The LPGA Tour Championship will come to Fort Bend County this fall as the top professional women golfers compete at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club.
The championship, which will be held Nov. 17-22, is the first time the ladies’ tour has come to the Houston area in more than six years.
A field of 120 top LPGA professionals will compete for a $1.5 million purse in a unique format that will see a cut after 36 holes to the low 70 professionals, and an additional cut after 54 holes to the low 30 pros.
Apart from Houston hosting the Samsung World Championship in 2003, the last regular LPGA Tour event held in the city was in 1986.
The 2009 LPGA Tour Championship not only marks the return of the ladies’ tour to Houston, but brings perhaps the most prestigious women’s golf tournament in the area’s long sports history.
“The Houstonian Golf & Country Club is honored to serve as the host club for the LPGA Tour Championship,” said Bob Henricksen, CEO of The Redstone Companies, which owns the Houstonian. “It was the vision of our previous CEO David Shindeldecker to host the top women golfers in the world in addition to the Shell Houston Open. It’s very special not only for our company but for the growth and awareness of the game and the charitable impact in the community.”
Shindeldecker died in October of last year.
Tickets for the 2009 LPGA Tour Championship are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.lpgatourchampionship.org or by phone at 877-LPGA-TIX (574-2849).
The cost for daily tickets, which allow grounds access for any one day of tournament week is $20. Daily parking passes are also available for purchase at $5 each. Weekly grounds passes are priced at $60, and allows access to the tournament grounds for the entire week. All weekly ticket purchases also include one complimentary weekly parking pass.
The LPGA Tour Championship will be broadcast on the Golf Channel from Thursday, November 19 to Sunday, November 22.
The Houstonian Golf Club opened in November 1999 and was designed by internationally-acclaimed golf course architect Rees Jones. The club previously hosted the 2006 Nationwide Tour Championship.
