CN Canadian Womens Open
Coming to The Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club
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Lorena Ochoa to
defend at 2008 Event |
CN
and the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA)
have confirmed that the world’s number one
ranked player and defending CN Canadian Womens
Open champion Lorena Ochoa, will be in Ottawa
August 11-17 to defend her title at the Ottawa
Hunt and Golf Club. Annika Sorenstam has also
said she will play.
The purse for the event this year will be $2.25
million. That will be increased $500,000 to
$2.75 million starting with the 2009 tournament
in Calgary. Only the U.S. Womens Open and Evian
Masters currently have purses over $2.75
million. This may explain the strength of the
field coming to Ottawa next month. It resembles
the days when it was still a major.
The event was known as the Du Maurier Classic
between 1979 and 2000, when the event was
recognized by the LPGA as a major. It was last
held at the Hunt Club in 1994. The final playing
of the event as a major was at the Royal Ottawa
in 2000 . In 2001, a Canadian ban on public
advertising of tobacco products went into
effect. As a result Du Maurier was forced
to withdraw it's sponsorship. BMO took up
sponsorship and kept the event barely alive
until 2005 when CN took over and breathed new
life into the event.
The Womens British Open, an existing event
which was already a major on the Ladies European
Tour, replaced the Canadian Open as the LPGA's
fourth major. Some speculate that the LPGA was
planning to make that change anyway but we'll
never really know. Although no longer a major,
the winner of the CN Canadian Open receives an
automatic berth in the LPGA season championship.
The mandate of the CN
Canadian Women’s Open is to raise support for
the care of sick children in the communities in
which we are hosted. In two short years, the CN
Canadian Women’s Open, through the CN Miracle
Match program and proceeds from the
championship, has raised almost one million
dollars for local children’s hospitals. With
your support, we can make a significant
difference in the lives of many children.
For tickets please call 1-866-571-LPGA or
visit
cncanadianwomensopen.com
