1. First half of LPGA Playoffs 2006 comes to a close; Ochoa leads 11 players who earn an ADT Championship berth

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The field for the ADT Championship grew to 15 players on Sunday, as the first half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006 came to an end at the conclusion of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger.

Lorena Ochoa, a two-time champion in 2006, headlines the top-11 players on the ADT Points list who gained entry into the historic ADT Championship via the LPGA Playoffs 2006, the first-ever playoff system in golf. Ochoa finished the first half of the season with 467 points after wins at the LPGA Takefuji Classic and at the Sybase Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury to go along with five runner-up finishes.

Mi Hyun Kim, who notched her second win of the season on Sunday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger in a dramatic three-hole playoff with Natalie Gulbis, finished second in the points race with 362. Kim jumped from seventh to second in ADT Points with the win.

Natalie Gulbis (254 points) and Paula Creamer (266 points) were toeing the line to qualify for the ADT Championship coming into last week, but second- and third-place finishes, respectively, on Sunday helped both players earn their spot in the season-ending playoffs. The remaining seven players who filled out spots five through 15 include: Cristie Kerr (323 points), Juli Inkster (316 points), rookie Seon-Hwa Lee (316 points), Hee-Won Han (300 points), Jeong Jang (288 points), Pat Hurst (233 points) and Meena Lee (166 points).

Eight of the 11 players to earn spots via the ADT Points race are winners on Tour this season.

Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lincicome already secured their spots earlier in the season. Webb, Pak, Sorenstam and Lincicome all gained entry by capturing one of the Major or Winner Events in the first half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006. Webb won the first two automatic qualifying events – the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill – to punch her ticket for the ADT Championship, while Pak qualified after beating Webb in a playoff at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola.

Sorenstam won the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA in an 18-hole playoff against Hurst to become the third person to qualify, while Lincicome won six consecutive matches at the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship to earn her spot.

Players who just missed qualifying for the ADT Championship via first half points, include: Florida's Natural Charity Championship hosted by Nancy Lopez winner Sung Ah Yim (160 points) and star rookies Julieta Granada (160 points), Brittany Lang (150 points) and Morgan Pressel (150).

The Nov. 16-19 ADT Championship is a one-of-a-kind event that will feature 32 LPGA stars playing for a record $1 million first-place paycheck at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The second-half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006 begins July 26 at the Evian Masters, where all point totals will be cleared to begin anew for the chance to fill an additional 15 second-half spots.

During the second half of the season, five players will earn automatic spots for the ADT Championship. Winners of the Evian Masters, Weetabix Women's British Open, Samsung World Championship and The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions will all receive an invitation, as will the player who earns the most combined ADT Points at the Honda LPGA Thailand 2006, CJ Nine Bridges Classic presented by SEMA Sports and the Mizuno Classic.

After the conclusion of The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions, spots will be filled off the ADT Points list until 15 players have been added to the ADT Championship field from the second half of the LPGA Playoffs 2006. Two additional players from the ADT Official Money List and not otherwise qualified will be added as wildcards to round out the 32-player field.

The ADT Championship will be played in the following format (a sudden-death playoff will be used at the end of each round in the event of a tie). The first cut will be after 36 holes to 16 players; the second cut will be after 54 holes to eight players (scores are cumulative through 54 holes). The final round will be played in four groups of two, with all players starting with a fresh scorecard. Whoever shoots the lowest score in the final round will win the ADT Championship and $1 million.

First Half Final ADT Points
1 Lorena Ochoa 467
2 Mi Hyun Kim 362
3 Cristie Kerr 323
T4 Juli Inkster 316
Seon Hwa Lee 316
6 Hee-Won Han 300
7 Jeong Jang 288
8 Paula Creamer 266
9 Natalie Gulbis 254
10 Pat Hurst 233
11 Meena Lee 166

2. Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika Sorenstam to debut in 2007; Event will feature $2.6 million purse, contested at RiverTowne Country Club Course

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Ginn Sports Entertainment LLC announced today that Ginn Clubs & Resorts will sponsor and stage its second LPGA tournament – the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika Sorenstam – at the Arnold Palmer-designed RiverTowne Country Club Course at the Belvidere Resort, May 31-June 3, 2007. The announcement was made today by Ginn Clubs & Resorts President Bobby Ginn and LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens.

