BROKEN ARROW, OK – Tournament officials have announced the two sponsor exemptions that will compete in the SemGroup Championship presented by John Q. Hammons. LPGA rookie Lee-Anne Pace and University of Georgia sophomore Taylor Leon, who both have ties to the area, will join the other LPGA stars at the showdown at Cedar Ridge Country Club, April 30 – May 6.
Pace, a native of South Africa, is a former University of Tulsa player and a LPGA rookie this year. As an amateur, Pace won various events in South Africa and represented her home country at the 2002 and 2004
World Amateur Championships. She represented South Africa on seven occasions, with five of those being international events.
Pace began her collegiate career at Murray State University and was the 2003 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) individual champion and was named the OVC Player of the Year. Pace finished her collegiate career at the University of Tulsa. In 2005, she was a NCAA Second Team All-American, and was named the University of Tulsa Player of the Year. Pace won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) individual title and was awarded WAC Player of the Year honors.
Leon is only a sophomore at the University of Georgia and is now regarded as one of the top amateurs in the country. Both of her brothers, Tyler and Trent, also play college golf, at Oklahoma State University.
Leon was Georgia’s top golfer during the 2005-06 campaign, posting top-10 individual finishes in seven of 11 events while recording a 73.24 stroke average which ranks No. 2 all-time in Bulldog history. She captured medalist honors at the Bryan National Collegiate while leading Georgia to the team title there as well. Leon’s amateur resume includes three major tournaments in the last two years, the Doherty Amateur and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur in 2005, and the 2006 Southern Women’s Amateur.
Now entering its 7th year in the Tulsa area, the SemGroup Championship has quickly become one of the premier events on the LPGA Tour, annually attracting a top field of players, great crowds and tremendous community support. Cristie Kerr is the Tournament’s defending champion, defeating three-time champion Annika Sorenstam by two strokes. Gloria Park won the inaugural event in 2001, with World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb winning in 2003, and Sorenstam winning in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
For tickets, sponsorship or volunteer information: www.SemGroupChampionship.com or (918) 583-9925.
About SemGroup, L.P.
SemGroup, L.P. is a privately held midstream company providing the energy industry means to move products from the wellhead to the wholesale marketplace. With assets in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Wales (United Kingdom) and Switzerland, SemGroup’s business segments focus on activities related to crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, natural gas liquids and asphalt. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, SemGroup is ranked No. 5 on Forbes magazine’s list of America’s Largest Private Companies. For additional information, visit www.semgrouplp.com.
About John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC
Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC is the nation’s leading independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites, including: Embassy Suites Hotels, Renaissance, Marriott, Radisson, Residence Inn, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Holiday Inn and Courtyard by Marriott brands. With 62 hotels strategically located near demand generators, such as state capitals, universities, airports, corporate headquarters or office parks in secondary and tertiary markets, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts’ properties are dominant in their markets. Over the course of his impressive career in the hotel business, Mr. Hammons has developed 164 hotels. For more information, visit www.jqh.com.
About Cedar Ridge Country Club
It all started with a vision and a dairy farm. In 1968 a group of Tulsa businessmen, headed by J.A. Buddy LaForturne, commissioned famed golf course designer Joe Finger to create a new golf course in Tulsa that would be heralded as one of the finest in the nation. Finger said Cedar Ridge ranks at the top of all his designed courses. It has the kind of strategic demands and natural beauty which pleases most golfers. It requires the player to hit a variety of shots with near perfect execution. Eighty-seven sand traps await the golfers’ errant shots. Upon completion, Cedar Ridge was rated among the top hundred courses by Golf Digest. For more information, visit www.cedarridgecountryclub.com.
About the Ladies Professional Golf Association
Featuring the world’s best women golfers, the LPGA’s membership includes touring, teaching and club professionals. The LPGA Tour in 2007 features 35 events, with total prize money of nearly $55 million. Since 1981, the LPGA and its tournaments have raised approximately $180 million for charity. From the dreams of its 13 founders in 1950, the LPGA has evolved into the world’s pre-eminent women’s professional sports organization. The LPGA has grown from its roots as a playing tour into a non-profit organization involved in every facet of golf. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information, log on to www.LPGA.com.
About Octagon’s Golf Division
Octagon’s Golf Division manages two Champions Tour events, The ACE Group Classic and SAS Championship presented by Forbes; three LPGA Tour events, Sybase Classic, LPGA NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons, and SemGroup Championship presented by John Q. Hammons; and one Nationwide Tour event, Rex Hospital Open. Octagon’s Golf Division also represents nearly 20 golfing professionals including Chris Smith, Natalie Gulbis, Christina Kim, Meg Mallon, and Beth Daniel. Additionally, Octagon represents marketing rights to Davis Love III, Gary Koch, and brothers, Bobby and Lanny Wadkins.
About Octagon
Octagon is the world’s largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency with global expertise in consulting, athletes & personalities, event management, property representation, marketing solutions, licensing and merchandising and talent procurement. As part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world’s leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services, Octagon employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices around the world. For more information visit: www.octagon.com.
Contact:
Doug Eibling, Tournament Director
(918) 249-4444 or doug.eibling@octagon.com
Adam Harris, Octagon Marketing & Communications Coordinator
(919) 531-0500 or adam.harris@octagon.com
