CHARITY EXHIBITION EVENT LINEUP INCLUDES TWO-TIME EMMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR JEFF DANIELS, SINGER SONGWRITER QUINN XCII, FORMER DETROIT RED WINGS ENFORCER JOEY KOCUR, AND LPGA LEGENDS JULI INKSTER, LAURA DIAZ AND LETA LINDLEY
GRAND BLANC, Mich. – The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren announced today the return of one of the tournament’s fan-favorite events, the Celebrity Challenge. In 2024, the lineup for this marquee competition includes two-time Emmy Award winning actor Jeff Daniels, singer songwriter Quinn XCII, former Detroit Red Wings enforcer Joey Kocur and LPGA legends Juli Inkster, Laura Diaz and Leta Lindley.
The Celebrity Challenge will take place on Saturday, August 24, following the final pairing of round two of The Ally Challenge. The charity exhibition match will be contested over Hole Nos. 10, 11, 17 and 18 at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club.
The teams will compete for a $30,000 purse to benefit two Michigan based charitable organizations. Details regarding the event’s format, celebrity pairings and charitable impact will be announced prior to the event.
JEFF DANIELS
Daniels is an American stage and screen actor known for his diverse characters, switching seamlessly between comedy and drama roles. He is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for five Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards and three Tony Awards. He has appeared in nearly 60 movies, more than 30 television shows and 15 theatrical stage productions during his 43-year career. Daniels made his feature film debut in Milos Forman’s Ragtime (1981). He has since sustained a career as one of Hollywood’s most reliable and versatile actors with roles in successes such as Terms of Endearment (1983), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Something Wild (1986), Arachnophobia (1990), The Butcher’s Wife (1991), Gettysburg (1993), Speed (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Pleasantville (1998), My Favorite Martian (1999), The Hours (2002), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), Newsroom (2012-2014), Godless (2017), A Man in Full (2024). Daniels was born in Athens, Georgia, but raised in Chelsea, Michigan. His parents owned The Chelsea Lumber Company and his father, Robert Lee Daniels, was mayor of Chelsea. Daniels attended Central Michigan University before pursuing his acting career. He is also the founder of The Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea.
QUINN XCII
Michigan native Quinn XCII (pronounced Ninety-Two) emerged with a disarmingly catchy and dynamic personal style of his own, punctuated by alternative nuances and unexpected (yet undeniable) pop prowess. He has accumulated over 3.5 billion global streams across his catalogue and earned successive Platinum singles, including “Straitjacket,” “Kings of Summer”, and “Love Me Less”. In addition to Gold singles, including “Stay Next To Me” and “Flare Guns”, “Another Day In Paradise,” “Stacy,” and “Always Been You.” Simultaneously, he ignited anthems alongside Noah Kahan, Big Sean, AJR, Logic, blackbear, Chelsea Cutler, Jeremy Zucker, and more. Not to mention, he has sold out headline tours coast-to-coast, selling over 500,000 tickets as a headliner, and graced the stages of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Firefly, Governors Ball, and Electric Forest. This year Quinn XCII enters a new era with three new EP’s titled Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and recently announced his Fall Tour, the All You Can Eat Tour.
JOEY KOCUR
Kocur was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the 88th overall pick in the 1983 NHL Draft. The Canadian formed the “Bruise Brothers” with teammate Bob Probert and they became one of the roughest, toughest duos in league history. Kocur was one of the most penalized players in annals of the NHL, amassing a career total of 2,519 penalty minutes. His role with the Wings was to bring toughness to the team and protect the skill players. Kocur was traded to the New York Rangers in 1991, where he won a Stanley Cup in 1994. He eventually found his way back to Detroit in 1996 after a brief stint in Vancouver. Upon his return, Kocur joined forces with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby as members of the first Grind Line for the Red Wings and helped lead the Wings to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 1997 and ’98. Kocur helped the Red Wings to another Cup in 2002 as a video coordinator after his retirement in 2000. Today Kocur is a successful business owner in Michigan and the president of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association. He is an active philanthropist, raising money for children’s charities in Metro Detroit, including The Joe Kocur Foundation for Children, which he established in 2009.
JULI INKSTER
Inkster burst onto the professional golf scene in 1983 after enjoying a prolific amateur career that included four years of All-American honors at San Jose State University, a school-record 17 career wins, three straight U.S. Women’s Amateur titles (1980-82), the 1981 California Amateur trophy and a victory as part of the United States team in the 1982 Curtis Cup. Inkster was the top-ranked women’s amateur golfer in 1981 and ‘82. She won her first tournament in only her fifth start after joining the LPGA Tour. She became the first LPGA rookie to win two major championships in one season, the 1984 Nabisco Dinah Shore and the du Maurier Classic. Inkster’s three wins led to being chosen as LPGA Rookie of the Year and thrust the young star into the spotlight of women’s golf. Inkster won a total of 12 tournaments in the 1980s, including her third major and second Dinah Shore title in 1989. She recorded nine wins in the 1990s, with five coming in 1999. That banner season included two major championships, the U.S. Women’s Open and McDonald’s LPGA Golf Championship, completing the LPGA career grand slam. Only six players in LPGA history have accomplished the feat. In 2000, Inkster was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
LAURA DIAZ
Diaz turned professional in 1997 after a successful college career at Wake Forest, where she was the 1995 ACC champion, a two-time First-Team All-American, and named the university’s 1997 Female Athlete of the Year. She competed on the Ladies European Tour in 1998 and was named Rookie of the Year. Diaz joined the LPGA in 1999 and has recorded two victories, both coming in 2002, the Welch’s/Circle K Championship and the LPGA Corning Classic. She represented her country in four Solheim Cups for the United States team.
LETA LINDLEY
Lindley competed on the LPGA Tour between 1995 and 2012, earning 33 top-10 finishes and a victory at the 2008 LPGA Corning Classic. She retired at the end of the 2012 season at age 40, ranked among the top 60 all-time LPGA money winners. Lindley returned to competitive golf in 2019 on the Legends of the LPGA circuit. Since joining the senior tour, she has recorded three victories, including her first major title and USGA Championship at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Senior Open earlier this month when she shot a tournament-record 7-under 64 at Fox Chapel in Pittsburgh to win by two strokes. Lindley was paired during the final round with former college teammate, Annika Sorenstam. The two were roommates for a time at the University of Arizona where Lindley was a four-time All-American for the Wildcats.
The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren is the week of August 19-25 at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Tickets for The Ally Challenge can be purchased at theallychallenge.com/tickets. Several ticket options are available. The tournament is open to spectators from Thursday (August 22) to Sunday (August 25) and ticket prices start at $15—children 17 and under receive free grounds access with a ticketed adult. For a complete listing of ticket options please visit the tournament website at theallychallenge.com.
The Ally Challenge will be one of the premier Regular Season events on the PGA TOUR Champions in 2024, featuring a $2,200,000 purse and leading to the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs¾a season-ending, three-tournament series used to determine the TOUR’s season-long champion.
All three rounds of The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren will be broadcast on Golf Channel.
Since its inception in 2018, The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren has donated more than $7.3 million to support charity.