AVENTURA, Fla. -- Stanford Financial Group has expanded its sponsorship of golf to the LPGA with title sponsorship of a new LPGA Pro-Am and an endorsement agreement with Morgan Pressel. As further evidence of its support of the LPGA, Stanford is also expanding its signature Eagles for St. Jude program to include the LPGA. With the program, which was started last year in conjunction with the PGA Tour, Stanford will make a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every eagle made on the LPGA Tour.
Stanford, along with the LPGA and IMG, have announced the formation of the Stanford International Pro-Am, a new 72-hole LPGA-sanctioned event to be played April 21-27, 2008 on the Soffer and Miller Courses at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Aventura, Fla. The Stanford International Pro-Am is the first professional-amateur tournament on the LPGA schedule since the 2001 Office Depot at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla. The Office Depot, formally the Diet Dr. Pepper, ran from 1997 to 2001 in South Florida. Other Pro-Ams on the LPGA Tour were the J&B Scotch Pro-Am in Las Vegas (1979 - 1985) and the MasterCard International Pro-Am in Westchester County, N.Y. (1984 - 1987).
The Stanford International Pro-Am will partner 112 LPGA Professionals with 112 amateurs in a 54-hole stroke play tournament. After 36-holes of competition, there will be a cut to the low 70 professionals and the low 20 teams. The team competition will end on Saturday, while on Sunday, the professionals will vie for the $300,000 winner’s check out of the $2,000,000 purse.
Complimenting its endorsement agreements with PGA TOUR professionals Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and David Toms, Stanford has signed a multi-year endorsement agreement with Morgan Pressel,19. The agreement includes logo representation, personal appearances and inclusion in Stanford internal and external branding initiatives. At age 12, Pressel became the youngest qualifier in the history of the Women's US Open at that time; she was the runner up in the US Open as an amateur in 2005 after which she turned pro at age 17; she was named the American Junior Golf Association’s (AJGA) Player of the Year in 2005 and won all five AJGA invitational events, bringing her to a total of 11 wins during her career. In 2007, Morgan became the youngest major champion in history after winning the LPGA Tour's Kraft Nabisco Championship at just 18 years of age.
Including the LPGA in the Eagles for St. Jude program provides an opportunity for Stanford to expand its support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Stanford’s corporate charity of choice. Stanford will donate $1,000 for each eagle made on the LPGA Tour in the name of the player who makes the eagle. In addition, individuals can make donations through www.eaglesforstjude.com. In 2007, the program raised approximately $1,262,000 for St. Jude. Stanford also sponsors the PGA Tour’s Stanford St. Jude Championship.
"We are glad to expand our footprint in golf and support the LPGA with these signature programs. It’s important to bring the Pro-Am format back to the LPGA, and we’re glad to do our part as title sponsor,” said Sir Allen Stanford, Chairman and CEO, Stanford Financial Group. "Stanford is proud to be committed to women's golf and looks forward to showcasing the best LPGA players on a true international stage."
“Stanford Financial Group is a premier company that we are proud to welcome to the LPGA family,” said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens. “As a longtime leader and innovator in the high-end financial services arena, Stanford Financial is bringing their signature commitment to quality to the LPGA as evidenced by the format of this tournament, the course on which it will be played and the manner with which it will be conducted. The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club is the ideal host for this spectacular tournament. We look forward to seeing the LPGA's best compete there next April.”
For the Stanford International Pro-Am, the Soffer and Miller Courses will each be used on Thursday and Friday with only the Soffer Course being utilized on the weekend. Both the Soffer and Miller Courses recently received a $30-million redesign by World Golf Hall of Fame member Ray Floyd as part of a $100 million transformation of the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club.
“I am excited with the announcement of the new Stanford International Pro-Am in Miami and delighted to be an ambassador for the Stanford brand,” said Pressel who lives in Boca Raton, Fla. Stanford is a tremendous addition to our Tour sponsors, and I look forward to representing them in front of the great fans in my home of South Florida as well as internationally sporting the Stanford brand. I’m honored that this global company, which is so well known for its first-class approach to all it does, has selected me to represent them.”
For more information on tickets, volunteer opportunities and sponsorship packages available for the Stanford International Pro-Am, contact the Tournament Office at (305) 460-6579.
*Stanford Financial Group
*Stanford Financial Group is a privately held, wholly owned global network of financial services companies led by Chairman and CEO Sir Allen Stanford and founded by his grandfather, Lodis B. Stanford in 1932. Stanford's core businesses are private wealth management and investment banking for institutions and emerging growth companies. Stanford provides private and institutional investors with global expertise in asset allocation strategies, investment advisory services, equity research, international private banking and trust administration, commercial banking, investment banking, merchant banking, institutional sales and trading, real estate investment and insurance. Stanford serves clients from 136 countries on six continents. Securities products and services in the United States are offered through Stanford Group Company, member FINRA/SIPC. More information on the company can be found at stanfordfinancial.com Stanford also sponsors the PGA Tour’s Stanford St. Jude Championship.
**About the Ladies Professional Golf Association
*Featuring the world’s best 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 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.
About Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club
*Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club is owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Inc., a leading global hotel company with over 120 hotels in 25 countries worldwide under the Raffles, Fairmont, Swissôtel and Delta brands. The company also owns Fairmont Heritage Place and Fairmont Residences, offering luxury vacation ownership and residential properties. For more information or reservations, please call 1-800-441-1414 or visit www.fairmont.com.
About the IMG
*IMG is the world's premier sports, entertainment and media enterprise. Operating in 30 countries, IMG's diverse businesses include: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; and client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, speakers, European football, rugby, cricket, motor sports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. IMG Academies are the world's largest and most advanced multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering world-class sports training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult, and professional athletes each year.
IMG's media and entertainment operations include content production subsidiaries Darlow Smithson Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Tigress. Globally, IMG produces and distributes more than 11,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children's content annually. IMG also represents the broadcast rights to many of the world's premier sporting events and has the world's largest sports archive with more than 250,000 hours of footage. For more information, please visit www.imgworld.com.
