The LPGA Tour's annual stop at Springfield's Panther Creek Country Club "came to an end Thursday," according to Dave Kane of the Springfield STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER. The tournament’s BOD, with "no prospects of a new sponsor on the horizon, decided to dissolve the not-for-profit corporation known as the Central Illinois Charity Golf Classic." The decision was made "after an almost 10-month search for a new sponsor or sponsors to replace Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance, which ended its 19-year association with the tournament last June." Tournament's Exec Dir Kate Peters said that it was "best to end the tournament now and still have money to donate to designated charities." Peters: "Rather than postpone the inevitable, it was best to be fiscally responsible and good stewards of the money we have left. We just don’t have any revenue coming in, so we need to move forward. We talked to everybody (potential sponsors). But with the economy, it’s a crummy time right now. There are a lot of people out there who’d definitely do it if they had the resources." Peters, referring to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, said, "He did a great job and really went to bat for us. Unfortunately, it didn't work out like we hoped. (Whan) was more than willing to help us out. But at some point, you have to make tough choices." Tournament BOD President Desiree Logsdon said, "We had to regroup as a board and just say, 'There's nobody coming forward.' Our dream was that somebody would come forward, but we’ve done all we can do" (Springfield STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER, 12/9).
