The Major of Women’s Developmental Level Professional Golf is returning to World Golf Village, and with it all the energy that comes from some of the world’s best non-LPGA Tour golfers working their way to the game’s highest level. The 2022 PXG Women’s Match Play Championship is slated for November 1 – 6, 2022 at the Slammer & Squire Course at World Golf Village in St. Augustine.
The PXG Women’s Match Play Championship will feature more than 80 ascending future stars pursuing their dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, battling over a week-long endurance test that will combine a stroke play and match play tournament culminating under the Tower of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
All of the players will compete in a 36-hole Stroke-Play qualifying tournament on November 1-2. The top 64 players will move on to the Match-Play Championship, but with a unique format: the Battle Round™ Pods, which will ultimately cut the field to the top 16. Seeded by the Stroke Play tournament, each of the 64 advancing players will be split into 16 Battle Round Pods™ of four who will play each other once in a nine-hole round robin match-play scenario on November 4.
Each Battle Round Pod match will play all nine holes, with each hole being worth one point to be won, lost or “halved.” The winner of the match receives a bonus point, effectively making each “Battle” worth 10 points. The winner of each Battle Round Pod is the player with the most points, not necessarily the player with the best won-loss record. The 16 players winning her Battle Round Pod will advance to the Knockout Rounds of traditional match play starting with the Sweet 16 on Saturday morning.
Each segment of the tournament will have its own prize purse, a guarantee of $50,000 shared between the Stroke Play, Battle Rounds, and the overall Match Play. The winner of the Match Play event will be 2022 PXG Women’s Match Play Champion, and in addition to cash prize money will also have the opportunity for a tour-caliber fitting for a full bag of PXG equipment.
Further reaffirming its commitment to women’s golf, particularly at the pre-LPGA Tour level, PXG has renewed its role as the tournament’s primary sponsor, helping to amplify the event’s overall mission of creating opportunities for women on the course and outside the ropes in the business of golf. Said PXG President and Executive Creative Director for PXG Apparel Renee Parsons, “PXG has made it our mission to help advance the game of golf by encouraging more women to pursue the sport at every level. From tour professional to aspiring player, every person deserves to feel welcomed and supported. That is why we have sought out progressive partnerships like the Women’s Match Play Championship to help build an onramp for women to be inspired and grow.”
Jessica Porvasnick, last year’s PXG Women’s Match Play Champion, who also won the Stroke Play tournament, is scheduled to be in this year’s field. Porvasnik now plays full time on the Epson Tour, the Official Road to the LPGA. Said Ms. Porvasnik about last year’s event, “The PXGWMPC was a great event last year. It was a unique experience, playing both stroke play and match play in back-to-back associated weeks.” She added, “It was exciting and meant a lot that there were big-time sponsors and supporters involved. It was nice to have so much support for women’s golf at the developmental level.”
Of equal importance, the PXG Women’s Match Play Championship will once again host the Generation W Links to Leadership Summit (The Summit) presented by Circle K and Baptist Health Jacksonville. The Summit adds depth to the women’s initiatives mission of the PXGWMPC by providing a ½ day of leadership programming focused on offering growth opportunities for all the players in the tournament, as well as selected area college players, whether their life’s journey continues on the golf course or in the boardroom.
The programming is being developed and provided by Generation W, a national nonprofit based in Jacksonville Beach (FL) founded and run by Donna Orender, whose mission embraces the guiding tenets of education, inspiration, and connection and the power of women’s leadership. Last year’s dynamic panel consisted of Sharon Rowland; CEO of Newfold Digital, US Navy Rear Admiral (ret,) Marty Evans; Whitney Meyer, VP Community Outreach of the Jacksonville Jaguars; Latria Graham, President/Founder Graham Leak Branding; global influencer Anya Alvarez; and PXG Apparel CEO & Founder, Renee Parsons.
In addition to shining a bright light on women’s professional golf, the PXG Women’s Match Play Championship is also a fundraiser for Investing in Kids (INK!), a St. Johns County 501(c)3 non-profit which raises money for underserved public schools and students. The INK! Charity Pro-am is slated for October 31 and will feature teams of one professional player linked with three amateurs.
The night before will be a Meet the Players Pairings Party with a silent and live auction. Last year’s INK! Charity Pro-am raised more than $50,000 for Investing in Kids and was the largest single day fundraiser in its history. The PXG Women’s Match Play Championship will also feature junior clinics and other community involvement activities for the players, who will be in the area for some 10 days.
As part of the Fan Experience, PXG will provide a complimentary onsite hitting and fitting experience for attendees on select days. Tickets for the PXG Women’s Match Play Championship are just $10 per day. Tickets are on sale now on the event website at www.pxgwmpc.com and proceeds will go to INK! as the event’s Official Charity Partner. Volunteer opportunities are available as are playing spots in the INK Charity Pro-am.
The PXG Women’s Match Play Championship is one of fifteen Official Events on the East Coast Women’s Professional Golf Tour, whose official season runs September to March and the winner of which receives a $5,000 Bonus Purse and exemptions into the 2023 PXGWMPC. Headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach (FL), the ECWPGT is one of only three women’s developmental tours. Operated by Mark D. Berman of MediaShare Consulting Group, the Tour’s mission is to create more and better playing opportunities for women aspiring to the LPGA Tour and to create career connections and pathways for them outside the ropes. Berman credits the 2021 PXGWMPC for inspiring him to start the ECWPGT which launched in January of 2022 and has already hosted eight tournaments awarding $175,000 to more than 200 players.
Seven ECWPGT players qualified for the 2022 US Women’s Open Championship including two from the 2021 PXG Women’s Match Play Championship, Sofia Garcia and Julianne Alvarez, the 2021 PXGWMPC over all runner up. Ashely Tait, an LPGA Professional, who advanced from the Battle Rounds last year into the match play Sweet 16 qualified for the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. And 2021 PXGWMPC alumna Gabriella Then won the Epson Tour Garden City Charity Classic in April.
Said Berman, “Having spent nearly two weeks with our players last year at the PXGWMPC, we got to know them, and their needs pretty well, even more than I thought we already knew.” It was Berman’s journey with his daughter, Hannah, an accomplished player who turned professional in 2020, that inspired the PXG Women’s Match Play Championship in the first place. “When the girls told me, ‘This is what a tournament should feel like for us – respect, celebration, and tough competition,’ that’s when I knew we were just getting started with our mission of creating some real change and real opportunity in the women’s developmental game. It is very intentional that we are hosting this level’s biggest event here in St Johns County, our home and where we already have a very supportive golf community.”
Information about elevated hospitality opportunities, Pro-Am spots, tickets, key sponsorships, and volunteering is available on the tournament website at www.PXGWPC.com and by calling MediaShare Consulting Group at 904.838.4962. You may reach the Tournament Office by email at mark@pxgwmpc.com. Social media handles include @PXGWMPC, #PXGWomensMatchPlay, @ECWPGT, #AintNoMiniTour and #MakeGolfYourThing.
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