April 13, 2007

JACKSON, MI — The 2007 Carl Spackler Open Championship bumped its field to 64 golfers back in late-March with additions from Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, California, and Hawaii. With funding due in the mail very soon, the season of withdraws opens today.

"Our latest information suggests a withdrawal rate of approximately 7.9 percent," says CFO Rick Dosky. "This data encompasses the last 3 years. The choices to skip and excuses for withdrawal consists mostly of last-minute wedding plans and conflicts with employment. It is pretty unfortunate that our proactive scheduling is not enough for some."

The business office has not yet received a withdrawal for this year's tournament, however expects 2 or 3 within the next week when traditional withdrawals occur. Withdrawals generally start from the short list of non-respondents to the annual participant option process.

"The withdrawal season ripens as outstanding balances drop below $12,000," says CFO Rick Dosky. "The tournament never expects everyone to attend, however hope for a zero percent withdrawal rate each and every year. Our average withdrawal rate of 3.95% has soared in recent years, which could negatively effect the tournament in 2007. We take deposits to curb the withdraw rate, but often wonder what would happen without non-refundable deposits."

The last tournament included a withdrawal rate of 9.4 percent. The Mountain Valley tournament included a record-high withdrawal rate of 10.3 percent. The Tanglewood Park event experienced a low 4.0 percent withdrawal rate. The first 3 tournaments in 2001-2003 experienced zero withdrawals.

"The current waiting list is zero," says Dosky. "As a collective group, we will replace cancellations with received checks of $348.00. I am looking forward to posting checks this coming week. A very clean collection would move tournament planning into an early pairing and roommate release."

The 2007 Carl Spackler Open Championship begins play in 54 days.