Purse for Women’s Golf Tournament at Vancouver Increased to $500,000

The sponsor of the du Maurier Classic, one of the four major tournaments on the LPGA Tour, has increased prize money 25% for the 1988 event.

This year’s tournament, which will be held June 30-July 3 at Vancouver Golf Club in suburban Coquitlam, will be worth $500,000, according to Wilmat Tennyson, president of Imperial Tobacco Ltd.

First prize will be $75,000, compared with the $60,000 won last year by Jody Rosenthal at the Islemere Golf Club in Montreal.

Tennyson said Imperial Tobacco has an obligation to keep pace with the purses offered by other LPGA events.

“This illustrates the way the LPGA Tour has grown and where it is today,” Tennyson said. “This event has a special place on the tour and is the prime ladies’ golf event in Canada.”

Tennyson noted the tournament has grown from a $60,000 event in 1974 to its present stature. He said total cost of the 1988 event to the major sponsor will be about $1.5 million.

LPGA Commissioner John Laupheimer said the bigger prize is an indication of the “growth and prosperity of the LPGA Tour.”