Duramed FUTURES Tour to be held in June 2009, 2010

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Junior League of Cedar Rapids (JLCR) and the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CRACV jointly announced today that a tournament on the Duramed FUTURES Tour will be held in the Cedar Rapids area June 2-7, 2009 and June 1-6, 2010. The 54-hole tournament will feature a purse of $110,000 each year. The Tour is the LPGA’s Developmental Tour, which prepares young professional women golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour. This tournament will mark the return of women’s professional golf to Iowa.

JLCR is the local host and organizer of the event, which gives Iowans an opportunity to see first-hand the Tour’s world-class women athletes and role models.

"JLCR is proud to host this tournament and partner with such outstanding organizations," said JLCR president, Charity Tyler. "Proceeds from the event will enable JLCR to further its mission of improving our community."

Past JLCR community improvement projects include EIEIO at Old MacDonald's Farm in Bever Park, the Science Station and Waypoint's Madge Phillips Center for Women and Children.

The week-long event will allow golf fans from near and far to watch and cheer alongside future LPGA stars as they take their first and most important steps from college and amateur golf. Two local connections to the Duramed FUTURES Tour include current player Jill Franz of Iowa City and current LPGA player and Duramed FUTURES Tour alum, Beth Bader of Eldridge.

In addition to the professional tournament, organizers will offer amateur golfers a chance to play with a professional in two separate pro-am events during the tournament week. Golf clinics and a variety of other family-friendly activities are also planned.

"Bringing the Duramed FUTURES Tour to the Cedar Rapids Area is a great addition to the spring lineup of events," said Tim Boyle, President of the Cedar Rapids Area and Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Beyond it being a new local attraction, it will also put Cedar Rapids in the

national spotlight. We want to be a nationally known destination. The creation of this tournament and the week-long activities that go with it helps us achieve that goal."

The CRCVB and the Sports Tourism Advisory Committee successfully attracted the Duramed FUTURES Tour to the Cedar Rapids area earlier this year. The Duramed FUTURES Tour requires all proceeds from the tournament to benefit a not-for-profit organization in the host community.

Junior League of Cedar Rapids membership approved a proposal to host the tournament in April. As the organizer, JLCR will use proceeds from the tournament to assist in fulfilling its mission of promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

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