TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 6, 2005 — The Greater Tampa FUTURES Golf Classic will move to Tampa’s South Shore in 2006. The event will be held March 17-19, at Riverview’s Summerfield Crossings Golf Club community, marking a three-year effort for the tournament to find a permanent home in the city where the FUTURES Golf Tour began in 1981.
For the last two years, the tournament has been held at East Lake Woodlands Golf & Country Club in Oldsmar, Fla. Moving to Summerfield Crossings is an effort to establish roots in the Greater Tampa area that launched the Tour 26 competitive seasons ago. Prior to the 2003 season, the last Tampa-based FUTURES Tour event was held at East Lake Woodlands in 1988. From that time until 2003, the FUTURES Tour did not stage an event in its city site of origin for 15 years. Bringing the Tour "home" especially excites the 2006 tournament organizers.
"This will be the only large sporting event in southeast Hillsborough County and we think this is going to put the South Shore on the golf map," said Jeffrey "Doc" Blanchard, owner of Summerfield Crossings. "Our biggest goal is to make the tournament a true community event."
Offering a $70,000 purse, this professional event for the "official developmental tour of the LPGA" will bring a full-field, 144-player tournament to the Ron Garl-designed course. Built in 1986 and originally owned by PGA Tour professional Jim Colbert, the semi-private course is up to the task of hosting the world’s top young female talent, says Blanchard, whose family has spent over $1 million in renovations to the tract during the last three years. Summerfield Crossings has 18 new Champion Bermuda grass greens on a layout that features plenty of water hazards, bunkers and pot bunkers.
"We want the community to see the tournament as a great way to spend the day with the family," added Jason Blanchard, general manager of the course. "We plan to create a family ticket that includes tournament gate passes, food and sodas. We also plan to offer miniature golf for the kids."
In addition, tournament organizers plan to offer a variety of activities in a giant hospitality tent on property, with such events as: a Calcutta party on Saturday, March 11; a par-three Challenge Shotgun event on both the morning and afternoon of Monday, March 13; a Junior Pro-Am at 3:30 p.m., on Tuesday, March 14; and pro-am tournaments on Wednesday, March 15 and Thursday, March 16.
Practice rounds for professionals will be held on March 14 and 15, with the 54-hole stroke-play professional tournament beginning on Friday, March 17 and concluding on Sunday, March 19. Australian Sarah-Jane Kenyon is the event’s defending champion.
Summerfield Crossings has a link with both past and present members of the FUTURES Golf Tour. Former FUTURES Tour member and 2002 LPGA Rookie of the Year Beth Bauer played out of the course while her father, the late John Bauer, served as the club’s general manager in the 1990s.
"It’s not as if we’re strangers to women’s golf," said Doc.
But Blanchard added that by bringing the FUTURES Tour tournament to Riverview, a greater need will be served for citizens of the South Shore.
"This part of the Greater Tampa area has a small-town feel and people here are always driving somewhere for events," he said. "Residents here haven’t had something that is their event. We want to make this the South Shore’s very own tournament."
All proceeds from the Greater Tampa FUTURES Golf Classic will benefit the Mary and Martha House, a non-profit facility established in 1982, to provide temporary, emergency shelter for women and children. A favored charity of Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, the shelter has provided assistance for more than 3,000 individuals in southeast Hillsborough County over the last 23 years.
Tournament organizers are offering a variety of sponsorship packages ranging from driving range and putting green sponsors to the event’s overall presenting sponsor.
For more information about sponsorship opportunities and tournament events, contact Doc Blanchard at 813-671-3311, Ext. 8 or Jason Blanchard at Ext. 7. For other information about the Greater Tampa FUTURES Golf Classic, contact Tim Forbes at 863-709-9100, Ext. 9.
Contact:
Tim Forbes
863-709-9100, Ext. 9