Ginn also announced that the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika Sorenstam will be run and operated exclusively by IMG and televised nationally by NBC Sports.

The 72-hole event will also focus on a tribute to an LPGA great each year. The player will be honored and saluted in ceremonies during tournament week.

The addition of this $2.6 million event brings the fast growing Ginn Clubs & Resorts portfolio to four professional golf events – two on the LPGA Tour and two on the Champions Tour. Ginn Clubs & Resorts hosted the LPGA's Ginn Open in Reunion, Fla., earlier this year and two Champions Tour events have recently been announced for 2007: the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach, set to be played March 26-April 1 with a $2.5 million purse; and the Ace Group Classic Champions Tour event in mid-February of 2007, which will be hosted at Ginn's Quail West community and golf courses in Naples, Fla.

“It is unbelievable how fast we are growing,” said Bobby Ginn, President and CEO of Ginn Clubs & Resorts. “I certainly didn't think we'd be where we are this fast with four professional events for our rapidly developing golf resort and real estate communities. We had an unbelievable first venture with the LPGA in Reunion and we'll stage another fantastic event in Charleston. To have Annika Sorenstam, the world's greatest female player, as our host makes this tournament even more special.”

“I am thrilled and excited to host this prestigious inaugural event,” said Annika Sorenstam. “I have a great relationship with Bobby Ginn and Ginn Clubs & Resorts, and this tournament further highlights the direction that we are taking together.”

“We are very excited to once again team up with Bobby Ginn and the Ginn Company for the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika Sorenstam, which will debut in 2007,” said Bivens. “Ginn's initial event with us, the 2006 Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open in Orlando, was world-class from the start. I am confident that this will be repeated at the inaugural event in Charleston where players will experience exceptional hospitality and a fabulous course and fans will be treated to great competition by the best players in the world.”

The Arnold Palmer-designed course at RiverTowne Country Club that will test the skills of the greatest women players in the world was named the 2004 South Carolina Course of the Year by the South Carolina Golf Course Owners Association. The 18-hole par 72 layout measures 6,679 yards from the medal tees.

Sixteen golf courses have either been constructed or are in development and Ginn's course architects are a Who's Who in the world of golf—Hall of Famers Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Tom Watson and Tom Kite all have either designed or are designing courses on Ginn's resort properties.

The Ginn Company commissioned golf legend Arnold Palmer to develop Charleston's first Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course. The 18-hole championship course includes 13 holes that wind along the Wando River and Horlbeck Creek. The five sets of tees on this 7,200-yard venue provide spectacular challenges that are meant to deliver a memorable golfing experience to every player of the game. RiverTowne Country Club received a 4.5 star rating in Golf Digest's Place to Play in 2005 and it was the South Carolina Course of the Year in 2004.

About Ginn Clubs & Resorts
Ginn Clubs & Resorts is a privately-held resort development and management firm which specializes in exclusive leisure lifestyle and vacation destination communities across the U.S. From private residential communities to resort destinations offering unparalleled ownership and vacation opportunities, the common denominator throughout Ginn Club & Resorts communities is service. The company's principals have more than three decades of experience in creating extraordinary large-scale, recreation-oriented communities. Current Ginn Clubs & Resorts communities include Cobblestone Park in Columbia, S.C. as well as Belvidere Club & Resort, which encompasses RiverTowne Country Club, The Cottages on Charleston Harbor and Patriot's Point Golf Course in the Charleston area. The company also owns and operates Hammock Beach, The Conservatory at Hammock Beach and Yacht Harbor Village near St. Augustine, Fla., Reunion Resort & Club of Orlando, Bella Collina north of Orlando and Tesoro Preserve in Port St. Lucie on Florida's historic “Treasure Coast.” The company also owns and operates Mahogany Run Golf Course in St. Thomas and has several projects under development in North Carolina, Vermont, Colorado and in the Bahamas. www.ginnclubsandresorts.com

About IMG and IMG Media
IMG is the world's premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG is a diversified global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports & Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300 people in 30 countries. Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.

IMG Sports & Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football, rugby, cricket, motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In addition, IMG Academies are the world's largest and most advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering world-class sports training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult and professional athletes each year.

