RR Donelley Founders Cup

In it's inaugural year, the LPGA's RR Donnelley Founders Cup is taking place at Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa March 16-20th. The Wildfire Golf Club was voted one of the Top 75 Resorts in North America, Best Courses to play by Golfweek Magazine and voted America's Top Golf Courses by Zagat and so forth. The list goes on and the photos simply cannot due it justice to the beauty of being there to take it all in. 


The field is strong, with 134 players having committed. You can see the final field at this link Final Field .They will compete for a purse of $1 million that will all be donated to charity. You see, it's play money or monopoly money if you will. This week is all about "honoring the past, showcase the present and provide for the future of the LPGA and women's golf".You can see the pairings here Pairings by Mirassou . You can also visit the Mirassou Wines website here Mirassou Family Winemakers .

This is all for the LPGA foundation. They will also compete for an additional $200,000 charitable pool, to be shared by the top 5 finishers. However, with the recent tragedies in Japan, RR Donnelley will donate $100 for every birdie and $500 for every eagle made on the last four holes, 15-18. The only thing better would have been if they would've done so for all holes and not limited this. The tournament is a 54 hole format to be played the 18th-20th.


And while some players spent a long time thinking about whether they would play here, they all for the most part decided to. The issues at hand, were simply about how the tournament was shaping up and about what some felt RR Donnelley could be doing better. At any rate, Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer just to name a couple, decided to play. It's about paying homage to the founders of the LPGA, and that's what the ladies wanted to do. 


Besides being a remarkable week to be in that presence with such remarkable ladies, it marks the first time since 2009 that the LPGA returns to Phoenix. Some of the founding ladies on hand this week are; Louise Suggs, Shirley Spork, Marilyn Smith. They were also in the company of some LPGA & World Golf Halls of Fame members such as; Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley, who will play and 18 hole exhibition match on Friday. I'm sure that in itself, will draw the fans out in numbers to be remembered! 


Televised coverage will be via the Golf Channel as follows: Friday and Saturday from 6:30 -8:30 PM ET and Sunday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET. As always, you can catch live scoring via LPGA.COM .


Now, Go Hit Some Balls...................