1. Service arrangements announced for Jameson
2. LPGA hits the ground running in 2009: Members raise the bar for competition and education on, off the course
3. Higdon named LPGA chief communications officer
4. Twenty-one golfers join 2009 LPGA Tour for their rookie season: This week is the final installment in a five-part series highlighting the new year's class
5. This week: SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Turtle Bay Resort, Palmer Course, Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii, $1,200,000, February 12-14, 2009; TV Times; Collegiate Tie to Hawaii
6. LPGA Tour's 2009 season kicks off in Hawaii with SBS Open at Turtle Bay: Four of top-five in Rolex Rankings to start season in Hawaii
7. Countdown to the 2009 Solheim Cup
8. LPGA news and notes
1. Service arrangements announced for Jameson
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Feb. 9, 2009 - Service arrangements for LPGA Founder Betty Jameson, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 89, have been set for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, in the Betty Jameson Ballroom at the Delray Beach Golf Club. Jameson was one of the LPGA's 13 Founders and also conceived the idea of annually honoring the golfer with the lowest scoring average on the LPGA Tour. Lorena Ochoa was the most recent recipient of the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.
Numerous LPGA members have memories of their time with Jameson and what she meant to the growth of the LPGA and women's golf. Several quotes are provided below. For the full obituary on Jameson, please visit LPGA.com.
QUOTES
Beth Daniel -
"We both lived down in South Florida. She was just like all of the other Founders were - very passionate about the LPGA Tour. She was a great ambassador to golf and, specifically, to women's golf. Betty was involved in many things in the community. I have a clinic every year down in the city of Delray Beach and she would come over and help out with that. She was just very passionate about the game and her life. She was a great lady and very fun to be around."
Gloria Ehret -
"I greatly appreciate the LPGA Founders. I had tremendous respect for Betty and admired her dedication to the game of golf. We all benefited from their hard work which opened many doors to those that followed."
Sandra Eriksson -
"I met Betty here (Delray Beach Golf Club) when the USGA was having their 100th anniversary and looking for stories. I was getting together some of the players in the area and extended the invitation for her to come and join in. It was probably a chance meeting, but our friendship has been over the past 15 years. She was definitely one of a kind and I feel that there's nobody quite like Betty. I think she did all women golfers a great service, especially in the early times of the Tour. I'm forever thankful that I had the time to be a friend and have her in our lives here at the club.
"She was here a couple weeks ago giving a golf lesson and we chatted for a while. She was a great icon to have at the club."
Marlene Hagge, LPGA founder -
"Betty was the sweetest, most caring person and she had an enormous heart. She had one of the most perfect golf swings I've ever witnessed. I am saddened by the loss of a wonderful friend, not just for myself, but for the LPGA and golf."
Marilynn Smith, LPGA founder -
"Betty was very gracious to the public, but also what I would consider a very strong-willed person. I recall her playing one of the Titleholders tournaments in the 1950s on a broken leg!
"Two of Betty's loves were golf and painting. She was a great painter and she interpreted golf in an artistic manner. This was especially true in her chipping and putting. Everyone thought she had one of the best grips on her club. She was a great student of the game - she had great rhythm and balance, but her interpretation in golf was in an artistic manner, not mechanical. I remember around the time she took lessons from Tommy Armour, she put little spikes on the inside edge of the left foot to help her pivot off her left foot on the backswing.
"During my first year on Tour, we had a day off before a tournament in New York City. Betty took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was a most memorable visit; it was my first introduction to art. Her enthusiasm for the great painters made an impression on me."
Shirley Spork, LPGA Founder -
"She was a master student of the game. She sought knowledge from golf's best teachers her entire competitive life. She was an aficionada of abstract art as an admirer and creator of that art. On Tour, she visited each city's art museum. She was her own person."
Jack Peter, Sr. Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, World Golf Hall of Fame
"What I remember best about Betty was demonstrated the last time I saw her, which was at an LPGA dinner function in Orlando in 2007. After a smile, a hug and an exchange of niceties, she gave me an impromptu swing lesson … right there, near the buffet line! Her overflowing spirit and love of golf and life will never be forgotten. Her story--of determination, of passion and of success--will always remain an important part of the World Golf Hall of Fame and of golf's history in general."
