SEATTLE, June 5, 2018 – There’s no preparation like competition, and Seattle area women’s golf fans will have the chance to see Legends Tour players hone their games one month before a national championship.
The United States Golf Association will launch its inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club, set for July 12-15, giving Legends Tour members a chance to compete for a national title. The timing of that championship fits perfectly for the Suquamish Clearwater Legends Cup presented by Boeing, which will be staged this week at White Horse Golf Club, June 8-10.
A number of players in this week’s Suquamish tournament field will have an exemption into next month’s Senior Women’s Open, some of whom already hold USGA championship titles.
“The U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be a great celebration of women’s golf at this stage of our lives and this week’s event in Washington will give us a solid test of tournament golf,” said Pat Bradley, the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open champion.
“I’ve been hitting a lot of golf balls and trying to get out on the course whenever possible,” added Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann, winner of the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open. “I’m sure I will feel my nerves tingling on that first tee.”
Players in this week’s tournament will likely spend more time than usual in the practice areas in preparation for their new Open championship. And to contend or to win this week’s tournament title will offer a higher level of preparation as Legends Tour players turn their focus to Chicago in July.
“I’m going to practice and work hard to prepare for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open to reach my goal of finishing in the top 10,” said Hollis Stacy, a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion in 1977, 1978 and 1984 -- one of only five players to have repeated as a champion and one of only six players to have won it three times.
“I’m now 64 and many of the players in the field are very strong, but when I won my first open, I hit the driver straight and had zero 3-putts,” added Stacy. “That’s still the goal.”
Sixteen of the 30 players in this week’s tournament field will compete in next month’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Five players in the Washington event would like to add a Senior Women’s Open title to their Women’s Open Championship crown.
In addition to Bradley, Neumann and Stacy, Betsy King (winner of the 1989 and 1990 U.S. Women’s Open) and 1983 U.S. Women’s Open champion Jan Stephenson will be seeking another Open title.
And for every player in this week’s field, each would like nothing better than to prepare for a national championship with a win in Washington.
For tickets and details about the tournament, visit www.ClearwaterLegendsCup.com.
For more information about The Legends Tour, visit www.thelegendstour.com.
Here are the players in this week’s tournament field who will compete in next month’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open:
Bartholomew, Jean – Garden City, N.Y.
Blalock, Jane – Cambridge, Mass.
Bradley, Pat – West Hyannisport, Mass.
Dibos, Alicia – Greenwich, Conn.
Grimes, Lisa – Gold Canyon, Ariz.
Johnson, Trish – London, England
Jones, Rosie – Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Kane, Lorie – Prince Edward Island, Canada
King, Betsy – Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mucha, Barb – Orlando, Fla.
Neumann, Liselotte – Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Redman, Michele - Plymouth, Minn.
Rinker, Laurie – Stuart, Fla.
Scranton, Nancy – St. Augustine, Fla.
Stacy, Hollis – Holmes Beach, Fla.
Stephenson, Jan – Sydney, Australia
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