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Longs Drugs Challenge Will Play At The Lincoln Hills Club For 2003 Contact Judy Bennett LINCOLN, Calif. (July 1, 2003) - The 2003 Longs Drugs Challenge will be hosted by the Lincoln Hills Club, it was announced today by Raycom Sports. The tournament had been played each of the past seven years at the Twelve Bridges Golf Club. "We are extremely excited about this new chapter in the Longs Drugs Challenge history," said Tournament Director Brian Flajole. "The Lincoln Hills Club is a championship style course, where both the PGA Senior Tour and Nationwide tour were looking to play tournaments over the past couple years. We are pleased to be able bring the LPGA's Longs Drugs Challenge to this outstanding course. In addition, our ability to continue to stay within the City of Lincoln, which has been so supportive of the event, was also an important factor in having the event here." "Due to the ongoing construction activities currently underway at and around Twelve Bridges Golf Course, the determination was made by all concerned to hold the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge at the Lincoln Hills Club in 2003," added Flajole. According to Judy Bennett, spokesperson for Del Webb, who manages the Billy Casper/Greg Nash designed course, "We're truly looking at the 2003 Longs Drugs Challenge as a great opportunity to host this professional tournament on our home turf. So many of our Sun City Lincoln Hills residents have formed a bond with the tournament staff and the players through their volunteer efforts, as well as opening their homes and serving as player hosts; it's become an annual reunion here in Lincoln! In fact, the entire Lincoln community has embraced this tournament and appreciates the positive relationship that has been developed with the Longs Drugs Challenge over the past seven years." The Longs Drugs Challenge has a prestigious list of champions including: * Defending champion Cristie Kerr, * Two-time champion and LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, winner in 1999 and 2000, * Korean sensation Se Ri Pak, champion in 2001, * And the world's best female golfer Annika Sorenstam, winner in 1998. The tournament in Lincoln has averaged more than 50,000 fans in attendance per year. The single-day attendance record for the tournament was set this past year, when clouds gave way to an 80-degree day on Sunday when more than 18,000 fans crowded the fairways. Raycom Sports is an innovative sports marketing, event management, television production and management consulting firm. In a unique partnership with Jefferson-Pilot Sports, Raycom is the longstanding rights holder of ACC men's basketball telecasts. In addition, the company owns and operates events around the country including The Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, and two LPGA tournaments, in Alabama and Sacramento. Raycom Sports' parent company Raycom Media, located in Montgomery, Ala, owns and operates 35 television stations covering over ten percent of the United States, including Puerto Rico. The Lincoln Hills Club is located at Del Webb's popular Sun City Lincoln Hills active adult community. The championship course is 6,985 yards from the back tees, and covers 248 acres of turf. It includes nine water features, over 50 bunkers, and a signature hole that has an 80-foot vertical elevation drop from the tees to the green with panoramic views of the Sierras and the Sutter Buttes. Del Webb California Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pulte Homes, Inc. Based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Pulte Homes has operations in more than 44 markets across the United States. Under its Del Webb brand, the Company is also the nation's leading builder of active adult communities for people age 55 and older. Over its history, Pulte Homes has constructed more than 300,000 homes and has been named Builder of the Year for 2002 by Professional Builder magazine. On the web: www.pulte.com and www.suncity.com/lincolnhills. |