Tournament Golf Foundation (TGF), the organizers of the Cambia Portland Classic, will host a one-day amateur-only event that guarantees the winner a spot in the LPGA Tour's oldest non-major tournament.
The Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open will be held at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, Ore. (15 minutes south of Portland) on Wednesday, June 1. Any female amateur golfer with an established USGA handicap of 2.0 or less is eligible to compete.
The winner of the event will earn a guaranteed spot in the 72-hole Cambia Portland Classic tournament proper to be held June 30-July 3 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland. The second and third place finishers will earn spots alongside professionals in the tournament's qualifier to be held on Monday, June 27. The top two finishers from the Monday qualifier will also earn entry into the Cambia Portland Classic.
Last year, Gigi Stoll, a recent graduate of Beaverton High School and the 2015 PNGA Women's Player of the Year, shot a tournament record, course record and personal best 9-under par 63 that included a 29 on the front nine. Stoll, currently playing for the University of Arizona, also won the 2014 Portland Classic Amateur Open.
At least 10 former Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open participants have gone on to become members of the LPGA (Allison Hanna, Ayaka Kaneko, Paige Mackenzie, Jennie Lee, Sydnee Michaels, Jane Rah, Tiffany Joh, Mi Jung (MJ) Hur, Sadena Parks, and Ryann O'Toole). Mi Jung Hur won the Portland Classic in 2009, just two years after participating in the Portland Classic Amateur Open.
The Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open will have a $95 entry fee and players can get an application by calling the TGF office at 503-626-2711 or by visiting the news section of the tournament website, www.portlandclassic.com. Entry deadline for the event is May 27, 2016.
The Cambia Portland Classic will feature the world's top women professional golfers. The 72-hole tournament features a purse of $1.3 million and broadcast coverage on the Golf Channel for all four rounds. Brooke Henderson won the 2016 tournament by eight stokes for her first win on the LPGA Tour, setting a new 72-hole tournament scoring record as well at 21-under par. Henderson became just the second player and first since 2000 to Monday qualify for an LPGA Tour event and go on to win. One of the hottest rising stars on the LPGA, Henderson has already moved up to No. 7 on the Rolex Rankings list of the world's top women golfers.
Proceeds from the Cambia Portland Classic benefit children's charities in Oregon. Through 2015, the event has raised nearly $18 million for a variety of local organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland, Trillium Family Services, Oregon Junior Golf, Easter Seals of Oregon, Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division, The Children's Course/First Tee of Greater Portland, and Evans Scholars Foundation.
TGF is a local Portland area group of volunteers who donate their time and provide the primary operations for the annual event. Begun in 1972, the group is now comprised of more than 50 local individuals.
For more information on the Cambia Portland Classic and Tournament Golf Foundation, visit www.portlandclassic.com or call 503-626-2711.
