GOLFWEEK STAFFThe Fields Corporation, title sponsor of the Fields Open in Hawaii, has announced it will not renew its title sponsorship for the LPGA tournament for 2009, leaving an early-season hole on the tour’s schedule for next year.
Fields officials said the Japanese entertainment company will concentrate its future marketing efforts primarily in Japan. There had been speculation the event was in trouble and might not return, one of several LPGA tournaments that is having title sponsor issues.
The Ginn Tribute event in Mount Pleasant, S.C., also is not expected to return next season because of financial issues the Ginn Development Company is having, and SemGroup L.P., sponsor of the tour’s SemGroup Championship in Tulsa, declared bankruptcy last month.
Earlier, Safeway announced it would drop its sponsorship of the Phoenix tour stop beginning in ’09.
“I hate to see our tournaments go,” veteran player Juli Inkster told Golfweek. “What’s going on with the economy, it’s tough. We’re just going to have to fight through it.”
Inkster, a member of the LPGA Player Executive Committee, said although the tour is worldwide, it’s still primarily American-based and needs more strong events in this country.
“I think our No. 1 objective is to get more U.S. tournaments (with) full fields,” Inkster said.
The Fields Open, which began in 2006 and was held at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, has been the second tournament on the LPGA schedule the past three years. It was the second stop on a two-event Hawaii swing, following the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, an event that is secured through 2009. Paula Creamer won this year’s Fields Open title, which had a purse of $1.3 million.
LPGA officials declined to comment about the future of the Ko Olina event.
“I think the LPGA will be disappointed because the players like to have two events on Oahu to defray travel expenses,” Greg Nichols, general manager and director of golf at Ko Olina, told The Honolulu Advertiser. “We’re disappointed because the tournament was growing; attendance was growing. We enjoyed being able to put on such a quality event in Hawaii.”
Nichols told The Advertiser that it was unlikely the event will be held in 2009.
"A tournament at this late date is unlikely,” he said. “The timeline is not sufficient to bring in a new sponsor for 2009.”
The LPGA added a third event in Hawaii this year, the Kapalua LPGA Classic, to be held Oct. 16-19 on Maui.
– Beth Ann Baldry contributed
Posted: 8/5/2008
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