a driver and owner of Sarah Fisher Racing.

Fisher was exposed to life at the racetrack at an early age. Her first racing experience came as a five-year old when her parents fitted her for her first race car — a quarter-midget. After winning the World Karting Association Grand National Championships three times, Fisher caught the eye of open-wheel veteran Derrick Walker, who signed her at the tender age of 19 to his IndyCar Series team. She continued to write history at a young age when she claimed a second-place finish at the IndyCar Series' first race at Homestead Miami Speedway. She went on to become the first female to earn a pole position and is the fastest woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 229.439 mph. Today, Fisher continues her efforts to blur the artificial boundaries between men and women in sports through her record-holding racing career.

In addition to appearances at the golf tournament, while in Northwest Arkansas Fisher will also appear at the Firestone Complete Auto Care location in Rogers from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on July 18.

Additionally, the Center for Retailing Excellence is working with the University of Arkansas department of intercollegiate athletics to host student athletes and coaches at the event. “We want to provide a networking opportunity for our Lady Razorback partners and our industry supporters,” said Pamela Styles, assistant director of the Center for Retailing Excellence. “These women represent some of the brightest students on campus who also happen to have tremendous athletic ability.”

Styles added: “The vendor-supported scholarships can make the difference between having adequate time to focus on academics rather than working excessive hours in order to sustain themselves and pay for school. Students don’t always recognize that the retail industry encompasses more than just working a cash register and stocking shelves. Nor do they realize the diversity of degree concentrations that have applications in the business industry. The participants of this tournament exemplify the many facets of retailing and demonstrate to students that the career potential is unlimited.”

Title sponsors of the event for the sixth and fifth years, respectively, are Hunters & Michaels, an organization that specializes in professional placements, and Bayer HealthCare and a member of the Center for Retailing Excellence executive board of directors. Sharp Signs, with facilities in Rogers and Bentonville, also sponsors the tournament by providing signage for the event.

The tournament is a four-person scramble with prizes awarded to the top teams and additional prizes for closest to the pin and other contests. Registrations may be made as a team or individually. The fee includes lunch, drinks, cart and 18 holes of golf. Participation is limited to 30 teams.

The Center for Retailing Excellence was established in the Walton College in 1998 with a portion of the $50 million endowment from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The center was created to bridge the gap between university faculty, students and retail industry.