BOSTON, Dec. 13, 2018 – Now in its 19th season, The Legends Tour, official senior tour of the LPGA, will stage five confirmed events in 2019 and its players will compete in two senior women’s major championships next year.
The tour’s 2019 schedule will take the LPGA veteran players and Hall of Famers from California to the Carolinas, and from the Pacific Northwest to the Upper Midwest, over to New England and back to the Midwest to conclude the season.
The tour also hopes to expand its schedule after the new year with announcements about forthcoming events.
“The Legends Tour anticipates a great 2019 tournament season,” said Legends Tour President Christa Johnson. “Our talented players will be competing on some of the most challenging and beautiful golf courses in the United States. We are delighted to partner with wonderful event sponsors and JBC Golf to showcase our extraordinary players.”
“We are optimistic about the prospect of adding at least two new events in 2019 and a greater number in 2020,” added Jane Blalock, CEO of JBC Golf, the Boston-based event management company that provides sales and marketing support for The Legends Tour.
The Legends Tour will open 2019 with a return to the ANA Inspiration for the third year, kicking off the LPGA’s first major championship of the season in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Twenty-four Legends Tour players will compete alongside juniors in the final round of the ANA Junior Inspiration.
Set for March 31, the event pairs top juniors with the Legends and will once again give amateur players a chance to learn from veteran LPGA stars. The winning junior player will also earn an amateur exemption into the major championship.
New for 2019 will be a Legends Pro-Am on Monday, April 1, leading into the LPGA’s championship. Chris Garrett, tournament director of the ANA Inspiration for IMG described “legends and past champions” as a good fit for the event.
“Of all the LPGA Tour stops, it is a great opportunity for people who have been around the event to play [golf] with their heroes and legends of the game,” Garrett told the Desert Sun newspaper.
Legends Tour members and Hall of Famers who have won the championship in past years include Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Betsy King, Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan.
The United States Golf Association’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open will move to Southern Pines, N.C., for the second annual national championship. The 2019 event will be hosted May 16-19, at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club. Legends Tour member and LPGA Hall of Fame member, Dame Laura Davies of Great Britain, won the 2018 inaugural event by 10 strokes and hopes to defend her title at a new venue.
The Legends will head back to the Pacific Northwest for the Suquamish Clearwater Legends Cup presented by The Boeing Company. The Seattle-area event is set for June 5-9, and will return to White Horse Golf Club in Kingston, Wash. England’s Trish Johnson is the event’s defending champion.
“We are thrilled to welcome The Legends Tour back to the Kitsap peninsula and White Horse Golf Club,” said Irene Carper, COO of Port Madison Enterprises-Clearwater Casino Resort. “We are also pleased and proud to again showcase some of the greatest names in women’s golf for fans in 2019, and we look forward to the camaraderie and community engagement an event of this caliber brings to our premier property.”
Seattle golf enthusiasts will be able to learn more about the Suquamish Clearwater Legends Cup at the Seattle Golf Show, set for Feb. 16-17, at CenturyLink Field Event Center.
Legends Tour members will return to play alongside Epson Tour members at the Janesville Golf Legends Classic, set for Aug. 4. Legends and the LPGA’s next generation of young professionals will compete together during their respective final round for the first time since 2016.
The event will be staged at Janesville Country Club in Janesville, Wis. A field of 144 Epson Tour players will compete in a 54-hole stroke-play format. The top 60 Epson Tour players (and ties) who make the tournament’s 36-hole cut will compete alongside 30 Legends Tour members joining the field for the final 18-hole round.
The third annual BJ’s Charity Championship will return to New England’s Cape Cod area Sept. 5-6, at The Ridge Club in Sandwich, Mass. Twenty-four Legends of the LPGA will compete as two-player teams with defending champs Laura Davies and Trish Johnson hoping to continue their British rule at the event.
The Legends will then head to Nantucket, Mass., Sept. 7-8, for the Legends on Grey Lady event at Miacomet Golf Club. The community will celebrate Nantucket Golf Weekend with 18 Legends, who will play a nine-hole shootout on Saturday and an 18-hole pro-am on Sunday during the event.
Rounding out The Legends Tour’s season at the final stop will be the Senior LPGA Championship, set for Oct. 14-16. The third annual senior major championship will be held at the Pete Dye Golf Course at French Lick Resort in French Lick, Ind. Once again, Davies will attempt to defend her title.
Since its inception in 2000, The Legends Tour has raised nearly $24 million for charity partners and plans to continue that outreach in 2019.
Here is a summary of the 2019 Legends Tour tournament schedule:
March 31 – ANA Inspiration Legends Day
April 1 – ANA Inspiration Legends Pro-Am
May 16-19 – U.S. Senior Women’s Open
June 5-9 – Suquamish Clearwater Legends Cup presented by The Boeing Company
August 4 – Janesville Golf Legends Classic
September 5-6 – BJ’s Charity Championship
September 7-8 – Legends on Grey Lady
October 14-16 – Senior LPGA Championship
For more information about The Legends Tour, visit www.thelegendstour.com.
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