It’s a great time of year for a round of golf in Orlando as the weather is so absolutely perfect. Former Orlando Magic stars Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw know a thing or two about playing golf at this time of year and that’s why they’ve agreed to be among two dozen celebrities coming to Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Golf Club this Friday to participate in the All-Star Celebrity Golf Invitational.
The event will also feature NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green as well as former N’Sync vocalist Chris Kilpatrick who will tee it up to help the Arnold Palmer Foundation charities such as Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Arnold Palmer Prostrate Center, Arnold Palmer Pavilion and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.
Anthony Anderson (Law & Order – pictured above) is host for the Feb. 24 event, which will draw from some of the celebrities slated to be in town for NBA All-Star weekend and they’ll play Bay Hill under near-championship conditions, less than a month before the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational that starts week commencing 19 March.
Bay Hill is close to the heart of many Orlando folks but none more so than Arnold Palmer. It was in 1965 that he won a charity event on what was then an unknown course. It was on that day he fell in love with Orlando and with the course and in 1970 the process began to call it his own. It has been his winter home ever since and by 1979 he created a tournament that became a PGA Tour event that to this day still attracts one of the strongest fields of any PGA championship.
We’ll be bringing you coverage of the event as the day progresses so make sure you check back regularly!
The 2012 PGA Merchandise Show opened this week at Orange County Convention Center and with it came a clear message that the golf industry needs to buck up its ideas and start thinking of some creative ways to attract people to the game.
A total of 26.1 million people played the game in the United States in 2010 and that’s one million fewer golfers than in 2009. Speaking about the new Golf 2.0 initiative, Fore Golf’s vice president of marketing, Fred Augenstein said “the goal is increase the number of golfers to 40 million by the year 2020.”
Golf legend Jack Nicklaus (pictured above) was also on hand to reinforce the message that golf needs to be made more relevant, more welcoming and more flexible to be able to attract a new generation of player in the future. Revealingly he talked about his own three children, one of whom is a scratch golfer, who no longer player the game because they have other things to do.
“I wanted to be part of growing the game around the world. This isn’t just a Jack Nicklaus initiative, this is a golf industry initiative” said Nicklaus of Golf.2.0, “We’ve got to bring them into the game having fun… we don’t want to bring them into the game and lose them right away.”
So, naturally, there is great concern among PGA members about the future of the game and that is why they have designed three strategies to tackle the issue; the first is to retain and strengthen the core, the second is to engage “lapsed” golfers and finally, to drive new players.
The first initiative involves two steps; getting to better know the customer and nurturing them. This involves delivering different experiences and nurturing current players to become the most loyal customers. The second initiative involves recognizing the influence that 73% of women have control on household spending and that the women’s game is becoming more influential, largely through the efforts of younger players like Lexi Thompson (pictured above) and Paula Creamer, both of whom were at the show. Also, part of the “engaging “lapsed” golfers strategy is targeting the 90 million Americans who aspire to play again while also appealing to the entire family. The aging Boomer population also presents another challenge as some of their skills fade away yet they still love the game and want to be involved. Technology will also play a part as not all golfers of the future begin in junior clinics, rather on their X-Box gaming machines.
Finally, the “driving new players” initiative will see efforts to reach families in the 84% of American households who don’t play golf. Alliances will be built with major youth organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and concentrated efforts will be made to make the game appeal to minority groups. “I’m ready to play” will be part of the theme over the next five to ten years of the long term strategic plan.
It promises to be an interesting time for the golf industry and here in Central Florida we’ll be monitoring the progress of how the area’s golf facilities perform. For many years, we have encouraged various golf clubs to find new innovative programs that can appeal to visitors and now the weight of the industry appears to be falling on their shoulders. Hopefully, we’ll now see a renewed willingness to work together with tourism partners to create a really great golfing experience and one that keeps the Orlando area as “Golf Central” for a long time to come.
South Korea’s Hee Young Park won the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Titleholders Championship for her first tour victory, closing with a 2-under 70 on Sunday to hold off Paula Creamer and San Gal by two strokes. Park finished at 9-under 279 at Grand Cypress and earned $500,000 as she held off some of the biggest names in women’s golf.
Another shot back were Na Yeon Choi and world No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, world No. 3 Cristie Kerr , world No. 1 Yani Tseng and Michelle Wie. It was a fantastic week at Grand Cypress – Orlando and the event was well supported by locals and visitors alike.
“I still cannot believe this,” Park said. “On the back nine I was getting like nervous and then getting tight in my body. So my caddie said, ‘Just keep going, keep trying to (play) like (it’s the) first round. You’re on the tee first time each hole, and just keep doing the same thing.’ And then I said ‘OK. My first win in the US., it feels totally different, still same kind of goose bumps, but this win, I think could change my life, my future.”