IMG Media, which includes our content production subsidiaries TWI and Darlow Smithson Productions, is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of traditional and new media content and services, with Internet, broadband and mobile expertise, transforming how audiences access and interact with content. IMG Media produces and distributes over 9,000 hours of sports, documentary, docu-drama, entertainment, and popular factual content annually, over multiple platforms across 200 countries, including award-winning television and radio programming. It also represents the broadcast rights to many of the world's premier sporting events and has the world's biggest sports archive with more than 200,000 hours of footage.

3. Five added to Weetabix Women's British Open field; Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger served as U.S.-based qualifier

SYLVANIA, OHIO – After 36 holes of play at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, Diana D'Alessio, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Vickie Goetze-Ackerman, Jessica Reese-Quayle and Karen Weiss not only made the cut, but also qualified for the Weetabix Women's British Open.

D'Alessio (67-69), Reese-Quayle (68-68) and Weiss (67-69) led the qualifiers with their two-day totals of 136 (-6). Goetze-Ackerman posted a 2-under-par 140 to claim the fourth qualifier position. After 36 holes, Erica Blasberg, Jackie Gallagher-Smith and rookie Teresa Lu were tied at 141 (-1) for the final spot to advance to the Weetabix Women's British Open. Their third-round scores were used to break the tie and Gallagher-Smith's 68 secured the spot, as Blasberg was four strokes back with a 72 and Lu ended the third round with a 74.

D'Alessio will make her first career appearance at the Weetabix Women's British Open in seven years on Tour, as will Reese-Quayle, who has been on Tour since 2004; it will be Gallagher-Smith's sixth appearance with her best finish being a tie for 20th in 1998. For Goetze-Ackerman and Weiss, the 2006 Weetabix Women's British Open will be their eighth trip to the LPGA's final major of the season. Goetze-Ackerman has finished as high as a tie for sixth, which occurred at the 2003 tournament, while Weiss' best showing was in 2000 where she tied for 20th.

The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic was the designated U.S.-based qualifier for the Weetabix Women's British Open, which will be contested Aug. 3-6 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in Lancashire, England. The qualifier was open to professionals who had not otherwise qualified for the LPGA Tour's final major championship, but had entered the Weetabix Women's British Open and who expressed their wish to compete in the U.S.-based qualifier. Thirty-four women were competing for the five spots.

4. Kim outlasts Gulbis to win Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger; Third-round co-leaders card six birdies each in final round, force three-hole playoff

SYLVANIA, OHIO, July 16, 2006 – The last time Mi Hyun Kim won more than one tournament in a season was 2002 – Natalie Gulbis' rookie year. The two were co-leaders after 54 holes at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger and extended the tournament into a three-hole, sudden-death playoff before Kim emerged as the fourth multiple winner of the season and denied Gulbis her first LPGA Tour win.

“I played Natalie yesterday and today,” said Kim, who joins Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb as multiple winners on Tour this season. “She has so many friends with her, so many friends. Like 300, 400 people cheer for her, like ‘Go, Natalie, Go, Natalie,' and I feel a little bit sad. But sometimes, when I walk over by the hole, between holes, some few people say, ‘Go, Mi Hyun Kim.' I'm so happy with that.”

Playing together in the final group, Kim (68-66-67-65=266, -18) and Gulbis (67-66-68-65=266, -18) watched one another sink putt after putt on the way to matching 65s, each with six birdies and no bogeys.

Gulbis got off to an early start with five consecutive birdies on holes three through seven. After the seventh hole, Gulbis was 17-under-par and holding a four-stroke lead. But Kim was just getting started and took over with consecutive birdies of her own on holes eight, nine and 10. Gulbis matched Kim's birdie on 10, but that was her last birdie of the day. Kim went on to birdie number 16 and sank a seven-foot putt on the par-5, 513-yard 17th to match Gulbis at 18-under-par.

“I was dropping putts on the front nine and had chance after chance until probably 16,” said Gulbis, who was the leader or co-leader for the last three rounds. “Kim has one of the best short games on Tour. I knew she was beginning to make birdies, so I was trying to get to 20. I thought maybe 20 would do it. I didn't quite get there.”

