Our Fourth Year at Gillette Ridge.
 The Connecticut Sports Management Group and CIGNA Healthcare are delighted to
bring to the Greater Hartford area, a dynamic and exciting women’s professional
golf tournament – the CIGNA Golf Classic!
The Hartford tournament is one of 19 select markets, across the country, chosen
to stage a Duramed Futures Tour event and we invite all to experience the
excitement that only an event of this caliber can provide.
The players you will watch, during the tournament, come from as many as 31
countries around the world and they bring with them impressive credentials and
great success of previous levels of play. They will astonish you with their tee
shots, amaze you with their accuracy and “humble” you with their incredible
poise and grace under pressure. They are very simply the best young
professional golfers in the world and they represent the next generation of
LPGA stars!
Our Charity
Chip In For A Cure's mission is to raise money to support local (Northern
Connecticut) initiatives addressing Breast Health issues. When the charity was
founded in 1995, proceeds from fundraising went to National Breast Cancer
Coalition. Starting in 2001, funds have been retained to benefit the local
Greater Hartford community. In the past years, over $300,000 has been raised;
the proceeds were divided equally between Saint Francis Hospital and Medical
Center, Hartford Hospital and last year University of Connecticut Health Center
Breast Cancer programs.
Get up close to the LPGA superstars of tomorrow!
Founded
in 1981, The Duramed FUTURES Tour is the largest international developmental
tour and the second largest women's golf tour in the world. Featuring over 300
players hailing from Argentina to Zimbabwe, the "Official Developmental Tour of
the LPGA" annually plays 18-20 tournaments in cities
across the country.
In the past 26 years, more than 280 Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae have attained
LPGA Tour membership. In total, they represent 314 LPGA victories, including 33
Major championships. Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae include the LPGA’s reigning
Player of the Year, Lorena Ochoa, Rolex Rookie of the Year, Seon-Hwa Lee, and
ADT Million Dollar Champion, Julieta Granada. Other current LPGA
superstars that began their professional career on the Duramed FUTURES Tour
include Karrie Webb, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim, Grace Park, and of course
Summerfield Crossings' own Beth Bauer – the 2002 LPGA Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie
of the Year.
The Tour has earned the
reputation as "The Road to the LPGA”, a relationship that was formalized in
1999, through an agreement that offers full LPGA Tour membership to the leading
money winners in each Duramed FUTURES Tour season. Three automatic LPGA cards
were awarded from 1999 to 2002, with an upgrade to five cards beginning in
2003. Using the automatic LPGA card exemptions awarded to the top players on
the Duramed FUTURES Tour Money List,
32 players have graduated directly to the LPGA Tour following
successful Duramed FUTURES Tour seasons.
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