News and notes for the week of November 9, 2009

1. World number one hosts second-annual Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Corona Light
2. Song wins 2009 Mizuno Classic
3. Kim hits money milestone at Mizuno Classic
4. HSBC renews sponsorship of HSBC Women's Champions
5. TOA Announces Board of Directors 2010
6. LPGA T&CP professional Stellman receives section award
7. Countdown to the LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex
8. Rolex Rankings move of the week: Lang leaps six spots
9. Rolex Player of the Year standings
10. This week: Lorena Ochoa Invitational by Banamex and Corona Light, Guadalajara Country Club, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, $1,100,000, November 12-15, 2009
11. Next week: LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, Richmond, Texas, $1,500,000, November 19-22, 2009

1. World number one hosts second-annual Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Corona Light
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GUADALAJARA, Jalisco, Mexico - All eyes will be focused on native Guadalajaran Lorena Ochoa this week as she welcomes 35 of the best female golfers in the world to Mexico for the second-annual Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Corona Light. In addition to being the 15th LPGA Tour player to host an event, the world number one will also look to become just the second to win her own event (Mickey Wright, Mickey Wright Invitational (1961, '63, '66). A three-time winner on Tour this season, Ochoa will celebrate her 28th birthday in front of thousands of adoring fans during Sunday's final round.
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Texan Angela Stanford will attempt to defend her crown as the 2008 Lorena Ochoa Invitational champion. The four-time Tour winner held off LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Annika Sorenstam, in what was her second-to-last LPGA event, and Brittany Lang by one stroke at last year's event. Stanford went on to win the 2009 season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay and has 11 top 10 finishes in 18 events played this season. She also earned 1 � points in the U.S. victory over Europe at The Solheim Cup.

The 6,638-yard Guadalajara Country Club, a tree-lined course within the city limits, will host the top 31 players on the LPGA Official Money List. Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Jiyai Shin currently leads the money list with $1,709,168 million and has a chance to become the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both Rookie and Player of the Year awards in the same season. The Rolex Player of the Year race will be decided at next week's LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex.
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All four of this season's major champions will be joined by five sponsor exemptions, two of whom - Juli Inkster and Laura Davies - have a combined 51 LPGA Tour wins. Columbian professional Maria Jose Uribe, Mexican Duramed FUTURES Tour member Sophia Sheridan and LPGA star Natalie Gulbis round out the exemptions.

2. Song wins 2009 Mizuno Classic - Becomes third consecutive player to win event as LPGA non-member

Shima-shi, Mie, Japan - South Korean player Bo Bae Song recorded a 15-under-par 201 (68-65-68) at the 2009 Mizuno Classic to win the first professional event of her career. With the victory, Song becomes the third-consecutive player to win the Mizuno Classic, as Momoko Ueda won in 2007 and Jiyai Shin won in 2008 before joining the Tour.

After round one of the event in Shima-shi, Mie, Japan, Song was two strokes off the lead at 4-under-par 68. In the second round, Song tied her career-low 65, which she previously set back in 2007. That score propelled her to the top of the 36-hole leaderboard, which she would prove to hold on to. To go along with the near-perfect weather and course conditions at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Song recorded 19 birdies and four bogeys for the three-day event, giving her the 15-under-par overall score.

With this week's win, Song became the 14th non-member to win an LPGA Tour official tournament.

"Honestly, I couldn't sleep last night because I was so nervous," said Song. "I went to bed at 11 p.m. last night, but woke up around 3 a.m. Usually that does not happen though. I've started hitting balls well since last week, and that led to this victory, I think."

Finishing runner-up at this week's event was a trio of players, top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, Hee Young Park and Brittany Lang. Ochoa, Park and Lang each finished at 12-under-par 204, which came up just short of Song's 15-under-par mark. Ochoa's runner-up finish this week is her third of 2009 and 11th overall top-10 finish. The Mexican star (71-69-64) has won three times in 2009, including the Honda LPGA Thailand, Corona Championship and the Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco R.V. Ochoa's final-round 64 ties the course record at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club.

"I just thought about doing my best today," said Ochoa. "I played aggressively, and that lead to the runner-up finish. Yes, I scored a 64, which was very good, and now, I can go home happily. The biggest key for the day was the birdies on the par-5s."