Carol Mann -
"Betty was a elegant woman who was gifted with a pair of hands that crafted golf shots, pottery and oil paintings. Her stylish dress set an example for young players to be more dramatic in presenting themselves. Betty's vision for rewarding excellence was inspired by the greatness of her amateur friend Glenna Collett Vare, so she went out and purchased a beautiful silver plate and donated it to the LPGA, calling it the Vare Trophy, and presented it to the player with the lowest year-long scoring average. This award changed how we thought about a year's achievement. Instead of money won, we worked to keep our scores becoming lower and lower. Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth coveted this award. So did Annika and Lorena, 40 years later."
2. LPGA hits the ground running in 2009
Members raise the bar for competition and education on, off the course
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - As the LPGA nears its sixth decade in existence, 2009 looks to be one of its most thrilling, and, undoubtedly, surprising seasons yet. With a minimum of 30 official events, as well as the highly-anticipated Solheim Cup showdown in August, players and fans have plenty to be excited for.
Rolex Rankings' number one and three-time Rolex Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa, of Mexico, will start the season backed up by 21 victories in the past three seasons, as well as 37 additional top-10 finishes in 72 events. In a couple of weeks, she will open her 2009 campaign at the Honda LPGA Thailand, looking to make it the fourth consecutive year she has posted a top-five finish in her opening event. Well on her way to becoming the fastest player to earn $14 million in her LPGA career, one of the only questions remaining unanswered is - just how many more of these milestones will Ochoa break?
As impressive as Ochoa's high-level of play is, there are many others nipping at her heels. Already, American Paula Creamer is shattering Ochoa's 'fastest' money records, while accumulating wins along the way. Her career-best four season wins in 2008 have Creamer on the verge of gaining her first major championship victory, while holding a commanding lead in the race for the U.S. Solheim Cup team, which would be her third appearance in nearly five years on Tour. To continue her undefeated streak in Solheim Cup competition, Creamer will rely on her potential teammates, which look to include veterans like Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford and Juli Inkster. Adding to the drama, points for 2009 are at one-and-a-half times their normal value. U.S. Team Captain Beth Daniel, along with her assistants Kelly Robbins and Meg Mallon, have a tough year ahead of them to assemble the strongest possible team to face the European Team, led by Allison Nicholas (captain) and Liselotte Neumann (assistant captain). After losing in Halmstad, Sweden, in 2007, the European Team has their sights set on an American soil upset. Laura Davies, the only player in Solheim Cup history to have competed in the first 10 stagings of the biennial event, will potentially join Rolex Rankings' number four Suzann Pettersen in the showdown against the States. The 11th edition of The Solheim Cup will be staged Aug. 21-23, 2009, at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
It is hard to believe that one year ago the 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Yani Tseng, of Taiwan, was making her debut as a LPGA Tour member. Her campaign began with a memorable first-career LPGA win via a four-hole, sudden-death playoff against Maria Hjorth at the second major of the season, the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. This year's 21-member rookie class, led by Jiyai Shin, who won an unprecedented three LPGA Tour events as a non-member in 2008, has already made their presence known on Tour. Joining Shin is Florida's Vicky Hurst, who set a record on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2008 for most single-season earnings, and Texas' Stacy Lewis, who accumulated two top-six finishes in seven starts on the LPGA last year and owned medalist honors at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Michelle Wie, of Hawaii, first competed on the LPGA Tour via a sponsor's exemption in 2002. With forty-eight events and 13 top-10 finishes under her belt as a non-member, Wie, along with her fellow rookies, are hoping that playing week-in and week-out against the world's best will challenge their game and equal successes of their own.
