The Symetra Tour and French Lick Resort have agreed to a three-year contract that will not only extend the tour's relationship with the Indiana resort but also elevate a new championship to historic levels.
As part of the contract, the resort will present the new French Lick Resort Stroke Play Championship, a 72-hole event contested on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort starting in 2022. The event will feature a $335,000 purse, the largest prize pool in the 41-year history of the Symetra Tour, with a $50,250 winner’s check.
The previous record-setting purse was $300,000 at the 2019 Zimmer Biomet Championship in Alabama.
In addition, the tournament will be designated as the Tour’s “flagship event,” meaning it will receive the most Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings points of any tournament throughout the season.
The third and fourth rounds of the French Lick Resort Stroke Play Championship will be featured on live stream.
“We are grateful to partners like French Lick Resort who fully embrace the ‘Road to the LPGA’ mission of identifying the next generation of LPGA Tour stars,” said Mike Nichols, Chief Business Officer of LPGA Qualifying Tours. “The Pete Dye Course has a tradition of hosting major championship golf. By elevating the tournament experience for the Symetra Tour, French Lick Resort sets an example for our current and future partners of how we can ally to support these professional athletes chasing their dreams.”
French Lick Resort has hosted the Symetra Tour in four of the last five years on the Donald Ross Course, which had hosted the LPGA Championship in 1959 and 1960, as well the 1924 PGA Championship.
“French Lick Resort has enjoyed hosting the Symetra Tour since 2017, and we are proud to lead the way in elevating this tournament and Tour in support of these aspiring LPGA Tour players,” said Dave Harner, Director of Golf at the French Lick Resort.
“We have a proud history of hosting both major professional and amateur championship golf on both the Donald Ross and Pete Dye courses and are proud to add the French Lick Resort Stroke Play Championship to this legacy starting next year.”
