The Indiana resort will host the tournament that is part of the Legends Tour in July 2017. Coupled with the U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship that will begin in 2018, there will now be two major championships for senior women players.
The French Lick (Ind.) Resort has announced that it will host the 2017 Senior LPGA Championship from July 10-12, 2017.
The Senior LPGA Championship is part of the Legends Tour, made up of LPGA players 45 and older. The winner of the 54-hole event will take home $600,000 in prize money, according to WISH-TV in Indianapolis.
Tournaments that the resort has hosted in the past have included the PGA Professional National Championship, Big Ten Championships, The Legends of the LPGA and the 2015 Senior PGA Championship, according to Louisville Business First.
The resort has also hosted golfing greats such as Walter Hagen and Mickey Wright. The facility underwent a major renovation in 2006, which included the addition of the French Lick Casino.
The restoration of the West Baden Springs Hotel, which features a 200-foot atrium, was completed in 2007. The property features championship golf courses designed by Donald Ross, Pete Dye and Tom Bendelow, and Vegas-style gaming, among other amenities.
“French Lick is proud to host such a prestigious event,” said Steve Ferguson, Chairman of the Board of the Cook Group, owners of the French Lick Resort. “We have long supported women’s golf and to now be part of the first major championship for senior women is indeed an honor. We look forward to a great relationship with the LPGA and an outstanding Championship.”
The setting of the site for the 2017 Senior LPGA, which will be held on the resort’s Pete Dye course, comes on the heels of the February announcement by the United States Golf Association (USGA) of the creation of the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship, which will begin in 2018 at the Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill.
“This is a landmark event for the LPGA because it provides a larger platform to celebrate the legends of the game,” said Mike Whan, LPGA Commissioner. “With the USGA’s recently announced U.S. Senior Women’s Open and now our event, the women that forged the way for the current generation will now have two major championships each year.”
Added seven-time LPGA Tour winner Michelle McGann: “French Lick has been such a tremendous supporter of women’s golf and we are excited that they have chosen the Senior LPGA Championship as their next big showcase. The Pete Dye Course is both beautiful and challenging, and I look forward to returning [there] to compete again.”
A week-long celebration of women’s golf will begin the weekend prior to the Senior LPGA Championship with a new Symetra Tour event on French Lick’s Donald Ross Course from July 7 to 9. The Symetra Tour’s 54-hole tournament will have a purse of $200,000 and a winner’s payout of $30,000.
Addtionally, as part of the Senior LPGA Championship, a pro-am will be held on July 7 and 8 on French Lick’s Pete Dye Course.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.