ACTOR ROB LOWE HEADLINES
CIBER PRO-AM FIELD AT THE
PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC
csrwire.com
May 25, 2007

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Actor Rob Lowe has committed to play golf in the CIBER Pro-Am, which is part of The Principal Charity Classic at Glen Oaks Country Club.

Lowe is in his second season playing Robert McCallister on ABC's drama Brothers & Sisters. From 1999-2003 Lowe starred as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing. For his work on the NBC series, he earned an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.

Lowe made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders. He went on to star in such other popular dramas as St. Elmo's Fire, About Last Night and Bad Influence, as well as the blockbuster comedies Wayne's World and Tommy Boy.

"We are thrilled Rob Lowe will be playing in our pro-am," said Principal Charity Classic Tournament Director Jeff Starr. "Having celebrities in our field adds a new dimension to our tournament. We appreciate all the pro-am celebrities taking the time to join us in raising money for our five local children's charities."

The pro-am will be played Wednesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 7 at Glen Oaks. Specific tee times will be announced the week of the tournament.

Wednesday's pro-am field includes the following celebrities:

-- Gary Barta, University of Iowa athletic director

-- Rob Lowe, actor

-- Johnny Orr, former Iowa State University men's basketball coach

-- Kyle Petty, NASCAR driver

-- Jamie Pollard, Iowa State University athletic director

Thursday's pro-am celebrity participants include:

-- Tom Davis, former Drake University men's basketball coach

-- Ed Podolak, Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame running back

The Principal Charity Classic tournament play begins Friday, June 8 and continues through Sunday, June 10. The field features the Champions Tour's top four career money leaders: Hale Irwin, Gil Morgan, Dana Quigley and Bruce Fleisher. Tickets may be purchased at: www.principalcharityclassic.com or by calling (515) 279-4653.

About The Principal Charity Classic:

The Principal Charity Classic is an annual Champions Tour event played at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. The Principal Charity Classic presented by Wells Fargo has an approach focused on charity and is designed "FORE Our Kids." The following five outstanding organizations are dedicated to supporting children in the community and will receive the proceeds from the 2007 event: Blank Children's Hospital, Bravo Greater Des Moines, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, United Way of Central Iowa and Variety-The Children's Charity.

Copyright Business Wire 2007



ACTOR LOWE 'HOPING FOR ONE GOOD SHOT'
IN IOWA GOLF EVENT
By Bonnie Harris
desmoinesregister.com
June 5, 2007

If you're wondering why actor Rob Lowe agreed to play golf in West Des Moines on Wednesday as part of Principal Charity Classic week, well, so is he.


Actor Rob Lowe tells the crowd that his golf game is
a bit rusty during a pairing party held at Wells Fargo
on the eve of the Principal Classic Pro Am
"I haven't actually picked up a golf club in over a year, so it could get really ugly out there," Lowe told the crowd at a VIP party at the Wells Fargo Jordan Creek campus tonight. "I'm just hoping for one good shot, because I know ... that's all that will end up on the TV broadcast tomorrow night. That one good shot." Lowe, one of the original cast members of the TV series The West Wing, prefaced his comments with: "I just want everyone to know I'm an actor who plays a political candidate on TV ... so if you're all tired of political candidates, don't worry. I'm not here to get your vote." Lowe, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, said Wednesday's pro-am will be his first charity golf tournament, but "I really love Iowa. It's beautiful here."


Lowe wasn't sure if he would have to fly out immediately after Wednesday's pro-am, as NASCAR driver Kyle Petty will have to. He said he was at the mercy of others, notably Principal chief executive officer J. Barry Griswell.

"Barry sent his big, nice plane to get me here," Lowe said. "He really did."



WELL, ROB GOT HIS 'ONE GOOD SHOT'
June 6, 2007

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- In his first round of golf in today's Principal Charity Classic Pro-Am at Glen Oaks Country Club, Rob Lowe got himself a birdie.

Unfortunately, it was a goldfinch ~~ Iowa’s official state bird.

Lowe was hitting an approach shot on the fourth hole when his ball hit the goldfinch in mid-flight. The ball dropped about 50 yards short of the green.

His reaction?

"That's my birdie," Lowe said after looking at the bird, which lay motionless on the ground.

“I saw it was going left”, the 43-year-old Lowe recalled after finishing his round. “I was hoping it would hit something ... and bounce onto the green. Instead, it hit the bird. That's unbelievable. Who comes here and kills the state bird? Only me."

“That,” Champions Tour pro Dan Pohl said, “was probably his best shot of the day.”

In other words, as a golfer, Lowe is a pretty good actor. But at least the man has a sense of humor. His gallery was the place to be Wednesday, as long as you brought along a helmet.

“It’s really hard to concentrate and then meet people and then go back and concentrate,” said Lowe, who played 18 holes while wearing a University of Iowa hat, courtesy of one of his partners, Hawkeye athletic director Gary Barta. “(As) I have no claim to an actual game, it was really great. If anything, it probably helped because people were so supportive.”

When the sun finally broke through, the crowds swelled. There were more cameras, more pens, more requests. If you could walk away from one of Lowe’s holes, chances are, you walked away happy.



Rob Lowe signs an autograph for fan Margaret Schroeder, who lives at Glen Oaks
“I asked him how his wife dealt with that,” Barta chuckled. The two shared a cart, so the Iowa administrator spent a good chunk of his afternoon taking pictures of Lowe posing with wave after wave of young ladies. “He said she knew what she was getting into when she got married (to him).”

Bigger draw: Lowe or Iowa Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz?


“I’ll tell you, in the state of Iowa, it’s a toss-up,” said Hawkeye athletic director Gary Barta, one of Lowe’s partners. “I’d say Kirk is probably more popular than Rob Lowe. Maybe not with women. There were a lot of girls and women who were interested in getting Rob’s autograph.” Some even got a little more than that. On the par-4 No. 6, Lowe’s tee shot zoomed left of the fairway and had eyes for one of the hole marshals, Marie Michels of Clive, Iowa.

Luckily, this one just missed. It clanged hard off a metal pole a few feet in front of her.

The actor, who’s currently appearing on ABC-TV’s Brothers & Sisters, felt so bad that before his second shot, he walked over to Michels, gave her an autographed ball, a comforting hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Lucky you," a woman in the gallery gushed.

“How much better can that be?” Michels giggled.

“I just said, ’Look, don’t sue me, please,’ ” Lowe cracked later. “I can’t have that kind of publicity right now.”


Rob & the Deceased Goldfinch


And to think: This was Lowe's first trip to Iowa. The Virginia native said he came on a whim, at the behest of Ray Cole, general manager of WOI-TV, even though he hadn't picked up a club in more than a year.

Golf. It looks so easy on television.

Then again, so does heart surgery.

Lowe compared the links to wrestling a bear, "because when you get good at it, you really feel like you've accomplished the impossible. But in the end, it's a bear, so it's going to flip you and kill you."

So what you're saying is ...

"This game," Lowe chuckled, "will kill you."

Just ask the birds.



Various Sources





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