Portland Classic Amateur Open Will Provide Guaranteed Spot in LPGA Tournament to Winner
July 15, 2014 – Tournament Golf Foundation (TGF), the organizers of the Portland Classic Presented by Cambia Health Solutions, will host a one day amateur-only event that guarantees the winner a spot in the LPGA tour’s oldest non-major tournament.
The Portland Classic Amateur Open will be held at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, OR (fifteen minutes south of Portland) on Monday, August 18, beginning at 7:00 AM. Any woman amateur golfer with an established USGA handicap of 2.0 or less is eligible to compete.
The winner of the event will earn a guaranteed spot in the 72-hole Portland Classic tournament proper to be held August 28 - 31, at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR. The second and third place finishers will earn spots alongside professionals in the tournament’s Monday qualifier to be held on Monday, August 25th. The top two finishers from the qualifier will also earn entry into the Portland Classic.
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According to Tom Maletis, President of Tournament Golf Foundation, "It is always gratifying to give amateurs a chance to test their games against the best in the world. Seeing so many former participants of the Portland Classic Amateur Open work their way to LPGA membership is particularly rewarding."
Last year, SooBin Kim of the University of Washington won the Portland Classic Amateur Open in a playoff with Taylor Babcock (Barry University). Babcock and Kristina Merkle (University of Tulsa) earned spots in the Monday qualifier for the Portland Classic. Kim competed very well in the Portland Classic against the pros, finishing tied for 30th at -8. Merkle earned a spot in the LPGA tournament by finishing in the top two of the Monday Qualifier but missed the cut in the Portland Classic by just two strokes.
Eleven former Portland Classic Amateur Open participants have gone on to become members of the LPGA (Ayaka Kaneko, Paige Mackenzie, Jennie Lee, Sydnee Michaels, Inbee Park, Jane Park, Jane Rah, Kim Welch, Tiffany Joh, Mi Jung (MJ) Hur, and Ryann O'Toole). Mi Jung Hur won the Portland Classic in 2009, just two years after participating in the Portland Classic Amateur Open. Last year alone, six former Amateur Open participants were in the Portland Classic field (Hur, Joh, Kim, Merkle, Michaels, and O’Toole).
The Portland Classic Amateur Open will have a $95 entry fee and players can get an application by calling the Tournament Golf Foundation office at 503-626-2711 or by visiting the news section of the tournament web site, www.Portlandclassic.com. Entry deadline for the event will be August 15, 2014.
The Portland Classic Presented by Cambia Health Solutions will feature the world’s top women professional golfers at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club in Portland, OR, from August 28-31, 2014. The 72-hole tournament features a purse of $1.3 million and broadcast coverage on the Golf Channel for all four rounds. Suzann Pettersen, currently 4th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, won the 2013 tournament with a two-stroke margin over Stacy Lewis, currently 1st in the Rolex Rankings.
Proceeds from the Portland Classic Presented by Cambia Health Solutions benefit children’s charities in Oregon. Through 2013, the event has raised over $17 million for a variety of local organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland, Trillium Family Services, Oregon Junior Golf, Easter Seals of Oregon, Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division, The Children’s Course, and Evans Scholars Foundation.
Tickets to the Portland Classic are available now at Portlandclassic.com as part of the ESCO Charity Drive which sends 100% of tournament ticket purchases to local charities.
Tournament Golf Foundation is a local Portland area group of volunteers who donate their time and provide the primary operations for the annual event. Begun in 1972, the group is now comprised of 38 local individuals and couples.
Langdon Farms Golf Club is ranked as the #1 course to host tournaments and corporate events in Portland, Oregon and rated four out of five stars by Golf Digest’s Best Places to Play. Designed by John Fought and Robert Cupp, Langdon Farms opened for play in 1995 and is professionally managed by OB Sports Golf Management.
For more information on the Portland Classic and Tournament Golf Foundation, visit www.Portlandclassic.com or call 503-626-2711. For more information on Langdon Farms Golf Club or for practice rounds, visit www.langdonfarms.com or call 503-678-4653.
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