The twosome returned to the 18th tee for the first hole of the playoff. Again, they each made par and moved to 17 for the second-playoff hole. Gulbis was on the green in two, but two-putted for par. Kim found the fringe on her second shot, but was able to chip onto the green and make her follow-up putt to send the playoff into its third hole back on 18. There, both hit the fairway off the tee. From 125 yards, Kim landed her 8-iron 15 feet from the hole, while Gulbis, less than 100 yards from the hole, stuck her shot to 7 feet. Kim lined up for her putt first and finished with a picture-perfect birdie. Her victory was sealed as Gulbis' birdie-putt barely rolled over the right edge of the cup and failed to fall.

“I got off to a good start and shot 6-under and found myself in the playoff,” said Gulbis. “The playoff, I had three chances for birdies. I hit some pretty decent putts. Some of them, for whatever reason, it was a bad read and I hit a little bit too hard, and that was about it.”

Kim's playoff record improves to 2-3, while Gulbis is now 0-1 in playoffs.

Reigning Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Paula Creamer, who like Kim and Gulbis shot 65 (-6) in the final round, birdied holes 14 through 17 to get to 17-under-par, but missed out on the playoff after recording a par on 18. She finished alone in third.

5. Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger tournament summary

Highland Meadows Golf Club July 13-16, 2006
Sylvania, Ohio Par: 34-37, 71
$1,200,000 Yards: 6,408
141 pros and 2 amateurs Cut: 90 pros at 144 (+2)

6. 2006 ADT Official Money List - 7/16/2006

7. 2006 LPGA Top-10 Statistical Leaders - 7.16.2006

8. Duramed Futures Tour – Pipeline to the LPGA

July 16, 2006. The players finishing in the top five on the final 2006 Duramed Futures Tour money list will receive exemptions onto the 2007 LPGA Tour.

Player Events played Earnings
1. Song-Hee Kim 12 $58,486
2. Charlotte Mayorkas 10 36,014
3. In-Bee Park 11 34,622
4. Ashley Prange 13 30,912
5. Allison Fouch 12 27,619

Next tournament: $70,000, Alliance Bank FUTURES® Golf Classic, The Links at Erie Village, Syracuse, N.Y., July 21-23, 2006
Charity: The Loretto Foundation
www.duramedfuturestour.com

9. Next week – Evian Masters, Evian Masters Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France, $3,000,000, July 27-30, 2006

Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,259
Purse: $3,000,000
Winner: $450,000
Runner-up: $294,604
Format: 72-hole stroke play
ADT Points category: Winners Event
What is a Winners Event? The champion of a Winners Event automatically qualifies for the ADT Championship. Other top-20 finishers earn single ADT Points.
Field: 78 players
Defending champion: Paula Creamer
Victory margin: Defeated Lorena Ochoa and (a) Michelle Wie by eight strokes
Media center: 011-33-1-5370-7272
LPGA contact: Paul Rovnak

TV Times
TGC
July 26-28 7-9 p.m. (tape)
June 29 9-11 p.m. (tape)
All times Eastern

10. Upcoming tournament – Weetabix Women's British Open, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Lancashire, England, $1,800,000, August 3-6, 2006

Par: 35-37, 72
Yardage: 6,308
Purse: $1,800,000*
Winner: $270,000
Runner-up: $164,385
Format: 72-hole stroke play
ADT Points category: Major Event
Field: 150 players
Defending champion: Jeong Jang
Victory margin: Defeated Sophie Gustafson by four strokes
Tournament information: 011-44-208-233-5110

TV Times
TNT
Aug. 3-4 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
ABC
Aug. 5-6 1:30-3 p.m.
All times Eastern

11. LPGA News and Notes

Kim is season's fourth double-winner. Earlier this year, Mi Hyun Kim was relieved to end a nearly five-year winless drought at the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open. But she only had to wait 10 more weeks for her next victory. Kim won the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger for her seventh career title and fourth in the state of Ohio. Her double victory this season puts her in good company with the likes of ADT Official Money List leader Lorena Ochoa and LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame members Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.

Players who have won two events in 2006
Mi Hyun Kim Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open/Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger
Lorena Ochoa LPGA Takefuji Classic/Sybase Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury
Annika Sorenstam MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta/U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA
Karrie Webb Kraft Nabisco Championship/Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill

Playoff season. Mi Hyun Kim defeated Natalie Gulbis in a three-hole, sudden-death playoff to win the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, the seventh of the season compared to just two playoffs in 2005. Kim's career playoff record on the LPGA Tour now stands at 2-3, while Gulbis is now 0-1.

