As announced in February - The PGA Tour and LPGA scheduled a new mixed-team event that will see men and women compete together in a co-sanctioned tournament.
The Grant Thornton Invitational will debut this December at Tiburon Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton Naples in Florida. The event will consist of 16 PGA Tour and 16 LPGA players competing for a $4 million purse. This will be the first time the two circuits have come together for an event since the last iteration of the JC Penney Classic in 1999. The news comes after the Australian Open successfully held its men’s and women’s competitions simultaneously last December, with Adrian Meronk and Ashleigh Buhai the winners of these historic tournaments.
Though teams and the structure are still being finalized, Rickie Fowler announced on social media that he will be playing in the event alongside Jessica Korda. The tournament replaces the QBE Shootout, a team stroke-play event previously held at Tiburon started by Greg Norman in 1989 and sanctioned through last year by the PGA Tour.
PaR nz Golfing Holidays on behalf of Golf New Zealand have just announced that Boulcott’s Farm Heritage Golf Club, on the banks of the Hutt River in Wellington will host the 2023 New Zealand Mixed Foursomes.
All players will be seeded by handicap into divisions of eight, for three (3) rounds of foursomes match play. The top division will play off the stick foursomes match play with the remainder of the field playing handicap foursomes match play.
The programme includes a welcome happy hour, breakfast before play on Saturday 21 October and lunch before prize giving after the final round on Sunday 22 October. This is a relaxed fun but competitive format and a great opportunity to escape to the capital for the long weekend.