GALVESTON, Texas – Team Intense, captained by Neal Foster of Mobile, Ala., took home Upper Gulf Division Team of the Year honors and qualified for two of the most lucrative championships in kingfishing following the Aug. 11 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series stop in Galveston.
Foster and his teammates – Chris Taylor, Mark Collier, Robby Montgomery and Andrew Montgomery, all of Mobile, Ala. – are now headed to the $275,000 FLW Kingfish Series Championship and $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship, where the nation’s best kingfish teams will compete for top awards of $70,000 and $150,000, respectively.
Team Intense captured the Team of the Year title with 435 out of a possible 500 points thanks to an 11th-place finish at the season opener in Dauphin Island, Ala., a third-place finish at stop No. 2 in Cocodrie, La., and a fourth-place showing at the third and final stop of the year, in Galveston, Texas.
“It’s good to be here. It always feels good to be first,” Foster said. “It’s always fun to beat your buddies and get the bragging rights. This is the first year I have fished a full season with FLW, and we really enjoyed it. We stayed consistent and that was what mattered.
“Both championships are practically in our own back yard. I feel pretty confident about it. I always have a pretty good shot at winning an event around this area. We are just going to put the time in and see how things go. I would rather be lucky than good any day.”
Foster’s team will face the top three teams from each of the 15 FLW Kingfish Series tournaments held in 2007 plus the top 16 teams from each division in the points standings from each of five FLW Kingfish Series divisions during the three-day, no-entry-fee FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 4-6. From there, team “Intense” will advance to the three-day, no-entry-fee FLW Kingfish Tour Championship presented by BP in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 2-4, where they will compete against the points champions from each of five FLW Kingfish Series divisions and the top 50 teams in the FLW Kingfish Tour Land O’Lakes Team of the Year points standings.
Both championships will be featured in one-hour episodes of “FLW Outdoors” broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom. This reach makes “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.