LPGA Skins Game headed for Maui
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Wailea Resort will show a little more golf skin next January when the LPGA Skins Game is played at the Wailea Gold Course the same weekend as the Senior Skins Game.
The two Hawai'i Skins Games and the original Skins Game, which will be Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) in California, will be sponsored by ConAgra Foods. The company will also sponsor the new ConAgra Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas day.
ConAgra and ESPN Regional Television announced the three-year Skins agreement yesterday. It will bring the LPGA Skins Game back after a five-year hiatus. Laura Davies won the last one in 1998.
According to an Associated Press report, the 2003 LPGA Skins Game will feature Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Laura Diaz. The LPGA and Senior foursomes will be officially announced before the end of the year.
All 18 holes of the Senior Skins Game will be played Saturday, Jan. 25. ABC will show the first nine holes that day and the final nine the following day, leading into its Super Bowl broadcast.
The LPGA Skins Game will be taped Sunday, Jan. 26, and broadcast in prime time on the East Coast July 1-2, on ESPN2.
The LPGA and Senior PGA will have Pro-Ams Friday, Jan. 24, at Wailea. Tickets for the Pro-Ams and Skins Games will be available later this fall on Maui, over the internet and through mail order. For information, call Wailea at 808-875-7450.
"With the return of the LPGA Skins Game to the schedule, LPGA fans have a special opportunity to witness the best the Tour has to offer in a unique and exciting format," LPGA Commissioner Ty M. Votaw said yesterday in a press release. "Some of the greatest names in women's golf have participated in the LPGA Skins Game in the past, and I know fans from around the world look forward to watching a new breed of LPGA stars showcase their games as well as their personalities in this very special event."
ConAgra Foods, Inc. consumer brands include: Hunt's, Bumble Bee, Knott's Berry Farm, Wesson, Blue Bonnet, Parkay, Butterball, Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM and Peter Pan.