Also finishing second at the Mizuno Classic was South Korea's Park and Brittany Lang, a four-year LPGA Tour player out of Texas. Park (67-69-68) tied her career-best finish this week, after turning in a solid 12-under-par 204. The 22-year-old first set her career-best finish at this year's Honda LPGA Thailand event. Meanwhile, Lang earned her second runner-up finish of the year, which also ties her career-best, and sixth top-10 performance. Earlier this year at the Navistar LPGA Classic Presented by Monaco R.V., Lang set the career-best mark for the first time. Also in 2009, Lang made her debut appearance on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team, where she helped guide her team to victory over Team Europe.

3. Kim hits money milestone at Mizuno Classic

Three-year LPGA Tour player Song-Hee Kim finished tied for 12th at the 2009 Mizuno Classic with an overall score of 9-under-par 207 (69-67-71), and crossed the $2 million mark in career-earnings in the process. The South Korean player collected a sum of $21,535, which was six strokes back from the winner, Bo Bae Song's 15-under-par 201 (68-65-68). Kim has yet to win on the LPGA Tour, but has finished in the top-10 17 times since her rookie campaign in 2007, including three third-place and two runner-up outings. Her two season-best ties for third both came at this year's Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill and Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger events.


4. HSBC renews sponsorship of HSBC Women's Champions

HSBC announced that they will continue to title sponsor the HSBC Women's Champions for the next three years, with the 2010 tournament scheduled for February 25-28 in Singapore.
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A field of 63 players will compete for the coveted �champion of champions' title. Players qualify for the tournament by winning events on the LPGA Tour and by placing in the Top 20 in the Rolex Rankings. There will also be two sponsor invitations including one for a leading Singaporean player. The carefully-crafted criteria ensure the world's best players are in the field.
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5. TOA Announces Board of Directors 2010

The Tournament Owners Association has announced its Officers and newly elected Board Members.

Rob Neal, Executive Director of Tournament Golf Foundation Inc., has assumed the role of Board Chair. TGFI owns and operates the Safeway Classic presented by Coca-Cola in Portland, Oregon, and the J Golf International presented by Mirrasou Winery in Phoenix.

Torrey Gane of IMG, and Tournament Director of the 2009 Samsung World Championship, has been elected Vice-Chair and the role of Secretary/Treasurer will be assumed by newly elected Board Member, Dr. Rik Constance from the LPGA State Farm Classic.

Constance, who will serve a three-year term, is the Chairman of the Board of the LPGA State Farm Classic and is also Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Also elected for a three-year term is John Marovich, Vice-President Golf for Bruno Event Team, a Birmingham, Alabama-based sports marketing and event management company which owns and operates the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge in Danville, California.

Bill Strassburg, Special Projects at Wegmans Food Markets, title sponsor of the Wegmans LPGA in Rochester, New York, has been appointed to fill a one year board term.

All officers and newly elected and appointed Board Members assume their roles immediately.

Continuing their service on the TOA Board in 2010 are: Jacques Bungert, Evian Masters; Judd Silverman, Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger; and Terry Wilcox, Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Outgoing Board Chair Alice Miller, (McDonalds LPGA Championship) will serve as Ex-Officio for 2010.

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6. LPGA T&CP professional Stellman receives section award

LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Lynn Stellman was awarded the 2009 Southeast Section Eagle Award, which honors those individuals who dedicate themselves to helping others achieve their dreams. Stellman is the CEO of Ladies Links Fore Golf, and is the Director of Golf at Martin County Golf and Country Club in Stuart, Fla. She served on the LPGA T&CP Executive Committee for seven years, 2002-08, and was the Southeast Section Treasurer from 2000-02.

"I am incredibly honored to have my name added to the impressive list of leaders who have won the LPGA T&CP Southeast Section Eagle award," said Stellman. "To be in the same company as Barbara Romack, Patty Berg, JoAnne Carner, Nancy Henderson, Donna White, Eloise Trainor, Patti Benson, Jan Johnson, Gary Wiren, Lynda Branstrom, Jennifer Gaddy and Annette Thompson is certainly an honor. My career has been touched by all LPGA T&CP Southeast Section Eagle award recipients, and it is my pleasure to follow in their footprints to continue to grow this great game of golf."

"Lynn has been, and continues to be, a respected leader in the golf industry and a mentor to so many," said Patti Benson, LPGA T&CP National President. "The Eagle Award is the perfect honor for Lynn because she does �lead so others may succeed!' Every amateur, junior golfer and fellow golf professional whom Lynn has assisted, encouraged and guided throughout the years will forever remember and be grateful for Lynn's generosity and willingness to give back and lead so that they could succeed."