LEGOLAND Florida is getting into the holiday spirit with the first annual Christmas Bricktacular. Festive decorations and sounds of the season will fill The Beginning and Fun Town through the holidays, Dec. 8-31, followed by Kids’ New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31. With more than 50 rides, shows and attractions all dedicated to families with children age 2 to 12 and one of the widest selections of LEGO® products available, LEGOLAND Florida is the best place to celebrate the season and pick up the Christmas gifts that are on every child’s wish list – LEGO!
The Beginning is home to a truly spectacular, Bricktacular sight – a more than 30-foot-tall LEGO Christmas tree made with a combination of 270,000 forest green LEGO and DUPLO® bricks. The park’s first-ever tree lighting ceremony takes place on Dec. 5 with a special master of ceremonies. Through Dec. 31, a special family will be chosen to help light the Bricktacular tree each night. Santa Claus even makes special daily appearances in the historical botanical gardens making a picture perfect spot to capture family memories sure to be treasured for years to come. Kids’ New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31 let’s kids rock out and watch the sky explode with LEGO fireworks at just the right time for them, midnight KST (Kid Standard Time) – otherwise known as 7 p.m. EST. Holiday events are included in park admission.
The ladies are back in town and this week sees the culmination of the 2011 LPGA season at the CME Group Titleholders tournament. The tournament is being staged at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando from 17th to 20th November and will feature a field of 66 players who qualified as the top-three performers in each of 22 LPGA tournaments this year. Those players will compete for a total purse of $1.5 million in the unique season-long qualifying format with the winner earning a prize check of $500,000.
Yani Tseng & Nigel Worrall
Headlining the field and seeking her eighth LPGA title and 12th worldwide title of the year is 2011 Rolex Player of the Year Yani Tseng (pictured above) of Taiwan. Currently No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings, Tseng secured top-player status in early October at the HanaBank Championship in South Korea and will be honored with the LPGA’s Rolex Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year during this week’s CME Group Titleholders.
Among her 2011 milestones, Tseng became the first male or female golfer to win five major championships by age 22 when she emerged as the champion of the 2011 RICOH Women’s British Open. Prior to that victory, she won the tour’s second major championship of the year at the Wegmans LPGA Championship by 10 strokes, becoming the youngest female golfer to win four majors by age 22.
In addition, Tseng has dominated the race for the 2011 Vare Trophy, which rewards the LPGA player with the lowest season scoring average. That award also will be presented this week.
Tseng has recorded 40 rounds in the 60s this season and currently holds a 2011 scoring average of 69.56 strokes per round in 21 events. Hoping to win her second consecutive Vare Trophy, Na Yeon Choi is in second place with a season scoring average of 70.54 in 20 tournaments. If Tseng holds on this week and maintains a sub-70 scoring average, she will become only the sixth LPGA player in history to break 70 for a season-long average, joining Annika Sorenstam (1998, 2001, 2002, 2005), Karrie Webb (1999), Grace Park (2004), Lorena Ochoa (2006, 2007, 2008) and Na Yeon Choi (2010).
Hee Kyung Seo of South Korea, who also qualified for the CME Group Titleholders, will be honored during tournament week as the 2011 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year. The rookie finished second in a playoff at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and hopes to end the season with a win at the LPGA’s final tournament.
Lexi Thompson & Nigel Worrall
Other headliners who have qualified for this week’s event include two-time winner Michelle Wie of Hawaii, LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb of Australia, 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner and Rolex Rankings No. 8 Stacy Lewis of Texas, and Florida teenage wunderkind Lexi Thompson, (pictured above) who qualified this week by winning the Navistar LPGA Classic. Thompson also earned 2012 LPGA Tour membership for the Navistar victory.
In addition, Florida natives and Rolex Rankings No. 3 Cristie Kerr and No. 10 Brittany Lincicome, along with fan-favorite Christina Kim of California, also qualified for the event. They join the final three qualifiers from last week’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational, Americans Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis, and Beatriz Recari of Spain.
Several Orlando residents will have the opportunity to commute from their homes and sleep in their own beds this week. Rolex Rankings No. 7 Paula Creamer of California, No. 22 Maria Hjorth of Sweden, No. 35 and LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Se Ri Pak of South Korea, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen of Norway and top-ranked Yani Tseng of Taiwan, all will be making the short drive to work this week from their home driveways. Both Creamer and Pak hope to join Hjorth, Pettersen and Tseng as tournament winners this season at the last event in Orlando.
Suzann Pettersen & Nigel Worrall
A number of top performers from this year’s 2011 Solheim Cup also have qualified for the CME Group Titleholders this week, including Europe’s Suzann Pettersen of Norway, Caroline Hedwall of Sweden and Spain’s Azahara Munoz. Also joining the list of top Solheim Cup point-getters is American LPGA rookie Ryann O’Toole of California, who was a 2011 captain’s pick.
