Golf Channel announced today the eight semifinalists from the 2017 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s golf championships – including reigning NCAA national champions Oklahoma (men) and Arizona State (women) – have committed to compete in the annual East Lake Cup presented by Hewlett Packard Enterprise match play championship. The tournament will take place Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.
MEN’S DIVISION: The men’s division of the East Lake Cup will include the reigning NCAA national champions University of Oklahoma; runner-up and 2016 national champion University of Oregon; the two-time East Lake Cup defending champion University of Illinois; and Vanderbilt University.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to compete in the East Lake Cup,” said Oklahoma men’s golf coach Ryan Hybl. “It gives our team a chance to compete at one of the top golf courses in the country against three outstanding programs. It will be a great challenge, but an exciting three days for collegiate golf fans.”
WOMEN’S DIVISION: The women’s division will feature all four teams from the 2017 national championship semifinals, headlined by reigning national champion Arizona State University, 2017 runner-up Northwestern University, 2015 national champions Stanford University and the University of Southern California (USC).
“This is such a cool event and the East Lake Golf Club has such an amazing history,” said Arizona State women’s golf coach Missy Farr-Kaye. “I love this format, and am excited to bring my team to Atlanta to experience this event. We’ve got a target on our back from beating two of the three teams in the NCAA championships last year, but we are very excited to have this opportunity.”
The East Lake Cup will be contested over three days, following the format from the NCAA men’s and women’s golf national championships. On Monday, Oct. 30, the eight teams will compete in individual stroke play competition to determine the individual champion and to seed for two days of match-play competition. Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. Oct. 31-Nov. 1, two match-play tournaments will be hosted simultaneously for the men’s and women’s divisions, with the semifinals taking place on Tuesday and the finals and consolation matches on Wednesday.
Teams for the East Lake Cup will compete on the championship golf course at East Lake Golf Club, home of the TOUR Championship, the season-ending event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The East Lake Cup benefits the East Lake Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping families build better lives and children reach their highest potential through its holistic approach to community revitalization incorporating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education and community wellness. The East Lake Cup, in association with presenting sponsor Hewlett Packard Enterprise and associate sponsor CSX, has raised nearly $1 million for the East Lake Foundation since its inception in 2015. Buick, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, joins CSX as an associate sponsor for the East Lake Cup in 2017.
The East Lake Cup also features the Tom Cousins Award, an annual recognition presented to an outstanding male and female golfer who exemplify the values of the East Lake Foundation: excels in academics, engaged in his or her community and has overcome adversity. This award is named for Tom Cousins, founder of the East Lake Foundation, which transformed a community in despair into a thriving neighborhood, now a national model for community redevelopment through Purpose Built Communities. Stanford’s Casey Danielson and Vanderbilt’s Patrick Martin were the recipients of the 2016 Tom Cousins Award.
For more information about the East Lake Cup please visit the tournament website here. Stay connected with the championship on Twitter via @GolfChannel using hashtag #EastLakeCup.
About the EAST LAKE FOUNDATION
Founded in 1995 on the belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, the East Lake Foundation collaborates with public and private organizations to provide tools that enable Atlanta’s East Lake residents to build a better future through its model for community revitalization.
The East Lake model includes cradle-to-college education at Charles R. Drew Charter School and its early learning partners, mixed-income housing at The Villages of East Lake and community wellness through programs including The First Tee® of East Lake, the Resident and Community Support Program, and the Start:ME East Lake micro-entrepreneur program. This approach to building a strong community not only helps break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, but creates a place where people of all ages and incomes choose to live. East Lake has become a national model for holistic community revitalization programs through its sister organization, Purpose Built Communities. Additional information is available at www.eastlakefoundation.org.
About EAST LAKE GOLF CLUB
Located in Atlanta, the East Lake Golf Club is the home course of legendary golfer Bobby Jones and is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta. The Club is not only historic, but philanthropic as well. Proceeds from operations support the East Lake Foundation, now serving as a national model for holistic community redevelopment across the country through Purpose Built Communities.
Over the years, the golf course has hosted many national and regional championships, including the 1950 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 1963 Ryder Cup, and 2001 U.S. Men’s Amateur. It is now the permanent home of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. Additional information may be found at www.eastlakegolfclub.com
ABOUT GOLF CHANNEL
Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. Serving the most-affluent audience in all of television, Golf Channel – co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and now part of NBC Sports Group – is available to nearly 500 million viewers in 78 countries and nine languages around the world. Golf Channel features more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, including tournament action from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, The Open, Olympics, and Ryder Cup, as well as high-quality news, instruction and original programming. Delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, fans are able to enjoy 24/7 live streaming of Golf Channel content through Golf Channel Digital and the NBC Sports App, powered by Playmaker Media. In addition, Golf Channel connects the world to golf through a wide array of digital and lifestyle services including Golf Channel Mobile, a comprehensive app covering golf’s latest headlines, scores and analysis; GolfNow, the world’s largest online tee time booking platform and golf course technology partner, which includes the GolfNow Mobile App, featuring on-course GPS tracking, in-round scoring and game tracking; GolfAdvisor.com, the world’s largest golf course ratings and review resource for golfers, by golfers; a North American network of Golf Channel Academy instructional facilities; and Golf Channel Am Tour, the world’s largest amateur golf tour.
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Media Contacts:
Jeremy Friedman
Golf Channel Communications
407-355-4058
Jeremy.Friedman@golfchannel.com
Tom Sprouse
East Lake Cup / HNS Sports
614-889-6791
Catherine Woodling
East Lake Foundation/East Lake Golf Club
404-974-4506
