Purses Up But CN Women's Tour Shortened

The Royal Canadian Golf Association and season sponsor Canadian National Railway have increased the overall prize purse for the season while reducing the number of tournaments played from four to three.

In an effort to shave costs the RCGA and CN eliminated one week from the schedule, however, they'll share some of those savings with the players by boosting the purse for each 36-hole tournament from $41,250 to $60,000, with $10,000 awarded to each champion.

Additionally, a total of seven exemptions---up one from last year---will be awarded to members of the Tour to play in Canada's only LPGA Tour event, the CN Canadian Women's Open Championship in September at Calgary's Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club. Three exemptions will go to each winner with the remaining four presented to the top players from the season's Order Of Merit.

"The 2009 CN Canadian Women's Tour season is going to be our finest to date," says Richard Kuypers, Tournament Coordinator for the CN Canadian Womens Open.

For the picturesque semi-private Seymour Golf and Country Club, this will be the club's first RCGA sanctioned championship. Date of the opening tournament is May 24-26.

The Cutten Club in Guelph, ON, a Stanley Thompson original design, which has hosted several provincial championships, will be the Tour's second stop June 7-9. The final tournament of the Tour will be July 13-15 held at at Hillsdale Golf and Country Club in Mirabel, Que., host of the 1998 Canadian Men's Amateur Championship.

All three tour stops will include a practice round and a nine hole Pro-Am.