Liselotte Neumann
Past Kraft Nabisco Championship winners and stars of the LPGA will come together to honour Dinah Shore and celebrate 40 years of the Kraft Nabisco Championship during the inaugural fresh&easy Dinah Shore Charity Pro-Am on April 2, 2011, at Mission Hills Country Club, Palmer Course, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The field includes eight Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame members as well as players who represent 15 Kraft Nabisco Championship wins and a total of 460 LPGA victories.
Players scheduled to play in the fresh&easy Dinah Shore Charity Pro-Am are among the who’s who in women’s golf: Amy Alcott, Donna Andrews, Susie Berning, Jane Blalock, Pat Bradley, Donna Caponi, JoAnne Carner, Beth Daniel, Cindy Figg-Currier, Rosie Jones, Betsy King, Meg Mallon, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Alice Miller, Liselotte Neumann, Alison Nicholas, Sandra Palmer, Nancy Scranton, Patty Sheehan, Hollis Stacy and Kathy Whitworth, the winningest golfer of all time.
The fresh&easy Dinah Shore Charity Pro-Am was created by Alcott, a three-time Kraft Nabisco Championship winner and member of the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame, and Tim Mason, CEO of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Foundation.
“I am so excited with the overwhelming support of the players who will join us for the inaugural fresh&easy Dinah Shore Charity Pro-Am,” said Alcott. “Having this incredible field of players for our event is such a wonderful tribute to Dinah (Shore) and a true testament to the importance of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in all of our Tour careers.”
Shore was a pioneer; her support of the LPGA in the early 1970s helped propel the LPGA to new heights and enable it to be recognized on a global stage. She became the first Hollywood celebrity to host an LPGA Tour event (1972), which helped ensure network broadcast coverage. In 1982, the event became the first LPGA event to have national television coverage of all four rounds. In 1983, the LPGA named the event one of the LPGA’s major championships. Today the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which awards the Dinah Shore Trophy and is played on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills, is recognized as the LPGA’s first major championship of the season as well as the longest-running event hosted at the same venue. Shore supported the LPGA and its players in the spirit of the LPGA’s founders: she gave unwavering support and persevered to follow her dreams of promoting the great players and personalities of the women’s golf.
“From the moment Amy (Alcott) discussed the concept of this event with me, I could see her desire to put a spotlight on the 40 wonderful years of the players and milestones of the Kraft Nabisco Championship as well as to create an opportunity to help children in some way, our shared passion,” said Mason. “To now see the support of these great players – hall of famers, tournament champions, LPGA legends – continues to strengthen our commitment to the event, which also gives us a tremendous opportunity to raise important funds for LA’s BEST and Park Century Schools, two very worthy beneficiaries.”
