LPGA Championship Name, Location Still Undecided For '10 Event
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McDonald's LPGA Championship
Seeking Sponsor, Venue for '10 |
The McDonald's LPGA Championship will have "neither a sponsor nor a venue" following next week's tournament, and "where this event will be played next year and under what name" are perhaps the biggest questions surrounding its future, according to Ron Sirak of GOLF WORLD. LPGA Chief Communications Officer David Higdon said that the location of next year's event "depends on the sponsor." The LPGA "would like to host its major near New York because of the potential for selling corporate hospitality tents," but N.Y. "may not fit the business need of the new sponsor." Sources said that there was a "flirtation with Baltusrol GC in New Jersey" for the tournament, and there are "some who would like the championship to return to the newly renovated" DuPont CC in Wilmington, Delaware, where it was played from '94-'04. The scenario with the "most traction," though, involves Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, which "could be a candidate for the major ... if the contract for the Michelob Ultra Open is not renewed by InBev." Sirak notes the '10 LPGA schedule will present Carolyn Bivens the "greatest challenge any LPGA commissioner has faced," as the former ADT Championship also will be without a sponsor and venue next year. A tour "desperately in need of an exclamation point has found that a question mark is more appropriate," but Bivens "remains optimistic." Bivens: "We feel good about our discussions with sponsors about the LPGA-owned events, but do not expect to announce anything soon" (GOLF WORLD, 6/8 issue).
NEW BEGINNING: NBC and Golf Channel analyst Dottie Pepper said of the uncertainty around the tournament's future, "Hopefully there will be a site announcement relatively soon, and partners that will come along to be presenting partners of this championship to make it viable economically." Golf Channel analyst Beth Daniel added it is "going to be a shame" for the tour to lose both McDonald's and LPGA Championship co-Founders Frank and Herb Lottman and "all that they've put into this tour the last 29 years." However, with the LPGA taking over control of the event next year, Daniel said, "This is such a great opportunity for the LPGA to own their own event, and this is an opportunity for them to turn this into truly the LPGA and their players' event. So I look at it also as a great opportunity for the LPGA" (THE DAILY).
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