The Eagle Award was created in 1989 by Stellman, a former Tampa Bay Mini-Tour player (forerunner to the Duramed FUTURES Tour) and 33-year Director of Golf at Martin County Golf and Country Club in Stuart, Fla.

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7. Countdown to the LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex

The first 120 players from the 2009 LPGA Official Money List as of the conclusion of this past weekend's Mizuno Classic will compete in the LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex. An inaugural event on Tour, the LPGA Tour Championship will feature a double-cut. Following Friday's second round, the field will be reduced to the top 70 players and ties. Following Saturday's third round, the field will again be reduced to the top 30 and ties.


8. Rolex Rankings move of the week: Lang leaps six spots

Brittany Lang made her way into the top 30 on the Rolex Rankings with her tie for second at the Mizuno Classic in Japan this past weekend. Lang is now ranked 24th in the world.

The Rolex Rankings (www.rolexrankings.com) are sanctioned by the five major women's professional golf tours: the LPGA; Ladies European Tour (LET); Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan); Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA); Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG); as well as the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), which administers the RICOH Women's British Open.

The Rolex Ranking Board and Technical committee recently agreed on several modifications to the Strength of Field calculations which include: an increase in the World Points factor from 200 to 400; a minimum value of 100 for Strength of Field for all Tours, except the Duramed FUTURES Tour; and the implementation of a true Strength of Field calculation for Duramed FUTURES Tour events, rather than the fixed points ratio of the past.

The Rolex Rankings are the only women's world rankings that incorporate player performances from the five major tours and the Duramed FUTURES Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA.
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9. �Rolex Player of the Year standings

Rookie Jiyai Shin currently leads the 2009 Rolex Player of the Year standings by just 4 points with two events remaining on Tour this season. Shin finished in a four-person tie for fifth at the Mizuno Classic, which she won in 2008, with a combined score of 11-under-par 205 (69-67-69). Having already captured the top-rookie honor, Shin is now playing for the Rolex Player of the Year award as well. The South Korean player leads the three-time defending Rolex Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa (71-69-64=204, -12), who finished runner-up this week, by four points in the current Player of the Year race with a pair of events remaining. Twelve-time LPGA Tour winner Cristie Kerr is also in the hunt, just 29 points behind Shin. Should Shin win both season-ending awards, she would become the first player to do so since LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Famer Nancy Lopez in 1978. �Both awards will officially conclude at the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex, Nov. 19-22 at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Richmond, Texas, near Houston.

The Rolex Player of the Year is based on a points system which awards players points based on how they finish in each official LPGA event. All points are doubled at the four major championships - Kraft Nabisco Championship, McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, U.S. Women's Open, RICOH Women's British Open.

Rolex Player of the Year point system is based on top-10 finishes: 1st place-30 points; 2nd-12; 3rd-nine; 4th-seven; 5th-six; 6th-five; 7th-four; 8th-three; 9th-two; 10th-one.
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Top-10 Rolex Player of the Year standings (as of 11/9/09)

10. This week: Lorena Ochoa Invitational by Banamex and Corona Light, Guadalajara Country Club, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, $1,100,000, November 12-15, 2009
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Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,638
Format: 72-hole stroke play
������ Winner: $220,000
������ Runner-up: $112,733
Field: 36 players
Defending champion: Angela Stanford
Victory margin: Defeated Brittany Lang, Annika Sorenstam by one shot
Media center: 011-52-33-1202-0877
LPGA media contact: Mike Scanlan
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● TV Times
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Golf Channel
Nov. 12-14 4-6:30 p.m.
Nov. 15 4-6:30 p.m. (tape delay)
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All times Eastern
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11. Next week: LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, Richmond, Texas, $1,500,000, November 19-22, 2009
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Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,650
Format: 72-hole stroke play
��� Winner: $225,000
��� Runner-up: $139,572
Field: 120 players
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Tournament information: 832-532-4848
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● TV Times
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Golf Channel
Nov. 19-21 4-6 p.m.
Nov. 22��� 3-5 p.m.
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All times Eastern
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● GCSAA Course Information
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Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
The Houstonian Golf & Country Club
Richmond, Texas
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GCSAA Class A Golf Course Superintendent, contact: Thomas S. Werner, CGCS, 281-340-7225
Course architect, date: Rees Jones, 1999
Golf course builder, date: Wadsworth Golf Construction, 1998-99
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Course grasses
Tees - Bermudagrass
Fairways - Bermudagrass
Greens - Bermudagrass
Rough - Bermudagrass
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For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at GCSAA.org