Upper Montclair Country Club to host ahead of LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup
DETROIT – Today, Intersport announced the field for THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, to be held at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, NJ. Being played for the third year, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup allows players to compete on the same course and enjoy the same experience as the participants in the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup played later that week.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup is an 18-hole stroke play competition, which will be held on May 8, with the winner earning an exemption into the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup played May 11-14, marking a continuation of Cognizant’s commitment to supporting equal opportunity and diversity in the game of golf and beyond. Past winners include Amari Avery (2021) and Lakareber Abe (2022).
“We at Intersport are thrilled that our friends at Cognizant, in this third year, have continued their commitment to sponsoring exemptions to their LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup through THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup,” said Jason Langwell, Executive Vice President of Intersport and Executive Director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “This continued support furthers our efforts to bolster access and opportunities for talented Black golfers.”
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup (formerly THE JOHN SHIPPEN Shoot-Out Presented by Cognizant) began as a companion event of THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational in Detroit. The event was renamed and moved to Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, NJ, as a standalone competition in 2022.
“At Cognizant, our purpose is guided by creating equal opportunities in and outside the workplace,” said Shameka Young, VP and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Cognizant. “We are proud to sponsor THE JOHN SHIPPEN COGNIZANT CUP and the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup to create new opportunities for Black female athletes, and help pave the way for broader inclusivity. We hope these events inspire other women in sports and beyond.”
THE JOHN SHIPPEN COGNIZANT CUP PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Players Listed in Alphabetical Order)
Name / Age / Status / College
LAKAREBER ABE (27) – Professional (University of Alabama)
– 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup champion
– 2022 LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup start
– 2023 LPGA EPSON Tour member
MADISON BARNETT (24) – Professional (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
– Runner-up 2021 Georgia State Golf Association Women’s Match Play
– Top 10 finish Georgia Women’s Amateur
PAIGE CRAWFORD (31) – Amateur (Montana State)
– Four professional top-10s
– 2013 Big Sky individual champion
JANELLE JOHNSON (26) – Professional (Nova Southeastern University)
– 2023 Epson Tour member
– Turned professional in June 2018
BREANNE JONES (26) – Professional (UC Irvine)
– Runner-up 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup
– Three Top-20 finishes on Cactus Tour
– Two Top-5 finishes on WAPT
AMBER KUYKENDALL (26) – Professional (Texas Southern) – Houston, TX
– 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup participant
– Three-Time First-Team All SWAC
– Five Top-25 finishes on WAPT
GEORGIA OBOH (22) – Professional
– 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational participant
– First Nigerian to Monday qualify and compete in an LPGA event (2022 ShopRite LPGA Classic)
– 2023 Ladies European Tour member (LET)
– 2023 Epson Tour member
MARIAH STACKHOUSE (29) – Professional (Stanford)
– 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational participant
– Five LPGA Tour Top 10s
– 102 LPGA starts
– Four-time collegiate All-American
ALLYN STEPHENS (18) – Amateur (Texas A&M)
– 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN COGNIZANT CUP Participant
– 2022 Texas Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist
– 2022 AJGA Shreveport Open Champion
Announced in March 2021, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Invitational was created to identify historical barriers, expand Black representation in golf, and address the lack of Black representation in business and leadership roles in golf and across professional sports.
Named after John Shippen, Jr., the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup brings together top Black men and women collegiate and professional golfers in the US to compete.
“We’re excited by the continued growth and expansion of THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup through this amazing relationship with our friends at Cognizant,” Sommer Woods, tournament lead for THE JOHN SHIPPEN, said in a statement. “We hope THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup continues to provide Black players with an opportunity to advance their golf careers in ways that previously haven’t existed for them.”
Upper Montclair Country Club is one of only a few country clubs worldwide known to have hosted tournaments for all three professional golf tours, including the LPGA in 1979, 1980, 1983,1984 and 2007-2009. Long considered one of New Jersey’s premier golf clubs, this legendary A.W. Tillinghast golf course design underwent a significant renovation in the 1950s, directed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., transforming Upper Montclair Country Club into its present 27-hole Championship layout.
For updated information on THE JOHN SHIPPEN, please visit www.TheJohnShippen.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@TheJohnShippen) and Twitter (@TheJShippen).
For information about sponsorship opportunities or how to get involved, please email us at THEJOHNSHIPPEN@intersportnet.com.
ABOUT THE JOHN SHIPPEN
THE JOHN SHIPPEN was created to address the need for more representation in business and leadership roles in golf and across professional sports for people of color. In 2022, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit paired 350 high school and college students of color with sports industry leaders, including representatives from CDW, the Detroit Pistons, the Detroit Lions, Trap Golf, and Pensole Lewis College for a day of educational programming centered around the business of sports. Dates and details surrounding THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit in Detroit will be announced soon.
ABOUT INTERSPORT
Since 1985, Intersport has been an award-winning innovator and leader in creating sports, lifestyle, culinary, and entertainment-based marketing platforms. With expertise in Sponsorship Consulting, Experiential Marketing, Hospitality, Customer Engagement, Content Marketing, Productions, and Sports Properties, this Chicago-based Marketing & Media Solutions Company helps its clients create ideas, content, and experiences that attract and engage passionate audiences. To learn more about Intersport, visit www.intersport.global, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT WOODS & WATTS EFFECT
Woods & Watts Effect is an equity and inclusion consulting firm of transformation engineers, co-founded by Sommer Woods and Michele Lewis Watts, Ph.D. They are a solutions-driven team that adeptly designs programs that assess a company’s strengths and areas for improvement relative to inclusion and social equity. Woods & Watts Effect provides innovative thinking, engagement, and execution. They produce viable, actionable solutions for sustainable change through a bold, non-traditional, and engaging approach. More information is available at WoodsWattsEffect.com.
ABOUT COGNIZANT
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) engineers modern businesses. We help our clients modernize technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can stay ahead in our fast-changing world. Together, we’re improving everyday life. See how at www.cognizant.com or @cognizant
Media Contacts
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Solomon Hughes, 614.315.2446, shughes@intersportnet.com
