LPGA Returns to Chateau Elan for the 2014 National Championship

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP) will return to the Atlanta, Ga. area resort, Château Élan, to play 2014 LPGA T&CP National Championship, Aug. 24-27.

The 54-hole, stroke-play Championship will be held on the Château Course, which Zagat Survey calls, “A real find north of Atlanta…solid challenge for any skill level.” A number of T&CP members who reside in Georgia will compete in this year’s Championship, including players Laura Baugh (Augusta), Summer Sirmons (Decatur), and PGA Club Professional Karen Paolozzi (Atlanta).

“We are very excited to bring the event back to Château Élan. The resort is the perfect setting for the championship and the Chateau Course will once again provide unique challenges for our professionals, especially on the greens,” said Nancy Henderson, Chief Teaching Officer of the Teaching and Club Professionals and President of the LPGA Foundation. “This year is an historic year: for the first time, female members of the PGA will be competing side-by-side with our LPGA T&CP members for the opportunity to compete in the new 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.”

The top eight finishers in the Championship division—increased from six—will go on to represent the LPGA T&CP in the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the newly created world-class major tour event. Defending champion, Jean Bartholomew, an LPGA Teaching Professional at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and dual member of the LPGA, will headline the field competing for one of the eight coveted exemptions. Bartholomew also won the Championship in 2009 and 2012.

Notable players in the field include past T&CP National Championship winners Karen Davies of Carefree, Ariz., and Laura Shanahan Rowe of Hampton, N.H. Jessica Pecora of Milton, Ga., is returning to defend her 2013 Challenge Division title. Senior Division winners who plan on taking a shot at a victory include Carolyn Hill of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Dede Cusimano of Basalt, Colo. Cusimano has claimed the Senior title three times—in 2009, 2010, and 2013. She also won the Championship title in 2003 and continues to be the only LPGA T&CP member to hold titles in both divisions.

The LPGA National Championship was originally organized in 1983 by then-National-President, Nell Frewin-Hays to provide additional playing opportunities for LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals. The three-day competition, first held in Lake Placid, Fla., has since grown to become recognized as the premier tournament for women golf professionals in the world. The tournament features three divisions: Championship (6,183 yards), Challenge (5,807) and Senior (50+; 5,547 yards). Each division will be cut to the Top 70 and ties after 36-holes.

In addition, family and friends have the opportunity to join in on the action by participating in the Titleist and FootJoy Pro-Am competition and the Junior Clinic during the two days preceding the Championship.

Professionals, amateurs and the general public will also have the opportunity to discover new products, test golf club equipment supplied by tournament sponsor-partners and meet with company representatives during the on-site Demo Days, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23-24, 2014.

For more information about the LPGA T&CP National Championship, contact Brittany Daniel at brittany.daniel@lpga.com or 386-274-6207.