GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A strong celebrity contingent will be on hand this week for the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Noted celebrities include Wayne Gretzky, Greg Kinnear, Joe Pesci, Dennis Quaid and Kurt Russell playing in one of the Nationwide Tour's most popular events.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am introduces three new venues this year -- Thornblade Club in the Greenville, S.C., suburb of Greer will be the primary host facility, with The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg and Bright's Creek Golf Club in Mill Spring, N.C., completing the rotation.

Besides the $121,500 first prize, the winner of the event will receive a new BMW X5. A year ago, Nick Flanagan won the BMW Charity Pro-Am, the first of three Nationwide Tour titles that earned him a promotion to the 2008 PGA TOUR.

A year ago, Australian Nick Flanagan fired a final-round 65 at this tournament to earn his second Nationwide Tour title in three weeks. Flanagan came from three shots off the pace to overtake 54-hole leader Richard Johnson. Johnson ended up winning the money title, while Flanagan was the Tour's 2007 Player of the Year.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky highlights the celebrity field in this year's event. Gretzky will be joined in the field by his wife, Janet, and their 17-year old son, Ty. This will be the first father/mother/son combination to participate in a Nationwide Tour event. Other celebrities in the field include Joe Pesci, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, Kurt Russell, Sterling Sharpe, Mark Rypien, Greg Kinnear, Branford Marsalis and Catherine Bell.

The Nationwide Tour returns to the Greenville area for the 17th consecutive year. Only four tournaments on the schedule have been around longer -- and they all remain from the Tour's initial year in 1990 (Knoxville Open, Price Cutter Charity Championship, Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open and Albertsons Boise Open). Lafayette, La., (Chitimacha Louisiana Open) and Midland, Tex., (WNB Golf Classic) have also hosted Nationwide Tour golf for 17 consecutive years.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am has not had a wire-to-wire winner since the initial event in 1992, when Russell Beiersdorf held a two-stroke lead after the first 18 holes and won by two shots as rain shortened the scheduled 54-hole event to 36 holes. Since then, the closest anyone has come to leading every day was in 2003 when champion Tripp Isenhour led after the first, third and final rounds. Isenhour was tied for second, one shot back, after the second round.

Jay Hobby put his name in the history books with a record run in 2001. Hobby reeled off a tournament-record seven birdies in a row during his second round at the Cliffs-Keowee Vineyards course. Hobby birdied seven straight starting at No. 10. He finished with a 7-under 28, which remains the lowest 9-hole score in tournament history.

A year ago, the team featuring Darren Angel and actress Janet Jones-Gretzky edged Jimmy Walker and former Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers by two strokes to claim the pro-am/pro-celebrity portion of the tournament. Jones-Gretzky received a BMW Z4 Roadster for her efforts.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am raised a record $2,021,325 for 20 Upstate and Western North Carolina charities in 2007. The tournament has raised more than $5.7 million for charities since 2001.

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