special events
Together Again Two tours. One competition Story and Photos: Beverly and Greg Wise – Golf the Wise Way
Invitational, held in Naples, Florida at Tiburon Golf Club, has managed to turn golf history on its ear; and it only took 3 days in December to make it happen. Golf has seen individual attempts by trailblazing LPGA players like Babe Zaharias in 1954, to play on the PGA Tour. Followed by Michelle Wie West, Annika Sorenstam, and Britany Lincicome. This past October, Lexi Thompson became the seventh woman to tee it up on the PGA Tour, narrowly missing the cut by 3-shots after carding a 73 and 69 at the Shriners Children’s Open. For Grant Thornton - the mission was to recreate the past, make it stronger and bring the event in the present, and make this Invitation a viable piece of golf’s future with a total purse of $4 million, with the champions sharing $1 million. It has been nearly 25-years since there was a mixed-team at the JCPenney Classic, held at Innisbrook Resort. Notable superstars of LPGA and PGA Tours – Beth Daniels and Davis Love III winning the championship twice. “I was a fan of the format, growing up watching it on T.V.” Grant Thornton CEO Seth Siegel said.
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“Seeing players from both tours coming together is an incredible thing for the game of golf, and I think we’re only going to see excitement around this event grow moving forward.” — Jessica Korda,
Grant Thornton Ambassador and LPGA player
Photo courtesy of www.grantthornton.com
The inaugural Grant Thornton
“The last time we had a mixed format like this was 1999. So, in the modern era of golf, this really is the first time,” he added. Grant Thornton views it as a natural evolution of their support of the sport and their ambassador squad includes notables like Nelly Korda and Rickie Fowler who are both playing in the event.
The Inaugural 54-hole event Round 1: Scramble Each player hits a tee shot and the team selects the ball to be used for the next stroke. From there, both players hit their next shots from that spot. This process continues until the ball is holed. Round 2: Foursomes (alternate shot) Each team’s players alternate hitting shots with the same ball until the ball is holed. One player will tee off on the odd-numbered holes, and the other tees off on the even-numbered holes. Round 3: Modified fourball Both players tee off, and then they switch balls for their second shots and play that same ball until it is holed. The lower score of the partners is then counted as the team score for the hole. Golf Central • Volume 24, Issue 10