Inaugural tournament to support and celebrate women in golf
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (Feb. 2, 2021) – ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship has just announced PXG – an innovative golf company dedicated to developing high-performance equipment and apparel – as presenting sponsor for its inaugural tournament.
The unique, two-week tournament series for women professional players will take place at World Golf Village Oct. 25-Nov. 5, 2021. As part of its sponsorship, PXG will be featured in the official tournament logo, also being debuted today.
The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG will feature 64 women professionals pursuing their dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, battling over two weeks in two separate, but connected, tournaments.
The first week will feature a 54-hole Stroke-Play tournament on the King & Bear course, which will also seed the second week’s event, a 64-woman Match-Play championship at Slammer & Squire. There will be no cut in the Stroke-Play event and all players will advance to the Match-Play tournament.
Since the company’s inception, PXG has taken a strong stance in its support of women in golf. The company lists a dozen exceptionally talented women on the LPGA Tour on its official pro roster and provides equipment to many other top-ranking female professionals.
PXG’s clubs are built to spec for each individual golfer and the company will be providing onsite Swing Sessions for interested attendees to get a club in hand experience. There will also be opportunities to test PXG’s extensive line of putters on the World Golf Village 18-hole putting course.
In addition to the golf competition – and of equal importance – the tournament will celebrate women’s initiatives by providing programming such as leadership forums, executive networking, and education.
The programming will be developed and provided by Generation W, a national nonprofit based in Jacksonville Beach (FL) founded and run by Donna Orender, whose mission embraces the guiding tenets of education, inspiration, and connection and the power of women’s leadership.
“The Generation W programming is a critical aspect of this event,” said Erica Bennett. “There are myriad career opportunities outside the ropes for women in the golf business and in the manufacturing business, and we want to promote that aspect of our industry as well.”
Each tournament will have its own prize purse, a guarantee of $50,000 shared between the two events.
The winner of the Match Play event will be The ORCA Champion, and in addition to cash prize money will also receive a $2,500 Gift Card from PXG, as well as a commemorative golf bag designed by Erica Bennett of ORCA Golf Bags. The tournament series will feature a pro-am event, junior clinics, and local community-based activities and fundraising opportunities.
The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG represents two of the 14 official events on the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) in 2021.
The WAPT was established in 2019 in partnership with the LPGA’s Symetra Tour. The WAPT is the Official Qualifying Tour for the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, providing more opportunities for women to play professional golf and to advance their careers to the next level.
“We are very excited to bring the WAPT to the Jacksonville area and, in particular, the World Golf Village”, says Gary DeSerrano, WAPT president. “We are certain the next stars of women’s professional golf will look forward to this new and exciting event.”