St. Charles Country Club Selected as Host Venue for 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open

Canada’s only LPGA Tour event returns to city of Winnipeg for first time since 1992

Winnipeg, Man. (RCGA) – CN and the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) are pleased to announce that St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg has been selected as host venue for the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open.

“In partnership with CN, we are proud to announce that St. Charles Country Club has been selected to host the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open,” said Scott Simmons, RCGA Executive Director and CEO. “With a strong partnership commitment from the host city and a tremendous championship worthy venue, there is no doubt that Winnipeg fans will be treated to a fantastic showcase in 2010.”

With the selection of Winnipeg as the 2010 host city, CN and tournament officials will now begin to explore a local community beneficiary for the event as part of the CN Miracle Match fundraising program. The CN Miracle Match program has raised close to $2 million dollars for local children’s hospitals over the last three years leading up to and during the weeks of the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

“CN is pleased that the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open will be held in Winnipeg,” said CN’s senior vice-president, Sales, Stan Jablonksi. CN is proud that we are able to bring this national open to CN communities across this country and Winnipeg, with close to 2,000 CN employees, will certainly be a special host-city for the open. CN particularly looks forward to bringing the CN Miracle Match to Winnipeg, a city known for its generosity.”

The announcement marks the return of Canada’s only stop on the LPGA Tour to Winnipeg for the first time since Sherri Steinhauer won the 1992 du Maurier Classic at St. Charles Country Club.

“Winnipeg has an excellent track record in hosting major events and we are thrilled to be the host city for the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open,” said Stuart Duncan, President of Destination Winnipeg Inc. “We worked with the City, the Province and our partners to attract this prestigious tournament to the heart of the continent. Golf fans across Manitoba and the region will be able to see the best women golfers in the world and this is another great reason to visit our city and province during Manitoba Homecoming 2010. This premier tournament is expected to generate economic impacts of over $10 million for Manitoba.”

With a long and storied history of hosting many of Canada’s premier golf championships, St. Charles Country Club looks forward to the opportunity to once again welcome the world’s best to Winnipeg.

“St. Charles has a proud history of hosting major championships, dating back to the Canadian Open Championship in 1952 and most recently in 1992 with the LPGA du Maurier Classic and in 2000 with the AT&T Senior PGA Championship,” said St. Charles Country Club president Gord Webster. “We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity of adding the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open to this calendar of prestigious golfing events and look forward to the excitement which this tournament will bring to Winnipeg and our Club.”

The 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open will take place August 31 to September 6 at Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in Calgary. The Alberta Children’s Hospital of Alberta has been designated as the official charity of the 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open.

Tickets for the 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open can be purchased online at www.cncanadianwomensopen.com or by calling 1-866-571-LPGA.

ABOUT DESTINATION WINNIPEG INC.
Destination Winnipeg Inc. is Winnipeg’s economic development and tourism services agency, an arm’s length organization led by a private sector board with core funding from the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba. Destination Winnipeg markets the city and provides services to facilitate economic development and tourism opportunities for Winnipeg in collaboration with partners. Destination Winnipeg provides leadership in coordinating bids to attract major events to Winnipeg, working in partnership with sports and arts organizations, venues, governments and public sector agencies.

NORTH AMERICA’S RAILROAD CN
Canadian National Railway Company – spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For further information please visit www.cn.ca.

ABOUT THE ROYAL CANADIAN GOLF ASSOCIATION
The Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) is the governing body of golf in Canada, representing 377,000 members at 1,600 clubs across the country. Recognized by Sport Canada as the National Sports Organization (NSO) for golf in this country, the RCGA’s mission is to grow participation in and passion for the sport while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game. The RCGA conducts programs and services to help shape the future of golf in Canada. High performance athlete development, Rules of Golf and amateur status, handicapping and course rating, turfgrass and environmental research, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and CN Future Links, Canada’s national junior golf program, are only some of the initiatives the association leads for golf in Canada. In addition, the RCGA conducts Canada’s most prestigious golf championships. The RBC Canadian Open and CN Canadian Women’s Open attract the best professional golfers in the world, while regional junior and national amateur championships showcase the best in Canadian golf.

For further information on what the RCGA is doing to support golf in your community please visit www.rcga.org.