Additional branches of the LPGA - the Teaching & Club Professionals (T&CP) and LPGA-USGA Girls Golf (Girls Golf) are also celebrating important milestones in 2009. With more than 1,200 members and growing, the LPGA T&CP has been a leading contributor to the growth of the game of golf for the past 50 years. LPGA T&CP members complete one of the most comprehensive education programs in professional golf, and their participation and positive influence on the grassroots level of golf is undeniable. Many LPGA T&CP members also serve as site directors for the more than 180 Girls Golf clubs around the nation. Started in 1989 by Sandy LaBauve, Girls Golf reaches out to girls ages 7 to 17 to expose them to the game of golf and the positive benefits of friendship and competition in a non-intimidating environment. Many of today's up-and-coming stars are past members of the Girls Golf program. In January, the LPGA also announced LaBauve and two-time LPGA Tour winner Brittany Lincicome - also a past Girls Golf participant from Florida - will serve as the program's national ambassadors.
The level and depth of talent in the LPGA - from its teachers to its coaches to its Tour players - is at an all-time high. Down the street, or around the world, the LPGA will continue to bring the best of women's golf to its students and fans throughout 2009. Expect Tour veterans to be challenged by rookies for the opportunity to hoist that trophy on the 18th green each and every week. If history repeats itself, the journey of a Rolex First-Time Winner to that moment will be truly unforgettable. With the re-launch of the LPGA's 'Kids in Free' policy, adults and children, alike, are encouraged to come out and share in these moments with the game's current and future stars all season long.
3. Higdon named LPGA chief communications officer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 9, 2009 - Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens has named David Higdon as the LPGA's chief communications officer. In this newly created role, Higdon will be a member of the LPGA management committee and will develop strategic corporate communications initiatives for the organization.
"I am pleased to welcome David to the LPGA staff," Bivens said. "As our chief communications officer, David will be the lead architect of association communications strategy and ensure we have consistent messaging between the LPGA's various constituents. David has substantial global experience in the sports, corporate, charity, association and media arenas and will enhance an already strong communications team."
Higdon recently has been working as a writer for ESPN The Magazine and previously served in executive communications roles in basketball, motorsports and tennis. As senior vice president, communications for the ATP, the governing body of international men's tennis, Higdon oversaw business and marketing communications surrounding the circuit's 60-plus events and promotion of its players.
In 2007-08, Higdon served as executive vice president, strategic development & communications for the Champ Car World Series, helping the motorsports organization successfully merge with IndyCar last year. Prior to the ATP, where he worked from 1998-2006, Higdon covered sports for The New York Times and wrote for a variety of magazines including InStyle, Golf Digest, Self, Shape, Northwest Airlines' WorldTraveler Magazine and Sports Illustrated for Kids. He also served as editor-in-chief for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers team publication and associate producer for its affiliated television program.
Higdon began his professional career as a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis and Chicago before moving to New York City to work in magazine publishing, where he served as an editor at The Runner, American Health and Tennis. Higdon lives in Florida with his wife Sharon, a former NBA team executive, and their two children.
4. Twenty-one golfers join 2009 LPGA Tour for their rookie season
This week is the final installment in a five-part series highlighting the new year's class
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The official start of the 2009 LPGA Tour season has finally arrived and, with it, the members of the 2009 rookie class are ready to test their skills to prepare for the next step in their careers. The 2009 LPGA Tour rookie class is comprised of 21 'rookies,' who have some very veteran experience, including Jiyai Shin, of Korea, who won three LPGA Tour events in 2008 - the most ever by a non-member, as well as Michelle Wie, of Hawaii, who has 48 LPGA Tour starts under her belt since 2002, and Kim Welch, who won the Golf Channel's Big Break: Ka'anapali. Respectively, Jessica Shepley, of Canada, and Nontaya Srisawang, of Thailand, are among their countries' strongest competitors. Representing six countries outside the United States with 15 international members and six members hailing from five U.S. states, the class is as diverse as they are talented.
This week is the final of five weeks highlighting snapshots of each rookie in the run up to the first official 2009 LPGA Tour event, the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.