2006 playoffs
SBS Open at Turtle Bay Joo Mi Kim def. Lorena Ochoa and Soo Young Moon (two holes)
Fields Open in Hawaii Meena Lee def. Seon Hwa Lee (three holes)
Kraft Nabisco Championship Karrie Webb def. Lorena Ochoa (one hole)
LPGA Corning Classic Hee-Won Han def. Meena Lee (four holes)
McDonald's LPGA
Championship Presented by
Coca-Cola Se Ri Pak def. Karrie Webb (one hole)
U.S. Women's Open
conducted by the USGA Annika Sorenstam (70, -1) def. Pat Hurst (74, +3), (18-hole playoff)
Jamie Farr Owens Corning
Classic Presented by Kroger Mi Hyun Kim def. Natalie Gulbis (three holes)

Ochoa, Kerr still lead State Farm LPGA Series. ADT Official Money List leader Lorena Ochoa and 2005 State Farm LPGA Series Bonus Pool winner Cristie Kerr did not play last week but remain in the one-two positions for this season's State Farm LPGA Series. Ochoa (240) leads Kerr (166) by 74 points, which is easily the largest gap between golfers competing for the $250,000 bonus that accompanies winning the title. With her third-place finish at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, Paula Creamer jumped from eighth to third in the standings and is just two points behind Kerr with 164 points. Mi Hyun Kim is 12 back with 152 points and Hee-Won Han rounds out the top-five with 140 points.

The State Farm LPGA Series began in 2000 and encompasses seven LPGA events in 2006, which are televised on ESPN2. Points are awarded to players who finish in the top 20 (including ties) in the seven designated events. Players must compete in the 2006 State Farm Classic, where points will be tripled, to be eligible for the State Farm Series Bonus Pool. The player who has accumulated the most points at the conclusion of the State Farm Classic will receive the $250,000 bonus pool. Only two events remain in the 2006 State Farm LPGA Series and the next event will be the Aug. 24-27 Wendy's Championship for Children.

Kim earns second stay at Canyon Ranch. In addition to winning the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger and an $180,000 paycheck, seven-time LPGA Tour winner Mi Hyun Kim also earned her second all-inclusive stay for two at a Canyon Ranch resort. In a combined effort to promote health and overall well-being among Tour players, Canyon Ranch will provide every winner of an LPGA event with an all-inclusive stay for two at one of Canyon Ranch's two destination resorts.

Kim surpasses $1 million in season earnings. Mi Hyun Kim's $180,000 winner's check from the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger sent her over the $1 million-mark in season earnings to $1,014,724. The last time Kim earned $1 million in a season was 2002 when she won back-to-back events, which were also hosted in the state of Ohi Giant Eagle LPGA Classic and the Wendy's Championship for Children at Tartan Fields. Kim won the inaugural Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open earlier in the season and has posted an additional seven top-10 finishes.

Pak's bid for Tour record on hold. Se Ri Pak, a four-time champion at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, headed into the final round last week in contention and looking to tie an LPGA Tour record of most wins at the same tournament. Only Annika Sorenstam (Samsung World Championship, Mizuno Classic) and Mickey Wright (Sea Island Open) have accomplished the feat. Pak carded rounds of 68-68-66-66 to finish fourth, pushing her career earnings at the event to more than $800,000 (9.2 percent of her career earnings).

Pak at Jamie Farr
Date Finish Money
7/12/1998 Win $120,000
7/04/1999 Win 135,000
7/09/2000 Third 67,933
7/08/2001 Win 150,000
8/14/2002 T7 23,875
8/17/2003 Win 150,000
8/08/2004 T2 86,873
7/10/2005 T36 6,822
7/16/2006 4 59,570

Four play in the 60s. The top-four players on the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger leaderboard battled adverse weather conditions – from severe storms, which suspended second-round play on Friday and caused multi-round play Saturday and Sunday; to extreme heat and humidity – but still managed to post sub-70 scores for all four rounds. Mi Hyun Kim (68-66-67-65=266, -18); Natalie Gulbis (67-66-68-65=266, -18); Paula Creamer (67-67-68-65=267, -17); and Se Ri Pak (68-68-66-66=268, -16) finished first through fourth, respectively.

Sorenstam wins another ESPY. Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam earned her second straight female athlete of the year honors at the 14th annual ESPY Awards, which was taped last week and televised by ESPN on Sunday. Sorenstam's victory gave her eight career ESPYs. She beat out snowboarder Hannah Teter, driver Melanie Troxel and Houston Comets star Sheryl Swoopes.

