Tullymore Classic Will Include Rising Star Brooke Henderson

(STANWOOD, MI) – Brooke Henderson has wowed the LPGA Tour in recent weeks with top finishes despite being just 17-years-old, and she will get the chance to wow those who attend the inaugural Tullymore Classic on July 3-5 when the Symetra Tour event is hosted by Tullymore Golf Resort.

The Smith Falls, Ontario, golfer has finished third and 13th playing on sponsor’s exemptions in recent LPGA Tour events in San Francisco and Dallas. She has requested and been granted a sponsor’s exemption into the Tullymore Classic, a Symetra Tour event.

The Symetra Tour is where her older sister Brittany, a 24-year-old Coastal Carolina graduate, is currently playing her rookie season. Both are expected to compete in the 54-hole, $100,000 Tullymore Classic that will be the place for professional women’s golf that Fourth of July weekend. The LPGA doesn’t have a tour stop on that weekend, but the tour that serves as the official Road to the LPGA Tour will be making a Michigan stop at one of the country’s top golf resorts.

“She’s been all over television the last couple of weeks and shows incredible talent,” Gary Lewandowski, a PGA Golf Professional for Tullymore Resort. “She sent a letter and wants to be able to play in the same event as her sister that weekend, and we thought that would be a great idea. We think she is going to be one of the next big stars on the LPGA Tour.”

Henderson, who won just under $153,000 the last two weeks, turned pro last fall despite the LPGA previously turning down her petition to join the tour as an underage player.  She is qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open because of her 10th place finish in the national championship a year ago and she can play in a limited number of LPGA and Symetra Tour events via the sponsor’s exemption route as she bears down on the minimum age for tour status of 18.

Her success is not a big surprise to those who follow amateur golf. She is a former No. 1 ranked amateur in the world and regarded as the top young player among several hailing from Canada. She has been regularly compared to the LPGA Tour’s top current player, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who is just six months older. In 2012 at age 14 Brooke served notice of future stardom by becoming the youngest to ever win a professional event (Canadian Women’s Tour).

Two weeks ago at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco, Henderson had the lead going into the final round but was caught by Ko and Morgan Pressel and finished third alone. Last week in the Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout, she again played among the leaders before falling back late in the tournament.

She will be part of a 144-golfer field who take on the Tullymore course, an award-winning James Engh design that is one of two distinct world-class golf courses at Tullymore.  Tullymore Golf Club and St. Ives Golf Club, designed by Michigan’s own Jerry Matthews, wind amid 800 acres of glacier-carved rolling Michigan woodlands and wetlands in the captivating Canadian Lakes area.

The luxuriously appointed accommodations and premium amenities like the fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, and two comfortable clubhouses with great dining service options at the resort make for more reasons to visit and stay for a while.

Tullymore has hauled in a page of awards including being named Michigan’s No. 1 Golf Resort and one of the Top 50 Golf Resorts in the U.S. in the 2010 Golf World Readers Choice Awards, as well as being named the Silver Medal Winner – Premier Resorts 2010 – The Best Destinations in Golf by Golf Magazine, earning a five-star rating for the Tullymore course by Golf Digest several times since 2007 and being ranked among the top 100 Greatest Courses in America by Golf Digest multiple times.

Sponsorship opportunities, playing spots in the Tullymore Classic pro-am and some volunteer slots remain available. Visit www.tullymoreclassic.com for more tournament information and to be a part of the Tullymore Classic with Brooke Henderson.  Visit www.tullymoregolf.com for resort information.