Tag: Lake Nona

Annika Sorenstam will tee it up at Gainbridge LPGA, a home game at Lake Nona

Annika Sorenstam will play the Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona in February, her first official event since she retired from the tour in 2008.

Annika Sorenstam lives on the 16th hole at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. She likes to look outside her office window and watch her son get in a quick hole every once in a while. It seemed like she’d also have a primetime view for the upcoming Gainbridge LPGA event. That is, until the LPGA announced Tuesday that Sorenstam has committed to play in the event, held Feb. 25-28 in Orlando.

This will be Sorenstam’s first time inside the ropes competing against LPGA players in an official event since she retired from the tour in 2008. Last month, Sorenstam made her debut in the celebrity division of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. She finished ninth in that event, which used a Modified Stableford scoring system.

Sorenstam, 50, had designs to make her debut in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open this year until the dates were moved and now overlap the Summer Olympics. As president of the International Golf Federation, Sorenstam will be on hand in Tokyo should the Games go on as planned.

Sorenstam’s husband and business manager, Mike McGee, said his wife only started thinking about competing in the Gainbridge after the TOC.

“She was nervous and rusty and realized she needs competitive rounds for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open,” texted McGee. “That’s the end goal, schedule permitting. There aren’t many opportunities between now and then to to that. If the event was down the street or across town she wouldn’t even have considered. The fact that it is literally in our backyard and the members have been asking her nonstop, she decided to play. Our kids are excited, which is what matters.”

The 10-time major winner and mother of two owns a total of 72 LPGA titles. She last won on the LPGA in May 2008 at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill and announced her decision to retire at the end of the season shortly after.

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LPGA will return to Lake Nona, site of inaugural Solheim Cup, for 2021 Gainbridge LPGA

The LPGA has not been to Lake Nona, a premier private club in Orlando, since the 1990 Solheim Cup. It will return for the Gainbridge LPGA.

Among the LPGA’s final acts in the 2020 season was releasing its 2021 schedule – one that featured 34 events and record purse money of $76.45 million. A few holes remained in terms of unannounced venues, one of which was officially unveiled on Wednesday.

The LPGA announced that the Gainbridge LPGA, a second-year event on the schedule, will be played Feb. 25-28 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando. It will be the second event on the schedule, and also the second event to be played in the Orlando area, following the Diamond Resorts Tournaments of Champions at the Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

“We are thrilled to bring the LPGA Tour to Lake Nona Golf & Country Club for the second event of our record-breaking 2021 season,” said Ricki Lasky, the LPGA’s Chief Tournament Business Officer. “Lake Nona will be a top-quality, competitive test for the world’s best professional golfers, and we’re excited to showcase their abilities in Orlando come February on a global stage.”

The inaugural Gainbridge event was played at Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2020. Madelene Sagstrom became a Rolex First-Time Winner with a one-stroke victory over Nasa Hataoka.

This year’s event will feature a field of 120 players competing for a $2 million purse.

The event brings Lake Nona back into the professional golf circuit for the first time in years. This is only the second time the club has hosted an LPGA event after staging the inaugural Solheim Cup back in 1990. Lake Nona notably hosted the Tavistock Cup, a team golf event that pitted top professionals (like Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose) who belonged to six international golf clubs, in 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012. It has also been a backdrop for U.S. Open qualifiers and amateur tournaments, like the Tavistock Collegiate, and is the home club of many professional golfers.

“We are grateful to continue our work with the LPGA Tour and to confirm Lake Nona Golf & Country Club for the 2021 event,” said Dan Towriss, CEO and President, Group1001 and Gainbridge. “While it will be different without the presence of fans, Lake Nona offers the best female golfers a playing opportunity early in the Tour’s season. We are honored to be able to support the LPGA Tour and its players.”

Later this month, Lake Nona will also host a practice session for 12 U.S. Curtis Cup hopefuls.

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