DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 19, 2007 – The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) announced today it will add a third Hawaii Tour event in 2008. The Kapalua LPGA Classic is scheduled for October 2008 on The Bay Course at Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.
The annual event will be an official 72-hole tournament on the LPGA schedule.
"We are excited about adding the Kapalua LPGA Classic to the 2008 LPGA schedule," said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens. "The combination of the great LPGA fans of Hawaii, a spectacular venue and the best golfers in the world will create a memorable week for all."
The Bay Course, among Hawaii’s premier golf venues, is an Arnold Palmer/Francis Duane design, which plays 6,600 yards at the tips. The pristine venue will be accompanied by a $1.5 million purse. Another course at Kapalua Resort—The Plantation Course—is already familiar to golf fans around the world as the venue for the PGA TOUR’s Mercedes-Benz Championship.
"We at Kapalua Resort are thrilled to bring this top women’s golf event to Maui," said Gary Planos, Kapalua Resort’s senior vice president of resort operations. "World-class golf is a tradition at Kapalua Resort and we are looking forward to the best female professional golfers competing here in October 2008."
Kapalua Resort’s focus in the coming months will be to select the ideal title sponsor for the tournament and will announce that partnership as soon as it is finalized. For more information, please contact Gary Planos, tournament chairman, at 808-669-8888 or Nancy Cross, tournament executive director, at 808-669-2440.
About Kapalua Resort
Kapalua Resort is a 23,000-acre, master-planned community set amid a working pineapple plantation on Maui’s northwest coast. The resort is renowned for its world-class golf courses, The Bay and The Plantation Courses; 10 residential communities; premier accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua; The Kapalua Villas, a villa rental program; Kapalua Luxury Homes, a luxury home rental program; a tennis complex; three white-sand beaches including two of America’s Best Beaches; and a myriad of restaurants and shops. Kapalua Resort hosts a signature event series each year, the PGA TOUR’s season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in January; Whale Quest Kapalua in February; The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua’s Celebration of the Arts festival in April; and the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival in June. Readers of Travel + Leisure Golf magazine recognized Kapalua Resort as the No. 1 Golf Destination in Hawai`i for 2006. Golfweek recognized the Plantation Course as a Top 100 Modern Course for 2007.
About the LPGA
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. In addition to the LPGA Tour members, the LPGA membership includes nearly 1,200 certified Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP) who serve the golf industry in teaching, coaching and management positions. The LPGA T&CP member programs focus on increasing the involvement of women, girls and youth in golf, as well as contribute to the growth of the sport overall. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information on the LPGA, log on to www.LPGA.com.
Contact:
Dana Gross-Rhode, LPGA, 386.274.6200, dana.grossrhode@lpga.com
Tracy Johnson, Kapalua Resort, 808.877.1693, tjohnson@mlpmaui.com
