Mercedes – Benz Kansas of City Championship will be played May 18 – 20
LAKELAND, Fla., January 31, 2007 — The Duramed FUTURES Tour announced today the addition of the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship to its 2007 tournament schedule. The tournament will be contested May 18-20, at Leawood South Country Club in Leawood, Kan., with a purse of $80,000 and the National Kidney Foundation as the event’s charity.
With the addition of the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship, the Duramed FUTURES Tour boasts the best schedule of the Tour’s history and a growing portfolio of tournaments in major metropolitan markets. The 2007 season includes 19 tournaments in 14 states and a record purse of 1.56 million. The Tour’s last Kansas tournament was contested in Lawrence in 2005. Prior to that, the Tour played from 2001 to 2004 in Wichita, Kan.
"We are delighted to be returning to Kansas to showcase the top young women professionals in a city with a long and storied history in women’s golf," said Zayra F. Calderon, president and CEO of the Duramed FUTURES Tour. "The addition of this event adds to an already robust tournament schedule and a season of unprecedented growth and earning potential for our players."
Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City has signed a two-year agreement with the local tournament organizing committee which is also the tournament’s charity, the National Kidney Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri, to bring the Duramed FUTURES Tour back to the Sunflower state.
"I’m very excited to be involved with this tournament," said Randy Williams, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri. "The NKF has been involved in amateur golf events for many years and this year, we are rolling the National Kidney Foundation Golf Classic into one of the two pro-am events held at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship."
Leawood South Country Club’s history in women’s golf dates back to the late 1960s when the Southgate Ladies Open was a regular tour stop on the LPGA Tour. LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth won three of the seven Leawood-hosted events. Opened in 1967, the course also has played host to both Kansas and Missouri Women’s State Golf Championships. The Kansas golf course is located only a few hundred yards from the Missouri state line and a suburb of Kansas City.
About The Duramed FUTURES Tour
Now in its 27th season, the Duramed FUTURES Tour remains committed to preparing the world’s best young women professional golfers for a career on the LPGA Tour. At season’s end each year, the top five players on the Tour’s money list earn automatic LPGA Tour exemptions for the following year. The official developmental tour of the LPGA has grown into the largest international developmental tour and the world’s second-largest women’s golf tour with more than 300 players from 31 nations. Nearly 300 alumnae are LPGA Tour members, with former Duramed FUTURES Tour players owning a total of 314 LPGA titles and 33 major championships. The Duramed FUTURES Tour currently conducts 19 tournaments in 14 states with purse totals equaling $1.56 million and since 1989, has raised nearly $4 million for charitable organizations. For more information, please visit duramedfuturestour.com.
Contact:
Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour
863-709-9100, Ext. 2
lisa@duramedfuturestour.com
