After countless rumors and speculation, we’re one step closer to a golf league rivaling the PGA Tour.
Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf Investments, announced on Wednesday the plans for the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a eight-event circuit starting in June that boasts $255 million in prize money. The events will feature 48 players and 12 four-man teams. They will be 54 holes with no cuts and shotgun starts.
The series will begin at Centurion Golf Club in London and end at a yet-to-be-determined location with a lucrative Team Championship. Four of the events will be held in the United States, with the others in Thailand, Saudi Arabia and London.
Get to know more about the courses hosting LIV Golf Invitational Series events.
Location: St. Albans, England.
Brief history: Centurion Club will host the second event of the Asian Tour’s 2022 International Series, which features a $2 million purse and is also partnered with LIV Golf. Centurion held the inaugural Aramco Team Series London event in 2021 and will do the same in 2022, June 16-18. Golf Saudi backs the Aramco Team Series which operates on the Ladies European Tour.
GolfSixes at The Centurion Club on May 6, 2018 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Location: North Plains, Oregon.
Brief history: The club opened in April of 1992 and has played host to numerous events over the years, most notably the U.S. Women’s Open in 1997 and 2003 as well as the 1996 U.S. Amateur—when Tiger Woods claimed an unprecedented third straight U.S. Amateur Championship—and the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Pumpkin Ridge has also hosted the LPGA’s Safeway Classic from 2009–2012 and has held the Korn Ferry Tour’s WinCo Foods Portland Open annually since 2014.
Pumpkin Ridge will host the Saudi-Backed Golf League inaugural event — LIV Golf Invitational on July 1-3.
Course sent this letter to members today: pic.twitter.com/BljCmlrf07
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) March 16, 2022
Location: Bedminster, New Jersey.
Brief history: The club opened in 2004 and hosted the U.S. Women’s Open in 2017 and was scheduled to host the PGA Championship in 2022 until it was stripped of the major on January 10, 2021, days after a mob fatally stormed the U.S. Capitol.
“We find ourselves in a political situation not of our making,” Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview at the time. “We’re fiduciaries for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand. And how do we best protect that? Our feeling was given the tragic events of Wednesday that we could no longer hold it at Bedminster. The damage could have been irreparable. The only real course of action was to leave.”
Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo: Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
Location: Bolton, Massachusetts.
Brief history: The club has two courses, the Oaks and Pines, with the latter hosting the New England Open in 2002 and 2004. Escalante Golf, “a boutique owner and operator of numerous properties across the United States,” acquired The International out of bankruptcy in February 2021 according to the club’s site. Escalante also owns Pumpkin Ridge.
Watch “Oaks Course Highlights – October 2021” on #Vimeo https://t.co/8Sl3hl6YpT
Could you picture yourself playing here?
— The International (@INTLbolton) November 23, 2021
Location: Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Brief history: Established in 1989, Rich Harvest Farms has hosted a handful of premier events, including the 2009 Solheim Cup and 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Championships.
Rich Harvest Farms had played host to multiple championship events. (Photo: Rich Harvest Farms)
Location: Bangkok, Thailand.
Brief history: According to Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design, Stonehill is still in the construction phase.
“In conjunction with a Kyle Phillips designed championship golf course, the private club sits on 340-acres in the Pathum Thani province, just north of central Bangkok,” reads Hart Howerton’s site. “Stonehill is envisioned as a ‘city club’ for executives and expats as well as a sought-out dining and social destination for members and the public.”
Location: King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
Brief history: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club has been in the news over the last few years as the host of the Saudi International since 2019 and Saudi Ladies International since 2020. The Public Investment Fund is the official sponsor of the Saudi International, and also funds LIV Golf Investments.
The 18th green at the 2020 Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Location: To be determined.
After the first seven events are played, the top three in the individual format will split $30 million. The final event, to be held Oct. 28-30 at a site yet to be determined, will be a team championship with $50 million in prize money.
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