Hey, Hawaii:
The LPGA Tour already has one tournament in Hawaii. Now it has another.
The Fields Open in Hawaii will be played Feb. 23-25, 2006, at Ko Olina Golf Club on Oahu, tour officials have announced. The 54-hole event will be televised by The Golf Channel in the United States and TV Asahi in Japan, and the purse will be $1.1 million.
Ko Olina was home to the Hawaiian Ladies Open from 1990-95.
The other Hawaii stop is the $1 million SBS Open at Turtle Bay, which is played in February at the Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club on Oahu.
Samsung field finalized:
The 20-player field for the Samsung World Championship has been set. Reigning Vare Trophy winner Grace Park received an invitation, as did Ladies European Tour money leader Iben Tinning, amateur Michelle Wie and LPGA major winners Annika Sorenstam, Jeong Jang and Birdie Kim.
The remaining 14 spots were filled from the LPGA money list. They went to Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Lorena Ochoa, Natalie Gulbis, Meena Lee, Candie Kung, Gloria Park, Marisa Baena, Lorie Kane, Wendy Ward, Heather Bowie, Pat Hurst, Rosie Jones and Catriona Matthew.
Young stars go global:
LPGA stars Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis have been added to the International team for the inaugural Lexus Cup, tournament officials have announced. The event, which pits a team from Asia versus a team from the rest of the world in a Ryder Cup-style event, is set for Dec. 9-11 at the Tanah Merah Golf and Country Club in Singapore.
The Internationals will be captained by Sweden's Annika Sorenstam. Asia will be led by South Korean Grace Park, while South Korea's U.S. Open winner Birdie Kim and Taiwan's Candie Kung have been selected for Asia's team. Each team ultimately will have 12 players.
Hall of famers:
LPGA Tour player Tina Barrett and LPGA Teaching and Club Professional member Dr. Barbara Smith will be inducted into the Longwood University Athletics Hall of Fame. The induction will occur during a Nov. 27 ceremony in Farmville, Va.
Barrett, who played on the Longwood women's golf team from 1984-88, is in her 18th season on the LPGA Tour. While at college, she won the 1988 Honda-Broderick Award for Golf, at the time only the second Division II student-athlete ever to win the award, and was a three-time National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American (1986-88). She was a two-time NGCA national champion (1986-97), and still holds the school record for season scoring average.
Smith is the retired founder and 26-year head coach of the nationally prominent Longwood women's golf program, earning 137 career victories between 1966-92. She guided the program to three NGCA Division II National Championships (1987-88, 1990) and six Virginia State Championships (1970-72, 1976-77, 1979).
She also received the LPGA's Ellen Griffin Rolex Award in 2003 and earned Master Professional status in the LPGA T&CP membership in 1994. Smith earned Coach of the Year honors from the LPGA T&CP membership in 1989 and 1993 and was a two-time Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (1985, 1987).
Also, LPGA T&CP member Kathy Williams of De Kalb, Ill., was inducted into the University of Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame. Williams, who played on the Minnesota women's golf team from 1977 to 1981, broke multiple school records and still holds records for most career tournament wins with 17 and most titles in a year with six.
After two years on tour, she served as head women's golf coach from 1991-99, during which she was named the 1992 LPGA Midwest Section Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year. She is currently the golf specialist at Marian Joy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, Ill., for its golf medicine and therapeutic programs, and is also the head teaching professional at Prairie Landing Golf in West Chicago, Ill.
In addition, LPGA T&CP life member Marge Burns has been inducted into the Guilford Country (N.C.) Sports Hall of Fame. Burns, a 10-time North Carolina State Amateur champion, was named the Carolinas Outstanding Amateur Athlete five times and totaled more than 40 victories. She received the 2004 LPGA Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, served as president of the LPGA T&CP Southeast Section from 1976-1978 and was named the 1976 LPGA T&CP Teacher of the Year.
Votaw receives the Patty Berg Award:
At a roast attended by nearly 300 colleagues, family and friends at the Solheim Cup, outgoing LPGA Commissioner Ty Votaw received the Patty Berg Award in recognition of his contributions to women's golf. The award, instituted in 1979 by the LPGA Board of Directors, is named in honor of LPGA Founder Patty Berg.
Solheim becomes an honorary member:
Louise Solheim has been granted honorary membership into the LPGA. Louise Solheim and her late husband Karsten founded Karsten Manufacturing Corporation, which makes Ping golf equipment. In 1990, the Solheim family developed the concept and became the title sponsor of the Solheim Cup, and Louise has attended all nine stagings of the competition.
