Stricker, Kelly commit to AmFam Champ, full schedule of tournament week activities returns in 2022 By Brian Weis

Stricker, Kelly commit to AmFam Champ, full schedule of tournament week activities returns in 2022

By Brian Weis

Tournament player-host Steve Stricker and two-time defending champion Jerry Kelly are coming home again to the PGA TOUR Champions American Family Insurance Championship, to be held June 10-12 at University Ridge Golf Course.

Stricker and Kelly, both of Madison, have committed to the 2022 AmFam Champ, which is returning with a full schedule of activities - including the popular Friday night concert and celebrity foursome on Saturday - after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented or altered many of these events in 2021, although the tournament was still held.

Stricker's AmFam Champ appearance will continue his return to competitive golf after recovering from a serious illness that began last fall. He expects to make his 2022 debut on PGA TOUR Champions later this spring.

"The AmFam Champ will always be special to me, but this year it means even more, as I play in front of the Wisconsin fans who have supported me throughout my career and recently during my recovery," Stricker said. "My goal is to be in top form and compete for the title."

This will be Stricker's first AmFam Champ since his captaincy leading the U.S. team to its Ryder Cup win last September at Whistling Straits. It capped a busy and remarkable 2021 golf season for Stricker, who prepared for the Ryder Cup while also competing part-time on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, culminating with winning a PGA TOUR Champions major, the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. Stricker is a seven-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions and has 12 titles on the PGA TOUR.

Kelly is the only two-time (2019 and 2021) winner of the AmFam Champ, earning last year's title by a stroke over 2017 champion Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez. For his career, Kelly has eight wins on PGA TOUR Champions, with two more on the PGA TOUR. He already has two top-finishes in this year's race for the Charles Schwab Cup.

Other tournament activities

AmFam Champ week activities begin Saturday, June 4, with the return of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center "Race for Research," a 5K run/walk at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, adjacent to the University Ridge Golf Course. All race proceeds will be directed to cancer research at the Carbone Cancer Center. The run has been part of tournament events since 2019, but has been held virtually the last two years.

On Friday, June 10, Lady A, with opening acts Boyz II Men and Edwin McCain, will perform at the American Family Insurance Championship concert, presented by Madison Media Partners, at Madison's Breese Stevens Field. Concert tickets are available for purchase at amfamchampionship.com.

The AmFam Champ Celebrity Foursome hosted by Andy North, returns on Saturday, June 11, featuring Wisconsin golf legend Andy North and three other celebrities who will entertain fans in a friendly 9-hole competition that follows the last group in tournament play. The three other celebrities will be announced later this spring.

Attendance capacities will not be limited in 2022 as they were in 2021. As a result, public seating bleachers on the 1st tee, 14th green, 15th tee and 18th green will be available again. There will also be additional sponsored hospitality for fans on the popular 17th hole.

Tournament ticket information

Tickets for the American Family Insurance Championship are available for purchase at amfamchampionship.com. Tickets, which can be used for any one day of the tournament, and prices include:

* Adult general admission ticket: $20
* Champions ticket (age 50 years or older): $15
* Youth general admission ticket (with paid adult): Free
* Active duty, reserve and retired military personnel ticket: Free
* First responder ticket: Free

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Revised: 04/13/2022 - Article Viewed 7,683 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.