Tournament Golf Foundation (TGF), the organizers of the Cambia Portland Classic, will host a one day amateur-only event that guarantees the winner a spot in the LPGA tour’s oldest non-major tournament.
The Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open will be held at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, OR (fifteen minutes south of Portland) on Wednesday, June 1, beginning at 7:00 AM. Any female amateur golfer with an established USGA handicap of 2.0 or less is eligible to compete.
The winner of the event will earn a guaranteed spot in the 72-hole Cambia Portland Classic tournament proper to be held June 30-July 3, at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR. The second and third place finishers will earn spots alongside professionals in the tournament’s Monday qualifier to be held on Monday, June 27. The top two finishers from the Monday qualifier will also earn entry into the Cambia Portland Classic.
Last year, Gigi Stoll, a recent graduate of Beaverton High School, shot a tournament record, course record and personal best 9-under par 63 that included at 29 on the front nine. Stoll, currently playing for the University of Arizona, also won the 2014 Portland Classic Amateur Open.
According to Tom Maletis, President of Tournament Golf Foundation, "We have watched Gigi develop into a player of national significance over the years, but last year’s performance exceeded our expectations. With the great amateur talent in women’s golf, it will be interesting to see how long Gigi’s record stands."
At least ten former Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open participants have gone on to become members of the LPGA (Allison Hanna, Ayaka Kaneko, Paige Mackenzie, Jennie Lee, Sydnee Michaels, Jane Rah, Tiffany Joh, Mi Jung (MJ) Hur, Sadena Parks, and Ryann O'Toole). Mi Jung Hur won the Portland Classic in 2009, just two years after participating in the Portland Classic Amateur Open.
The Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open will have a $95 entry fee and players can get an application by calling the Tournament Golf Foundation office at 503-626-2711 or by visiting the news section of the tournament web site, www.portlandclassic.com. Entry deadline for the event will be May 27, 2016.
The Cambia Portland Classic will feature the world’s top women professional golfers at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR, from June 30-July 3, 2016. The 72-hole tournament features a purse of $1.3 million and broadcast coverage on the Golf Channel for all four rounds. Brooke Henderson won the 2016 tournament by 8-stokes for her first win on the LPGA Tour, setting a new 72-hole tournament scoring record as well at 21-under par. Henderson became just the second player and first since 2000 to Monday qualify for an LPGA Tour event and go on to win. One of the hottest rising stars on the LPGA, Henderson has already moved up to the 7th spot on the Rolex Rankings list of the world’s top women golfers.
Proceeds from the Cambia Portland Classic Presented benefit children’s charities in Oregon. Through 2015, the event has raised nearly $18 million for a variety of local organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland, Trillium Family Services, Oregon Junior Golf, Easter Seals of Oregon, Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division, The Children’s Course/First Tee of Greater Portland, and Evans Scholars Foundation.
Tickets to the Cambia Portland Classic are available now at www.portlandclassic.com
Tournament Golf Foundation is a local Portland area group of volunteers who donate their time and provide the primary operations for the annual event. Begun in 1972, the group is now comprised of more than 50 local individuals.
Langdon Farms Golf Club is ranked as the #1 course to host tournaments and corporate events in Portland, Oregon and rated four out of five stars by Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play. Designed by John Fought and Robert Cupp, Langdon Farms opened for play in 1995 and is professionally managed by OB Sports Golf Management.
For more information on the Cambia Portland Classic and Tournament Golf Foundation, visit www.portlandclassic.com or call 503-626-2711. For more information on Langdon Farms Golf Club or for practice rounds, visit www.langdonfarms.com or call 503-678-4653.