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CORNING, NY / USA Today / Sports / Golf / May 28, 2009
By John Kekis, AP Sports Writer
Memorial Day weekend won't quite be the same around here next year. The "Crystal City" has lost a dear old friend.
When Taiwan-born Yani Tseng raised the glistening crystal Steuben bowl awarded for her triumph in the 31st LPGA Corning Classic on Sunday, it marked the end of a stop like no other on the ladies tour.
Tournament president Jack Benjamin stood on the 18th green at Corning Country Club and offered a final toast -- to the players, sponsors, the more than 800 volunteers, and the patrons who made the tournament special for three decades.
"It's a great place to be," said
Rosie Jones, now retired and the only back-to-back winner in the tournament's history. "And I don't think it has to do with your age."
The Corning Classic was the lone event on the LPGA Tour that had a seemingly perpetual sameness every year since its inception in 1979 -- same title sponsor and same venue. But it won't be staged next year.
Jack Benjamin. (AP Photo/Star-Gazette, Jeff Richards)
Glassmaker Corning Inc. announced in April that it would no longer be able to continue as the main sponsor because of the recession and the rising costs associated with hosting the event. Benjamin said staying on for four more years would cost $15 million to $18 million, and that was enough to kill a classic that has raised well over $5 million for local charities.
Much of what made the Corning Classic so unique will be greatly missed: the smallness of the town (Corning's population is around 10,000); the intimacy of the Corning Country Club layout -- six greens and six tee boxes are within a minute's walk of one another; the hospitality of the local residents.
Paula Creamer's 91-year-old grandfather made the trip from his home in nearby Ithaca, N.Y., in large part because the volunteers took such good care of him. And tournament officials said 56 players -- more than a third of the starting field of 147 -- stayed in private homes for the finale.
"It's a small town, the players become part of our extended family," Benjamin said. "Then you go downtown, and you run into everybody because it's five blocks long and everybody sort of just hangs out down there."
There was something special about the leaderboard on Market Street downtown that was updated after every round. And then there was "Grandfather's Corner," nestled just inside the yellow "Sheriff Line Do Not Cross" tape on the small slope that overlooks the third green. That's where 93-year-old Albert Cecce and his longtime partner, soon-to-be-84-year-old Bob Burnham, watched their favorite sport up close.
"They have special permission to sit there. Nobody else can," said Cecce's daughter, Mary Bigelow, who drove up from her New Jersey home to transport him to the golf course the past five years. "It's really sad for them."
Cecce, now confined to a wheelchair and residing in a nursing home, missed the inaugural Corning Classic in 1979 and none since. Burnham, a retired firefighter with 14 grandchildren, had perfect attendance. "I've got all the badges," he said proudly. "I'd love to see them come back."
So would 18-year-old Aimee Caligiore. When she was younger, her parents took her to the Corning Classic for a firsthand look at the pros. It was a trip she'll never forget.
"Being able to see the girls in person motivated me to work harder and get better," said Caligiore, who will attend St. Lawrence University in the fall on a golf scholarship. "During a rain delay, the public was allowed inside the clubhouse with the players. I remember eating lunch with a lot of the top players sitting around us. It was nice of the Corning people to allow that."
Corning represented the heart of the LPGA, which was founded in 1950 -- community-based tournaments. Nearly a third on this year's schedule of 28 events, including the Wegmans LPGA next month in Rochester, N.Y., still qualify.
"We've been here 31 years, sort of part of the foundation for the tour," Benjamin said. "If you're around for 31 years, you are part of the foundation."
Such tour stops have provided a chance for rising stars and middle-of-the-road players to achieve something memorable. Nine of Corning's 31 champions counted the Classic as their first triumph on tour.
Stars also have ruled the day. Among Corning champions since Penny Pulz won the first are seven Hall of Famers -- Betsy King (twice), Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, Patty Sheehan, Beth Daniel, Pat Bradley and JoAnne Carner.
