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Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational announces record-setting charitable donation

Tournament dates set for 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2010

Columbus, Ohio – Tournament officials announced today that the fourth annual Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational, held July 19 - 25, 2010 at The Ohio State University Golf Club - Scarlet Course, raised a total of $642,500 for charitable organizations, including $550,000 for pediatric cancer research and treatment at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The total marks the largest single-season charitable donation raised by the tournament for the hospital in the four-year history of the popular and unique Nationwide Tour event. Over the past four years the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational has donated a total of $1.5 million in support of the hospital’s pediatric cancer program, which is among the most on the Nationwide Tour during this period.

“It is our great pleasure to be in position to provide this support for children and families in central Ohio,” said Jim Lyski, chairman of the board of directors of Champions of the Community, Inc. and chief marketing officer for Nationwide Insurance. “We thank our corporate sponsors, whose support is vital to our success. We also thank golf fans in central Ohio who continue to support the tournament in growing numbers each year. We look forward to more opportunities in the future to build on this year’s success and support the critical mission of the pediatric cancer program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.”

“We congratulate the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational on an outstanding event and are extremely thankful for this generous gift,” said Thomas Gross, M.D., Ph.D., Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology. “The tournament’s support of our cancer programs over the past four years has changed lives and will continue to do so for years to come. The tournament’s corporate sponsors and the overwhelming support we receive help make everything we do at Nationwide Children’s Hospital possible.”

In addition, the 2010 Charity Ticket Program generated over $1.3 million in value for central Ohio charities. The program, now finishing its third year, provides qualifying non-profit entities with 100 percent of the revenue from all tickets sales generated by, or designated for, their organization.

In related news, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational announced today that the fifth playing of the annual event held in Nationwide’s home town of Columbus, Ohio will take place July 18 - 24, 2011 at the Ohio State University Golf Club - Scarlet Course.

ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL INVITATIONAL

The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational is owned and operated by Champions of the Community, Inc., an Ohio non-profit corporation. The event is the only tournament on the Nationwide Tour to operate as an “invitational”, providing a unique platform in which the best players on the Nationwide Tour will be joined by a select number of the country’s top collegian/amateur golfers in a limited field of 144 players. Featuring a purse of $800,000 the Tournament is conducted to showcase the best golf on the Nationwide Tour on one of the most challenging venues in the world for the enjoyment of spectators and to benefit charitable organizations in central Ohio. For more information, call 614-764-GOLF or visit our website at www.nchigolf.com.

ABOUT NATIONWIDE

Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

ABOUT NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Ranked in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” list, Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare networks providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children, adolescents and adult patients with congenital disease. A medical staff of nearly 900 and a hospital staff of 7,500 provide state-of-the-art pediatric care for more than 940,000 patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. Nationwide Children’s remains true to the original mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. More information is available at www.NationwideChildrens.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE TOUR

Founded (1990), owned and operated by the PGA TOUR, the Nationwide Tour identifies those players who are ready to compete and win on golf's biggest stage. As the official proving ground of the PGA TOUR, two out of three PGA TOUR members are Nationwide Tour alumni. Tour alumni have won 282 PGA TOUR titles, including 13 majors and four PLAYERS Championships. Twenty-five PGA TOUR cards will be at stake over the course of 29 events in 2010. Recognizing the Tour’s growing stature, Nationwide Insurance has renewed its umbrella sponsorship of the Nationwide Tour through 2012. The PGA TOUR, through the efforts of its three tours and their tournaments, sponsors, players and volunteers, supports over 2,000 local charities and has surpassed $1.5 billion in charitable giving. To learn more about the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour and to follow the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card, visit www.PGATOUR.COM.

ABOUT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT

The Ohio State University Department of Athletics is completely self supporting and receives no university monies, tax dollars or student fees. The Department of Athletics sponsors 36 fully funded varsity teams – 17 for women, 16 for men and three that are co-educational – and is committed to providing the very finest in academic and athletics support in an effort to provide its more than 1,000 student-athletes with a quality, life-changing experience at Ohio State.

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