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Jessica Shepley Country: Canada Turned professional: June 2005 Priority List Category: 17 Jessica Shepley's amateur career began on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, where she won four times. As a member of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer golf team, Shepley earned 13 top-10 finishes and was a two-time Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Conference First-Team selection (2002-03). After an individual tie for fourth at the 2004 SEC Championship, she finished fifth at the NCAA Championship. In 2008, Shepley recorded five top-10 finishes in 17 starts on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and finished seventh on the season-ending money list. The 25-year-old enjoys singing, dancing, reading and scrapbooking. |
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Jiyai Shin Country: South Korea Turned professional: 2005 Priority List Category: 3 Jiyai Shin became the first non-LPGA member to win three events in one season: the RICOH Women's British Open; Mizuno Classic; and the season-ending ADT Championship. As a member of the Korea LPGA (KLPGA) Tour, she was the first player in history to complete the season Grand Slam, earning a 10-year exemption on the KLPGA. The 20-year-old recorded seven KLPGA victories in 15 starts, and seven additional top-eight finishes, all in 2008. Shin's amateur career included five victories as a member of the Korean National Team. Other than playing golf, Shin enjoys listening to music, watching movies, and reading. |
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Nontaya Srisawang Country: Thailand Turned professional: January 2006 Priority List Category: 16 Nontaya Srisawang was a competitive amateur golfer, recording multiple victories in 2002, 2004 and 2005. After turning professional in January 2006, Srisawang competed on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2007 and 2008. Away from golf, Srisawang enjoys photography. |
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Kim Welch State: California Turned professional: January 2006 Priority List Category: 17 Kim Welch competed on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2008, recording three top-10 finishes, including her first professional win at the Alliance Bank Golf Classic. While at Washington State University, Welch recorded 29 top-10 finishes, including 11 victories. She earned 2003 Pac-10 First Team All-Conference honors, and was an All-American First Team selection by the National Golf Coaches Association. Welch enjoys snowboarding, hanging out with family, doing puzzles and playing with her nieces and nephews while she's at home. |
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Michelle Wie State: Hawaii Turned professional: October 2005 Priority List Category: 11 Michelle Wie set multiple records during her amateur golf career. In 2000, at the age of 10, she became the youngest to qualify for the USGA Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. The same year, she won the Honolulu Mayor's Cup and was the low women's amateur at the Hawaii State Open. She was the youngest winner of the 2001 Jennie K. Wilson Invitational and 2001 Hawaii State Women's Stroke Play championship. At the 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic, Wie became the youngest player to Monday qualify for a LPGA event (12 years, 4 months, 14 days). At the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, her tie for ninth made her the youngest player to make the cut (13 years, 5 months, 17 days) and the youngest player to finish in the top-10 (13 years, 5 months, 19 days) at a LPGA event. In 2006, Wie recorded six top-five finishes in LPGA Tour events, competing as a sponsor's invite. In 2008, she finished sixth at the HypoVereinsbank Ladies German Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and tied for 12th at the CN Canadian Women's Open on the LPGA. Wie's hobbies include exploring different types of music, hanging out with friends, college life, watching movies and finding funny clips on YouTube. |
5. This week: SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Turtle Bay Resort, Palmer Course, Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii, $1,200,000, February 12-14, 2009; TV Times; Collegiate Tie to Hawaii
Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,560
Format: 54-hole stroke play
Winner: $180,000
Runner-up: $110,288
Field: 138 players
2008 champion: Annika Sorenstam
Media center: 808-792-9333
LPGA media contact: Mike Scanlan
• TV Times
Golf Channel
Feb. 12-13 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Feb. 14 6:30-9:30 p.m.
All times Eastern
• Collegiate Ties
The following LPGA Tour player competing in this week's SBS Open at Turtle Bay has a collegiate tie to Hawaii:
University of Hawaii
Cindy Rarick
6. LPGA Tour's 2009 season kicks off in Hawaii with SBS Open at Turtle Bay
Four of top-five in Rolex Rankings to start season in Hawaii
KAHUKU, Oahu, Hawaii - Just one year ago, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member Annika Sorenstam started her season off with a bang by winning the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Three months later, after winning her third and final tournament of the 2008 LPGA Tour season, Sorenstam announced she would step away from the game at season's end. Now, at the dawn of a new season, the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay is up for grabs with 138 of the world's best players looking to start their year off on the right foot.
