Saturday, July 24, 2004
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
The 2004 Giant Eagle LPGA Classic is history. Whether there is a 2005 LPGA tournament in the Mahoning Valley is still to be determined and probably won't be finalized until later this year.
Giant Eagle Classic executive director Eddie Thomas talked about last week's tournament and what lies ahead.
"Obviously, the weather was not helpful this year," Thomas said. "We had seven rain delays during the week, and that's never good for a golf tournament."
"But we were prepared," he said. "I thought our volunteers did just a tremendous job following the plan we had laid out for them."
Delays hurt
But Thomas said the delays hurt the tournament at the gate and concessions.
"Especially the nearly three-hour delay on Sunday's final round," he said. "A lot of people left and didn't come back."
Still, Thomas was pleased with the caliber of golf that the LPGA professionals played. Moira Dunn of Utica, N.Y., won the 15th tournament held in this Valley by shooting a 12-under-par 204, defeating Young-A Yang by two shots.
"[Dunn] shot 30 on the back nine in the final round," Thomas said. "That was just unbelievable, and I don't care what kind of field was playing."
Thomas and the tournament's owners, Mahoning Valley Sports Charities, were not happy with the field for the tournament. Sandwiched between the U.S. Women's Open the first weekend of the month, this week's Evian Masters and next week's Women's British Open, the tournament drew just one of the top 20 money winners on Tour.
"I was really disappointed with the LPGA's effort to help us deliver a better field," he said, "although I was pleased with the performance that these women did put on for the fans.
"I thought our people did a great job this year putting this event on," Thomas added.
Next goal
Thomas said he is working hard toward holding an event next year.
"We are always working toward next year, especially trying to get our sponsorships in order," he said.
If the tournament returns to the Valley -- that is still a long way from being determined -- Thomas indicated there would be a couple of changes next year.
"We definitely will not be returning to Squaw Creek Country Club," he said.
That doesn't come as much of a surprise, since Avalon Holdings CEO Ron Klingle -- who has taken over the ownership of Squaw Creek -- and Thomas have never been on the best of terms.
Klingle, who also owns Avalon Lakes, the former site of the Giant Eagle event, told MVSC in 2000 to either get rid of Thomas or take the tournament to another site. The result of that ultimatum was the return to Squaw Creek.
Klingle took over operations of Squaw Creek in December and has spent more than $4 million in renovations to the clubhouse.
Thomas expects to move his offices from Squaw Creek by October and have some indication as to which direction the tournament is going to go. The LPGA usually releases its following year's schedule to the players sometime in October.
Mahoning
As for where the tournament might relocate, Thomas couldn't say officially, but he did speculate it would likely be somewhere in Mahoning County.
In its 15 years, the tournament has been held at either Avalon Lakes (eight years) or Squaw Creek (seven).
Rumors circulating of late have centered around Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield Township, which recently underwent a substantial course renovation, and Kennsington Golf Club in Canfield Township, which is under construction. The par-71 championship course is expected to open sometime next June.
Right now, Thomas' main objective is to find sponsors for the 2005 tournament. It's apparent that the title sponsor, Giant Eagle, will probably not return in the same capacity.
"There are opportunities out there," Thomas said. "Whether a company spends money or not is totally their choice. Nobody wants to see this thing go away."
mollica@vindy.com