The LPGA is evaluating where the tour goes from here. Commissioner
Carolyn Bivens took part in the closing ceremonies and said afterward that her organization might be interested in coming back to Corning.
"Just like the rest of us, the LPGA is going through some kind of economic transition, the whole country is," Benjamin said. "It's going to reset itself. It's going to be probably 2011 before it does that, and we'll see how it plays out, see what the cost factors are."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
"It's a great place to be," said Rosie Jones, now retired and the only back-to-back winner in the tournament's history. "And I don't think it has to do with your age."
The Corning Classic was the lone event on the LPGA Tour that had a seemingly perpetual sameness every year since its inception in 1979 -- same title sponsor and same venue. But it won't be staged next year.
Jack Benjamin. (AP Photo/Star-Gazette, Jeff Richards)
Glassmaker Corning Inc. announced in April that it would no longer be able to continue as the main sponsor because of the recession and the rising costs associated with hosting the event. Benjamin said staying on for four more years would cost $15 million to $18 million, and that was enough to kill a classic that has raised well over $5 million for local charities.
Much of what made the Corning Classic so unique will be greatly missed: the smallness of the town (Corning's population is around 10,000); the intimacy of the Corning Country Club layout -- six greens and six tee boxes are within a minute's walk of one another; the hospitality of the local residents.
Paula Creamer's 91-year-old grandfather made the trip from his home in nearby Ithaca, N.Y., in large part because the volunteers took such good care of him. And tournament officials said 56 players -- more than a third of the starting field of 147 -- stayed in private homes for the finale.
"It's a small town, the players become part of our extended family," Benjamin said. "Then you go downtown, and you run into everybody because it's five blocks long and everybody sort of just hangs out down there."
There was something special about the leaderboard on Market Street downtown that was updated after every round. And then there was "Grandfather's Corner," nestled just inside the yellow "Sheriff Line Do Not Cross" tape on the small slope that overlooks the third green. That's where 93-year-old Albert Cecce and his longtime partner, soon-to-be-84-year-old Bob Burnham, watched their favorite sport up close.
"They have special permission to sit there. Nobody else can," said Cecce's daughter, Mary Bigelow, who drove up from her New Jersey home to transport him to the golf course the past five years. "It's really sad for them."
Cecce, now confined to a wheelchair and residing in a nursing home, missed the inaugural Corning Classic in 1979 and none since. Burnham, a retired firefighter with 14 grandchildren, had perfect attendance. "I've got all the badges," he said proudly. "I'd love to see them come back."
So would 18-year-old Aimee Caligiore. When she was younger, her parents took her to the Corning Classic for a firsthand look at the pros. It was a trip she'll never forget.
"Being able to see the girls in person motivated me to work harder and get better," said Caligiore, who will attend St. Lawrence University in the fall on a golf scholarship. "During a rain delay, the public was allowed inside the clubhouse with the players. I remember eating lunch with a lot of the top players sitting around us. It was nice of the Corning people to allow that."
Corning represented the heart of the LPGA, which was founded in 1950 -- community-based tournaments. Nearly a third on this year's schedule of 28 events, including the Wegmans LPGA next month in Rochester, N.Y., still qualify.
"We've been here 31 years, sort of part of the foundation for the tour," Benjamin said. "If you're around for 31 years, you are part of the foundation."
Such tour stops have provided a chance for rising stars and middle-of-the-road players to achieve something memorable. Nine of Corning's 31 champions counted the Classic as their first triumph on tour.
Stars also have ruled the day. Among Corning champions since Penny Pulz won the first are seven Hall of Famers -- Betsy King (twice), Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, Patty Sheehan, Beth Daniel, Pat Bradley and JoAnne Carner.
The LPGA is evaluating where the tour goes from here. Commissioner Carolyn Bivens took part in the closing ceremonies and said afterward that her organization might be interested in coming back to Corning.
"Just like the rest of us, the LPGA is going through some kind of economic transition, the whole country is," Benjamin said. "It's going to reset itself. It's going to be probably 2011 before it does that, and we'll see how it plays out, see what the cost factors are."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