Yani Tseng, 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, climbed into the world number two position by the end of the 2008 season, after catapulting into the top-10 following her debut LPGA victory at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. The 20-year-old, who began the 2008 season ranked 133rd in the world, will compete this year for the top spot in the Rolex Rankings with current number one Lorena Ochoa and a host of others. Tseng will be joined this week by eight-time LPGA Tour winner and world number three Paula Creamer, who won at Turtle Bay in 2007, as well as world number four Suzann Pettersen and South Korea's Jiyai Shin, who claimed the $1 million first-place check at the ADT Championship last season - one of her three victories as a non-LPGA member in 2008. Shin, who also won the RICOH Women's British Open and the Mizuno Classic, owns 26 victories worldwide in the last three seasons, including 20 on the Korea LPGA (KLPGA).
Michelle Wie, a 2009 LPGA Tour rookie, will add some local flavor to the Oahu-based event when she makes her Tour debut as a member. She will be joined by an impressive rookie class that features Shin, 2007 NCAA Women's Individual Champion Stacy Lewis and Vicky Hurst, who dominated the Duramed FUTURES Tour last year with five victories. Hurst was named Rookie and Player of the Year and set a Duramed FUTURES Tour record for most single-season earnings with $93,107.
The three-day event, which takes place on the 6,560-yard Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club, starts on Thursday, Feb. 12th and features a $1.2 million purse.
7. Countdown to the 2009 Solheim Cup
Not only does the SBS Open at Turtle Bay mark the first event on the 2009 LPGA Tour calendar, it is also the first event where U.S.-born players can earn 1.5 times the points toward a spot on the 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup team. Californian Paula Creamer holds a commanding lead as top points earner thus far, but more than 25 players have a shot at one of 10 automatic spots on the 2009 team. Beth Daniel, 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup team captain, will also select two additional players who have to complete the 12-member team.
The U.S. Team leads the overall competition, 7-3, and has never lost The Solheim Cup on home soil. In 2009, the Americans will be looking to keep their untarnished home record intact at Rich Harvest Farms, Aug. 21-23, in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Countdown to the 2009 Solheim Cup
• 18 days until U.S. Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel appears at the Chicago Golf Show (Feb. 27).
• 55 days until double U.S. Team points are awarded at the season's first major - the Kraft Nabisco Championship (April 5).
• 174 days until the U.S. and European Teams are announced following the RICOH Women's British Open (Aug. 2).
• 193 days until matches begin at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. (Aug. 21).
8. LPGA news and notes
Third annual AUSA LPGA Pro-Am set for Feb. 11th. The LPGA will once again team with the Hawaii Chapter of the Association of the United States Army and conduct an 18-team pro-am at Leilehua Golf Course on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Each team will have at least one active duty soldier paired with a LPGA professional for the Feb. 11th outing. Following the event, awards and donations will be presented to the Fisher House and the Army Community Fund, which benefits Hawaii-based soldiers and family members - many of whom who have recently returned from duty overseas. LPGA Tour veterans Kate Golden and Amy Read will serve as co-organizers of the pro-am, which also features LPGA professionals Jean Bartholomew, Meredith Duncan, Moira Dunn, Kris Tamulis and Lisa Strom.
Hull wins Australian Ladies Masters. Six-year LPGA Tour member and Australian native Katherine Hull won the Australian Ladies Masters on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour Feb. 8th with a 16-under-par 272 (69-67-68-68), good for a five-stroke victory over Tamie Durdin, of Australia, and Se Yeon Ryu, of South Korea. The 26-year-old Hull took home the $400,000 winner's check, and now has four international victories in her career. Last year on the LPGA Tour, Hull became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the CN Canadian Women's Open, where she also crossed the $1 million mark in career earnings. With her most recent victory, Hull jumped six positions in the Rolex Rankings to 20th.
Topics: News and Notes