Kim wins fourth Duramed Futures Tour event of the year. Song-Hee Kim celebrated her 18th birthday by winning the Cigna Chip In For A Cure FUTURES Golf Classic 73-70-73=216 (E) by one stroke over In-Bee Park (75-71-71=217, +1). It was Kim's fourth Duramed Futures Tour win this year. The top-five finishers on the season-ending Duramed Futures Tour money list earn exempt cards for the 2007 LPGA season. In 12 events, Kim has earned $58,486 this year and leads the money list by more than $22,000 over Charlotte Mayorkas ($36,014). Park is well on her way to earning exempt status on the LPGA Tour as well. After 11 events, she is third on the Duramed Futures Tour money list with $34,622 in season earnings.

Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill passes $1 million in charity donations. The Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill recently announced that it generated $253,000 for 23 Virginia civic and charitable organizations from this year's event. In the four years that the tournament has been on the LPGA schedule, it has now given more than $1.1 million to local charities.

Nilsmark named captain of 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team. The European Solheim Cup Committee and the Swedish Golf Foundation recently announced Catrin Nilsmark as the captain of the 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team. The 38-year-old Swede captained the European Solheim Cup Team to victory at Barsebäck Golf and County Club in Sweden in 2003 and led the team in the 2005 matches at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana. She made five appearances in The Solheim Cup as a player, and in 1992 she holed the winning putt in Europe's first victory. The fourth PING Junior Solheim Cup, which features the 12 best female junior golfers (aged from 13-18) from the United States competing against the top 12 girls from Europe will take place Sept. 11-12, 2007 at Båstad GK, Sweden. The event immediately precedes The 2007 Solheim Cup at nearby Halmstad Golfklubb, from Sept. 14-16, 2007. The United State won the inaugural junior competition in 2002, but Europe claimed victory in 2003. The United States reclaimed the trophy in 2005 at The Bridgewater Club in Indianapolis, Ind.

LPGA T&CP member volunteers at 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games. LPGA T&CP Class A member Sandy Guzzardo recently represented the LPGA as a rules official at the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games held July 2-7 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Guzzardo is the Director of Instruction at Empire Ranch Golf Club in Sacramento, Calif., and for three days her duties included being a rules official, making sure the athletes had safe conditions and preparing the course for play. Guzzardo and others checked the hazard stakes and out of bounds, identified drop areas, assigned fore caddies and set tees and hole locations for each day.

CARQUEST Auto Parts teams up with rookie Hall. CARQUEST Auto Parts and LPGA rookie Kim Hall recently announced a partnership where Hall will wear the CARQUEST Logo and represent CARQUEST Auto Parts in an effort to create awareness between women and the auto parts industry. Hall, 24, played golf at Stanford University and earned a degree in American Studies. She earned her LPGA Tour card at the 2005 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament and has played in three events this year.

LPGA-USGA Girls Golf adds two new sites. LPGA-USGA Girls Golf recently added two new sites, bringing the total of new sites added this year to 18. Co-site directors Sally Coffelt and Elizabeth White will head up the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of Waukegan, Ill., while Bonnie Brook Golf Course will host the girls. Coffelt is a member of the Bonnie Brook Women's Golf Association and White has volunteered for various junior golf programs in the area. Margery and Kris Smith, who is a PGA teaching professional and was a US Kids top teacher in 2004, will lead LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of Detroit Lakes, Minn. The Smith's own and operate Ironman Golf Course, which will host the girls.

With more than 5,400 members and more than 180 sites around the country, LPGA-USGA Girls Golf (Girls Golf) provides an opportunity for girls, ages 7 to 17, to learn to play golf, build lasting friendships, and experience competition in a fun, supportive environment, preparing them for a lifetime of enjoyment with the game. The only national initiative of its kind, Girls Golf is administered through a partnership between The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Foundation and the United States Golf Association (USGA), both non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.

LPGA birthdays. The following LPGA Tour members are celebrating a birthday this week.

July 17
Pearl Sinn-Bonanni (39)
July 21
Dina Ammaccapane (38)
July 22
Susie Berning (65)
July 23
Amy Fruhwirth (38)
Terry-Jo Myers (44)