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FBR CAPITAL OPEN


June 7, 2003


Eric Billings

Pete Cleaves

Mark Russell


POTOMAC, MARYLAND

MARK RUSSELL: I'd likes to say first of all that we're going to schedule 18 holes tomorrow, starting at 10:45 to 12:45. We've got a good forecast for tomorrow. We've got a good forecast on Monday. And we're going to play golf tomorrow.

Q. (Inaudible).

MARK RUSSELL: Right now we're talking about 7:30 to 9:30 off two tees.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MARK RUSSELL: Two tees, that's right. We're going to take play a little later, give the golf course a little time to drain, and make a 6 o'clock television finish.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MARK RUSSELL: No, we're keeping the field what it is there.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MARK RUSSELL: Continue to play ball in hand.

Q. Are you going to play ball in hand the next two days?

MARK RUSSELL: We'll make that decision tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll have to lift the ball tomorrow.

Q. Is it virtually impossible to get 36 in tomorrow?

MARK RUSSELL: I think it's going to be very difficult to do that tomorrow. We have to start very early in the morning. I don't think we're going to be able to do that, so we're going to play the third round tomorrow, starting at a little later time, to give the golf course time to drain. The rain is supposed to stop this evening, and hopefully we're going to play golf out there at that time.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MARK RUSSELL: I do not know how much rain has fallen. Let's just say a lot (laughter.)

Q. Did you see any washed out bunkers?

MARK RUSSELL: That's exactly the reason we're going to start later tomorrow, to give the crew time to work on the bunkers. The bunkers are washed out. They're bringing in a lot more personnel from around the area. It's going to help them out. Everybody is going to pitch in. We're going to be ready to go tomorrow.

Q. (Inaudible.)

MARK RUSSELL: Actually --.

Q. Is there standing water on some holes now?

MARK RUSSELL: In the fairway, it's remarkable how the greens have held up. The fairways are casual water. The creek has risen dramatically. I understand when it stops raining that will go down very quickly. We're looking for that to happen, and we're going to play tomorrow. I'm going to step down and let Mr. Billings answer some questions.

MODERATOR: This was Mark Russell you've been talking to and asking questions of with the PGA TOUR. Our other guest is here, Eric Billings, who is the co-chairman of FBR, the sponsor, and perhaps you might want to ask him a question or two, such as this is a first for you, Eric. What do you think? The weather has not been conducive to wonderful things. What's your first impression?

ERIC BILLINGS: Well, I didn't realize it was a swimming competition. But we really are still pleased, even despite the weather. It's done a lot of great things as far as we're concerned, the community involvement, the charity activities are tremendous. It has given us a lot of name recognition, which is very important for our company. We started our company only 14 years ago, so despite the success of the company, we're not a well-known company. And this helps with that on a significant basis, and particularly the national TV advertisements. We're still very excited about it, obviously very disappointed with the weather, but a great leaderboard, and having David Duval do what he did yesterday, I think it makes for an exciting tournament the next couple of days.

Q. We talked upstairs about the decision process, here. Take us through what's going to happen as far as the future with FBR and this golf tournament?

ERIC BILLINGS: You know, we'll assess after the event our long-term commitment. But I would say it's certainly something that we're very much leaning towards making a long-term commitment. We are excited about that, even despite the difficulties, we're excited about what it's done, and again, from exposure for our company, from a business community involvement, the revenues it brings into the area, and very much the charity activity, how much we're able to give back to the community. So all of these things make what we think is a great opportunity for us, and we'll make that decision in about a week, maybe ten days after the tournament. But I think we're leaning heavily toward making a long-term commitment.

Q. How does this tournament differ from past tournaments?

PETE CLEAVES: The question about how much water we've had was a good one. I know that Dennis Ingram and his crew and a lot of people that have come in from various grounds crews from the surrounding areas, there's an army of people prepared to get out there on that golf course, just as soon as this rain stops. And it's going to be a superhuman effort, but Dennis can do it, I'm very, very, very confident.

Q. How much rain have you had so far?

PETE CLEAVES: The weather channel is one thing that I've stopped watching. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you have attendance numbers for the first two rounds? Because I know the parking and the weather probably affected them?

PETE CLEAVES: Actually those attendance figures are up in finance, and I haven't picked them up, I'm sorry about that.

Q. Just a note for clarification, you guys have made the passes from today good for tomorrow, is that right?

PETE CLEAVES: That's correct.

Q. And the same thing, what's good for Sunday is good for Monday, is that right?

PETE CLEAVES: The Sunday tickets will be valid on Monday, that's correct.

Q. Do you also allow people to come out Sunday without tickets, as you did two years ago?

PETE CLEAVES: That's correct. The ticket holders, anyone that has a ticket out there we want them to come on out here.

Q. Specifically on Monday --?

PETE CLEAVES: That's correct, on Monday.

Q. How about people without tickets?

PETE CLEAVES: Good question. We'll still have our ticket sellers for the people that want them. But anybody that has a ticket, we want them to come on out.

End of FastScripts....

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