Of the 66 qualifiers, Tseng leads all players in the field with multiple season wins. Tseng enters the CME Group Titleholders with seven 2011 LPGA victories. Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen and Brittany Lincicome each have two wins this season.
While this week’s CME Group Titleholders is an inaugural tournament, the Titleholders name dates back to the Titleholders women’s golf tournament held from 1937 to 1966, and one additional year in 1972 in Southern Pines, N.C. The tournament was originally staged at Augusta Country Club in Augusta, Ga., prior to the formation of the LPGA in 1950. Past Titleholders champions include LPGA founders Patty Berg, Louise Suggs and Babe Zaharias.
So if you’re in Orlando this week… a day at the golf to see some of the best players in the world is probably the done thing! Get there!
Here’s some video from Lexi Thompson’s press conference…
World number 1 Luke Donald (pictured above) put together an incredible string of six birdies on the trot as he shot a final round 8-under 64 to take the 2011 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic at Walt Disney World today. In doing so he secured the PGA Official Tour Money List title and left little doubt who was No. 1 on the PGA Tour.
Donald trailed Webb Simpson (pictured above) by some $363,029 coming into the final round of this years PGA Tour and he leapfrogged his playing partner to take the winners check of $846,000 and end the year with $6,683,214 some $335,861 ahead of Simpson. He also kept alive his bid to become the first player to win the money title on the PGA Tour and the European Tour in the same season. His lead in Europe is just over $1.8 million over Rory McIlroy with five tournaments remaining.
He wound up with a two-shot win over Justin Leonard (pictured above), who finished with eight pars for a 71. Leonard already is exempt for next year, but kept alive his streak of never finishing out of the top 125 on the money list since joining the tour in 1994.
“This is one of the most satisfying wins of my career,” Donald said afterwards at the press conference, “Everything was on the line, I’m thrilled and over the moon.”
It was an incredible back nine as he holed four straight birdie putts inside 8 feet, took the lead with an 18-foot birdie on the par-5 14th hole, then sealed his stunning rally with a 45-foot birdie on the 15th hole.
It was his second PGA Tour win of the year and also won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average. There’s also a good chance that he’ll become the PGA Tour player of the year as no one else has won more than twice this year.
Webb Simpson seemed very matter of the fact afterwards as he said “We gave ourselves a chance. The fact is, playing against the best player in the world, he’s going to do something great like that most of the time, and he did. Made six birdies in a row. Tough to compete against.”
At the end of the day it was Donald who stole the show. He only entered the Disney event after Simpson decided to play at Sea Island last week. Simpson took runner-up honors there and established the lead on the money list so Donald knew his best chance was to win this weekend. It was an extraordinary exhibition of attacking aggressive golf that fittingly took the title. It was a privilege to be there. Congratulations Luke!
Professional golf returns to Orlando this week as the PGA’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic comes back for its annual event at Walt Disney World’s Palm and Magnolia golf courses. The first players to tee off at the Palm course will be Jeff Maggert and Shaun Micheel on Tee #1 while on Tee #10 James Driscoll and Bobby Gates will share the 7.50am starting time. Also at 7.50am over at Disney’s Magnolia course Tommy Gainey and Chris Couch begin the day at hole #1 and Paul Goydos and Troy Merritt will be teeing off at hole #10.
I wandered over to the course today to see what shape it’s in and it looks really good. The weather forecast has some rain in the area during the week so that will certainly help to keep the course looking very green. Of the two par 72 courses, Magnolia is the slightly longer measuring 7,516 yards while the Palm comes in at 7,010 yards. The golfers will play once on each course along with their pro-am partners for the first two rounds and then the real action begins as the amateurs step aside after 36 holes and the field is cut. The final two rounds will be played at the Magnolia course and a purse of $4.7 million sees the winner collecting $846,000.
The defending champion is Robert Garrigus who shot a 21 under par 267 to beat Roland Thatcher last year and he’ll be keen for a repeat performance this year. Full week passes are just $20 and single day tickets $10. Youths aged 17 and under receive free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
Also, a “Wine & Dine Experience” daily ticket for $30 includes access to five food stations near the Magnolia course’s putting green. Parking is free in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and from there you gain access to the golf courses via a complimentary shuttle to the main entrance….and watch out for Mickey and Minnie as you get off the shuttle as they’ll be around somewhere!
More photo’s from around the course and some of your favorite Disney characters are on our Facebook/FloridaLeisure page here.
Hot on the heels of the exciting events in Ireland at the Solheim Cup is the opportunity to watch the best women golfers in the world right here in Orlando. The ladies are due to visit from 15th to 20th November at Grand Cypress Resort and this year there’s a brand new format that will ensure that play is as competitive as it has ever been.
