MIDLAND, Mich. – LPGA Tour professional Jane Park is set to return to tournament competition next week, teaming up with close friend and major champion Paula Creamer at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational July 19 – 22 at Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich. Throughout the week, Dow GLBI players and fans have the opportunity to show their support for Park’s 2-year-old daughter Grace, who has intractable epilepsy.
Park will tee-it-up for the first time in LPGA Tour competition since the 2021 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America. While Park was playing in the event, Grace, then 10 months old, experienced a series of undiagnosed seizures and subsequently suffered severe brain damage, now requiring full-time care.
Park’s husband, professional caddie Pete Godfrey, will caddie for Park. Grace also will be in attendance.
“It’s my honor and privilege to compete in the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Championship partnered with my great friend Paula Creamer,” said Park. “With the help of family, friends and so many others, I’ll be able to see my LPGA family again inside the ropes one more time. I’m incredibly nervous just like I used to be when I competed full time, but I know my partner will pick up my slack. My husband Pete will be on my bag, so hopefully he will give me some good clubs. The cherry on top is that Grace will be there to say hello to her friends. I can’t wait for everyone to see her again and we are looking forward to making new memories with everyone!”
Special hats will be available to purchase at the Dow GLBI, with the proceeds donated to the Epilepsy Foundation and the Golf4Her foundation. Players will also wear ribbons throughout the week to show their support.
“We are proud to be able to host Jane, Pete and Grace at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational next week,” said Dow GLBI Executive Director Carlos Padilla II. “We hope to be able to showcase the incredible hospitality of the Great Lakes Bay Region to their family, while also helping bring awareness to epilepsy. Fans should plan to come out and support Jane and Paula on the course.”
Park and Creamer will join 71 other two-person teams competing in the unique team competition that features both foursomes and four-ball matches. Official tournament play begins Wednesday, July 19. The final Dow GLBI tournament field and partner list will be released later this week.
About the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (Dow GLBI) is an official LPGA Tour event that will be held in Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region July 17-22, 2023 at Midland Country Club. The Dow GLBI is the first team event played for official money and points and became the first fully GEO Certified® sustainable tournament on the LPGA Tour since its inception in 1950. The tournament is played with 72 two-woman teams competing in a 72-hole stroke play format with alternating rounds of foursomes (alternate shot) and four-ball (best ball) with a $2.7 million purse.
The week-long event features more than golf. It includes an official LPGA Tour Pro-Am Tournament, STEM Center, youth related programming, Eat Great Trail and leadership events. This inclusive event offers free daily youth opportunities, affordable ticket prices, and free admission for kids 17 and under as well as past and present Military personnel. Follow @DowGLBI on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or online at www.DowGLBI.com.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance leadership to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,800 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $57 billion in 2022. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
About the LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is the world’s premier women’s professional golf organization. Created in 1950 by 13 pioneering female Founders, the LPGA, whose members now represent over 60 countries, is the longest-standing professional women’s sports organization. Through the LPGA Tour, the Epson Tour, a joint venture with the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Professionals, the LPGA provides female professionals the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the game of golf at the highest level. In addition to its professional tours and teaching accreditation programs, the LPGA features a fully integrated Foundation, which offers best-in-class programming for female golfers through its junior golf programming and LPGA Amateurs chapters, tournaments and membership. LPGA aims to use its unique platform to inspire, transform and advance opportunities for girls and women, on and off the golf course.
Follow the LPGA online at www.LPGA.com and on its mobile apps. Join the social conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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