Master Planner Gil Martinez, Developer Lyle Anderson and Golf Legend Jack Nicklaus Collaboration Provides Spectacular Backdrop for LPGA Showcase – Sorenstam Defends Title; 99 of 100 Top Players Compete in Safeway International
SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, AZ (March 17, 2006) ~ Two-time defending champion Annika Sorenstam hopes to make it a third at this years’ LPGA Safeway International at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, a Lyle Anderson community master planned by Gil Martinez. Sorenstam redefined golf history becoming the first woman to shoot 59 in a competitive round in this tournament in 2001, the first time the purse hit $1 million. This year’s prize is $1.4 million for the winner and for viewers in the winter-weary Midwest, a preview of one of the nation’s most successful private golf communities enjoying that famous Arizona weather.
With the dramatic signature mountain face as the backdrop for this immaculately groomed venue, the focus of women’s sports will be on a field of competitors LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens likes to call ‘ a United Nations’ of golf. What television viewers and event spectators will see at Superstition, renowned developer Lyle Anderson and master planner Gil Martinez envisioned more than ten years ago, when only treasure-hunters and jackrabbits were known to frequent this remote part of the Valley of the Sun. The 870 acre parcel, at the foot of the storied Superstitions (long thought to the hold the gold of Lost Dutchman, Jacob Walz), was to become the first private community totally financed by Anderson. While Anderson knew he had a winning partnership with Jack Nicklaus, with whom he built Desert Mountain, it was Nicklaus himself who first suggested Martinez for the project. What Anderson found in working with Martinez was just what this project needed: an internationally experienced creative force to complement, and at times, challenge, his own considerable talents. The three principals, each the president of his own company, innately understood and were individually committed to the concept that in a world-class community, golf is more than an expected amenity, it defines a way of life.
Ten years after Anderson, Martinez and Nicklaus began their teamwork, the community has won multiple industry awards for exceptional design and facilities and the 36 holes of championship golf have been the host venue to several major tournaments. In 2002 Countrywide Tradition, a Major Championship on the Champions Tour, was played on the Prospector course; the 2002 Senior Slam, part of the Senior PGA Tour schedule, was played on Lost Gold and this year marks the third year for the Safeway event. Due to the popularity of Asian phenom Ai Miyazato, who last year won the LPGA qualifying tournament by 12 strokes, the media center was doubled in size to accommodate the Japanese media. Only Michelle Wie, who has school finals, is missing from the event. It is as much a tribute to the venue’s popularity as it is to the strength of the Safeway tournament and organizers, that 99 of the top 100 LPGA players are in Phoenix to improve their own ‘prospects’ of success.
About GMA
By his own accounting, Martinez and staff have routed over 300 golf courses throughout all corners of the world. He authored a chapter on routing and real estate in the best-selling book, "Routing the Golf Course", by Forrest Richardson appropriately titled, "Real Estate: The Almighty God." GMA is a true multi-disciplinary boutique design firm with over 30 years of creating some of the world’s most memorable places in diverse socio-cultural and natural environments: Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Tahiti, French Polynesia, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Europe, the Middle East, Central America, Canada and throughout the continental US and Hawaii. Notable projects and client relationships include the Ritz Carlton at Laguna Niguel and the original Monarch Beach master plan (now home to the St. Regis); Tradition Golf Club (home to Arnold Palmer); SilverRock Resort; El Tamarindo Golf Club and Resort, Careyes, Mexico; Arrowhead Ranch (Hunt Brothers, developers); Val Vista Lakes and The Lakes in Tempe; Estrella Mountain Ranch (Newland Communities); Sunridge Canyon (MCO /SunCor); Firerock (MCO+Mobil Oil); Dove Canyon; Hassyampa and La Mirada Shopping Center (Desert Troon Co.); Sunriver Resort; Pronghorn; The Tribute at Thornburgh; Copperwynd Resort & Spa; Magic Mountain; Knott’s Berry Farm; Andromeda Theme Park and parts of Disney World, just to name a few. The firm is currently active throughout the US and heavily vested in waterfront golf and resort projects throughout Mexico and Central America.
See www.gmaintl.net and visit www.superstitionmountain.com and www.thelyleandersonco.com
GMA Phone: 949-675-9559
2700 Newport Blvd., Ste. 190 Fax: 949-675-9552
Newport Beach, CA 92663 www.gmaintl.net
Contact:
Carol Ackerman
The Ackerman Group
Carol@TheAckermanGroup.com
www.TheAckermanGroup.com
602-684.6800