The season finale will have a field made up of three qualifiers from every official LPGA Tour tournament, a format never previously used in professional golf. The “Countdown to CME Group Titleholders” will be the culmination of a season-long unifying program that showcases the best performing players from the 2011 LPGA Tour season, and also highlights each and every title sponsor on the LPGA Tour. It promises to be an interesting showdown and ticket s can be obtained at the LPGA web site.
The Solheim Cup was finally won by a jubilant European team in dramatic circumstances earlier today. Following rain delays, lightning threats and the shock withdrawal of Cristie Kerr due to injury before the start of her match, Europe finally regained the Solheim Cup in thrilling fashion with a narrow 15-13 victory over the USA. It was a day where fortunes flowed back and forth as both teams had the chance of victory at Killeen Castle in Ireland.
Both teams were packed with players who call Orlando home so the event was full of interest for those who love golf in Central Florida. The USA team had Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lang, Christina Kim, Brittany Lincicome and Vicky Hurst from the Central Florida area as well as Boca Raton’s Morgan Pressel while Europe had Assistant Captain Annika Sorenstam, Suzann Pettersen (pictured below), Maria Hjorth, Anna Nordqvist and Sandra Gal as well as Ponte Vedra’s Sophie Gustafson.
In the end it all came down to the last three singles matches and a dramatic final half hour. It was during this time that the USA held the upper hand but the pendulum swung firmly in Europe’s favour as Suzann Pettersen started the fightback. One down with three to play against Michelle Wie, the world No. 2 pulled off a dramatic win on the final hole after a run of three successive birdies on the 16, 17 and 18 holes.
This only served to spur on Caroline Hedwall who was two down with two to play against Ryan O’Toole and she managed to win the last two holes to half her match and gain a valuable half point. Azahara Munoz then had the honour of clinching the vital point in the final match as she managed a one hole win over Angela Stanford.
It was the first win for Europe since 2003 and for Captain Alison Nicholas’s European team the 7-5 singles score meant it was a fourth win from 12 contests, and they will go to Colorado Golf Club in two years’ time hoping to win in the USA for a first time.
Walt Disney World Resort and Arnold Palmer Golf Management have signed a 20-year strategic alliance to create even more magic for Disney golfers. Beginning Sept. 25, Arnold Palmer Golf Management will operate, manage, maintain and help promote all five Disney courses including Disney’s Palm and Magnolia, Lake Buena Vista, Osprey Ridge and Oak Trail golf courses.
As part of this long-term alliance agreement, golf legend Arnold Palmer and his golf course design team will be actively engaged in implementing strategic and innovative design features to several of the golf courses. Future enhancements include plans for a full renovation of Disney’s Palm under his direction to become an Arnold Palmer designed course.
“After 40 years as a golf course architect, I’m looking forward to this opportunity to contribute to Disney’s rich and storied golf legacy,” said Arnold Palmer. “I’ve enjoyed a lifetime of memories playing golf and it will be a great reward to pass that on to those who share a passion both for Disney and the game of golf.”
With an extensive following of serious golf enthusiasts, Arnold Palmer Golf Management is known for its excellent course conditions, pace of play, service standards and player development. In addition to course operation, the company also manages “Palmer Advantage,” a reciprocal club and concierge service program, that provides members with unique travel benefits and access to more than 250 private clubs, resorts and golf courses around the world.
“Drawing on Arnold Palmer Golf Management’s expertise and experience enables us to build on our mutual strengths and extend our appeal both among leisure players and avid golfers,” said Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises. “We’re excited about this new collaboration, which will benefit Disney guests and Palmer Advantage club members wanting a destination golf experience.”
The agreement gives Arnold Palmer Golf Management an opportunity to add a uniquely Disney, family-friendly golf destination to its portfolio of more than 70 private clubs and championship golf courses. Disney Golf will be promoted within the Palmer Advantage network of golf devotees, through a dedicated website and featured within the exclusive publication, “Kingdom Magazine,” which celebrates Mr. Palmer’s contributions to the game of golf and extensive philanthropic ambassadorship.
“With a reputation for service excellence and exceptional family entertainment, Walt Disney World is an ideal complement to our member offerings,” said Jim Hinckley, president of Arnold Palmer Golf Management. “This collaboration will give our members both a superior golf experience and a one-of-a-kind family golf vacation.”
Since Walt Disney World opened with two 18-hole courses in 1971, golf has been a key component of the resort. Over the past four decades, Disney World has hosted professional and amateur golf tournaments, including one of the longest-running events in PGA Tour history – the PGA Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic. Disney has also hosted the LPGA Tour, NCAA golf championships and dozens of celebrity golf tournaments.
