2009 CN Canadian Women’s Tour Makes Stop at Cutten Club

Competitors compete for second exemption into CN Canadian Women’s Open

Guelph, Ont. (RCGA) - The 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Tour makes a pivotal stop in Guelph, Ont., this weekend as the second of three tour events is contested at the Cutten Club from June 7-9.

Conducted by the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), the event will feature 90 players and is the second qualifying stop for Canadian and international professional and top amateur golfers hoping to earn an exemption into the 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open, Canada’s only LPGA Tour event.

Champions of the three CN Canadian Women’s Tour stops, as well as the top four players on the 2009 Order of Merit, will earn the seven exemptions into 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open held at the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club from August 31-September 6 in Calgary.

“We are really looking forward to continuing the momentum of the tour at the Cutten Club,” said Richard Kuypers, Tournament Coordinator, CN Canadian Women’s Open. “The first event in North Vancouver was filled with exciting play from a strong field of competitors, and I expect we’ll see more of the same this week as the competitors prepare themselves for the reward of an exemption into the Open.”

Twenty-nine year-old Taya Batistella of Bend, OR, claimed the first exemption into the CN Canadian Women’s Open with her victory at the first tour stop at Seymour Golf & Country Club. Runner-up Courtney Erdman and third-place finisher Ashli Bunch will look to follow up their strong finishes with a win in Guelph.

A number of past CN Canadian Women’s Tour event champions will be in the hunt for the $60,000 purse and the second exemption into the CN Canadian Women’s Open including Salimah Mussani of Burlington, Ont., and Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C. The field in Guelph also features 23 amateur hopefuls including 2009 Women’s National Development team members Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City.

Players competing on the Tour will also earn points towards the CN Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit. The player with the most points at the end of the season will earn the Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the Year Award.

Now in its ninth year, the CN Canadian Women’s Tour has established a reputation as one of the premier women’s developmental golf tours in North America. Many of Canada’s top professionals have competed on the Tour including Lorie Kane, Isabelle Biesiegel and Alena Sharp. The CN Canadian Women’s Tour is the only developmental series for Canadian and international female professionals, as well as top amateur and junior golfers.

More information about the CN Canadian Women’s Tour including a full listing of competitors, post-round results and championship start times are available through the CN Canadian Women’s Tour website at http://www.cncanadianwomenstour.com/ or Royal Canadian Golf Association website at www.rcga.org/championships.

CN DELIVERS THE GREAT GAME OF GOLF
CN is proud to support golf in Canada and is pleased to bring the best of women’s professional golf to Canada with its title sponsorship of the CN Canadian Women’s Open and the CN Canadian Women’s Tour. In addition to supporting women’s golf, CN contributes to the development of golf among young people across the country through its sponsorship of the CN Future Links program. CN is pleased to work with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) to help develop golf as a sport for women and juniors across Canada and to increase the accessibility of golf to recreational and competitive golfers. Visit http://www.cn.ca/.

ABOUT CN CANADIAN WOMEN’S TOUR
Conducted by the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), the CN Canadian Women's Tour is one of the world’s premier developmental tours, attracting rising Canadian and international female golf professionals as well as top female amateurs. The only women's developmental tour in Canada, the CN Canadian Women's Tour will offer premier championship play at locations across Canada, competitive purses and the opportunity to earn exemptions into the CN Canadian Women's Open, Canada's only LPGA Tour event. LPGA Tour professionals such as Lorie Kane and Alena Sharp competed on the Canadian Women's Tour, and used their experiences as a springboard to future success. For more information about the Canadian Women’s Tour visit http://www.cncanadianwomenstour.com/.

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, CN Future Links, Canada’s national junior golf program, turfgrass and environmental research, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, Rules of Golf and amateur status, handicapping and course rating 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 http://www.rcga.org/.