LPGA TOUR DATES, VENUES FOR 2011 UNVEILED

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Beth Ann Baldry
The LPGA is one up heading into the new season.
Of the 25 events on the 2011 schedule – one more than last year – 13 are domestic. The tour released its schedule today after a lengthy delay.
The season tees off on February 17 at Honda LPGA Thailand and will end in November with the Titleholders at Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida. Players should be pleased with this move as they did not like dragging the season into December.
The first domestic stop will be in Phoenix for the inaugural RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, where players will compete for a mock purse. As Golfweek first reported this week, the Founders Cup, designed in the spirit of pioneering LPGA founders, will be a charity-driven event in which players receive financial help for travel expenses but don’t take home a paycheck.
The move fills a key market for the LPGA, which attracted record crowds at nearby Superstition Mountain when Safeway was sponsor of the former event. The Founders Cup will be held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge on March 18-20 and will feature a field of 132 players. This televised event will benefit the LPGA Foundation that runs the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program.
After spending three consecutive weeks in California, the tour takes a two-week break in April before heading to Mexico for the Tres Marias Championship on April 21-24. Sources say the Morelia event continues to be a question mark, however, due to heightened drug violence in the area.
Players will want to peak in the six-week summer stretch that features three majors. A new event in China is on the back end of the Evian/British Open swing, and the field could suffer after such a tough stretch of majors.
After the Navistar LPGA Classic September 15-18, the tour leaves the continental U.S. and doesn’t return until the Titleholders in November. That international run starts with the Solheim Cup in Ireland September 23-25 and moves to Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico. There’s a week between Taiwan and the Mizuno Classic, bad news for the field in Japan.
The Titleholders, held November 17-20, replaces the bloated 120-player Tour Championship field. The 75-player Titleholders will consist of the top three players from each qualifying event. If a high finisher already has qualified, the tour would skip down to the next top finishes to get three from each week. The $1.5 million purse will boast the tour’s richest first-place prize of $500,000. Caddies will wear bibs featuring the LPGA logos from the tournament from which the players qualified.
The HSBC Brazil Cup, an unofficial event, is sandwiched between two tournaments in New Jersey. Missing from the 2011 schedule is the Mojo6, which debuted last year as a 16-player exhibition.
“We’re pleased that 'golf’s global tour' was able to withstand the economic downturn by securing 23 of its existing 24 events from 2010, a reflection of our renewed commitment to our partners,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said.
The 2011 LPGA schedule:
Feb. 17-20: Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam Country Club (Pattaya Old Course), Chonburi, Thailand.
Feb. 24-27: HSBC Women’s Champions, Tanah Merah Country Club (Garden Course), , Singapore
March 18-20: RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix
March 24-27: Kia Classic, Pacific Palms Resort, City of Industry, California
March 31-April 3: Kraft Nabisco Championship, Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore Tournament Course), Rancho Mirage, Calif.
April 21-24: Tres Marias Championship, Tres Marias Golf Club, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico
April 28-May 1: Avnet LPGA Classic, RTJ Golf Trail (Magnolia Grove, The Crossings), Mobile, Ala.
May 19-22: Sybase Match Play Championship, Hamilton Farm Golf Club, Gladstone, N.J.
May 28-29: HSBC Brazil Cup, Itanhanga Golf Club, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 3-5: ShopRite LPGA Classic, A Dolce Resort (Bay Course), Galloway, N.J.
June 9-12: LPGA State Farm Classic, Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Ill.
June 23-26: Wegmans LPGA Championship, Locust Hill Country Club, Pittsford, N.Y.
July 7-10: U.S. Women’s Open, The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colo.
July 21-24: Evian Masters, Evian Masters Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
July 28-31: Ricoh Women’s British Open, Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie.
Aug. 4-7: Imperial Springs LPGA, Imperial Springs Golf Club, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Aug. 19-21: Safeway Classic, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club/Ghost Creek Golf Course, North Plains, Oregon
Aug. 25-28: CN Canadian Women’s Open, Hillsdale Golf and Country Club, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada
Sept. 9-11: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Ark.
Sept. 15-18: Navistar LPGA Classic, Alabama RTJ Golf Trail (Capitol Hill, The Senator), Prattville, Ala.
Sept. 23-25: The Solheim Cup, Killeen Castle, Dunsany, Ireland
Oct. 6-9: LPGA Hana Bank Championship, SKY 72 Golf Club (Ocean Course), Incheon, South Korea
Oct. 14-16: Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Oct. 20-23: LPGA Taiwan Championship, Sunrise Golf & Country Club, Yang Mei, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Nov. 4-6: Mizuno Classic, Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Shima-shi, Mie, Japan
Nov. 10-13: Lorena Ochoa Invitational, Guadalajara Country Club, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Nov. 17-20: Titleholders, Grand Cypress GC, Orlando, Fla.
Dec. 9: Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge, Rio Secco Golf Club, Henderson, Nev.