A Look Behind the Scenes at the Duramed Championship
We all have a pretty good idea about what goes on at a Duramed FUTURES Tour golf tournament, at least on the surface. Simply put the hundreds of young women with a dream to make the big time, play tournament golf for 3 or 4 days in hopes of getting into the top ten on the money list by year’s end and advance to the LPGA Tour.
But there is sooo much more going on during a tournament week. Most of it goes unnoticed or underreported. Let’s go behind the scenes at one of the Duramed FUTURES Tour stops – The Duramed Championship played in Mason, OH.
This event is one of the top stops on the Duramed schedule. It is played at the Golf Center at Kings Island Grizzly Course where the LPGA Championship was played for 12 years. Planning begins right after the current event finishes for the next year’s event. The involvement of the tournament planning committee with the local community is on-going. Without the support of the local community these events would not take place.
The need for sponsors, large and small, is key in funding these events and most importantly – the chosen charity. In this case, the beneficiary is the Ohio Valley Multiple Sclerosis Chapter. Much needed funding is provided by this tour event. At the time of this writing I do not know the actual dollar amount that was raised but it is typically in the thousands of dollars.
Beyond that are the many activities that involve the players and the way they give back to the game and to the world in which they live. Case in point – the ‘In Honor of Mom’ event that was held early in the tournament week… You gotta see this…
Cindy Lee-Pridgen may not be a household name but she is involved in a campaign that touches almost every household in the world. Cindy lost her mom to cancer 2 years ago. She had been growing her hair so it could be cut to provide wigs for the thousands of women who lose their hair during chemotherapy. She not only enlisted her fellow tour players (like Kim Welch, former Big Break winner in 2008 and Violeta Retamoza) but she had this done on camera and on-site at the golf course. This wasn’t just cutting some length off of Cindy’s locks. She actually had her head shaved and provided what appeared to be a good 10-12 inches of hair. Talk about going the extra mile!! Take a look at these videos showing Cindy, Kim and Violeta in the stylist chairs.
In addition to that event, there were 2 ProAms where the young women play side-by-side with the ‘average’ and ‘hack’ golfers, share stories, shots and perhaps, golf tips when requested. Check out this article for more on Pro-Ams.
A junior clinic was also provided by the players free of charge for area youngsters. A “Meet the Pro” Party was also held with free food, beverages and entertainment. All of these extraneous events require these young women to take the time to give back to the communities that support them. It also gives them great experience and training in handling themselves in the public eye and a better understanding that their role is much more than ‘just being a golf pro’.
There were many more events for the public and also some special programs and activities just for the players but too many to detail here. The unfortunate aspect of all of this is that the general public doesn’t get to see much or any of this unless they are physically present at the event. We still struggle to get equal press coverage at these women’s golf events – not due to a lack of effort on the organizers’ part. It just isn’t deemed noteworthy to most local sportscasters. The human interest story with the ‘In Honor of Mom’ event should have been showcased throughout the viewing area. What an opportunity missed!
All I can say is that I am thankful I had the chance and took the opportunity to participate in this year’s Duramed Championship. This experience is repeated all over the country wherever these young women go to play. Make sure you don’t overlook what will surely be an experience to remember if the Duramed FUTURES Tour comes to your area.
As always, thanks for visiting us at Ladies on the Tee Golf Blog at www.sherrytabb.com. Share your Duramed stories with us below.
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Tags: Add new tag, Cindy Lee-Pridgen, Duramed Championship, Duramed FUTURES Tour, golf, Golf ProAm, Golf's Big Break, In Honor of Mom, Junior Clinic, Kim Welch, LPGA, LPGA Championship, Violeta Retamoza, Women's Golf
