BETSY KING NEWS RELEASE
4/22/08
Tournament Director, Duff Forsythe, announced that LPGA Hall of Fame Golfer, Betsy King, will serve as the Honorary Chairperson of the 2008 LPGA Duramed Futures Tour Event, The Gettysburg Championship. This year's event will once again be played at The Links at Gettysburg. The event will take place the week of August 19, 2008, with the professional tournament contested August 22-24, 2008.
Forsythe said that each year the planning committee is committed to increase the overall excitement and impact the tournament brings to the Gettysburg area and South Central Pennsylvania. And Betsy brings that kind of excitement to this event. She is one of the best ever to play on the LPGA, and certainly one of the most caring people you would ever meet. She sets the bar high for the charity work she has done and continues to do for those in need. Her involvement in The Gettysburg Championship will be a thrill for all who have the opportunity to meet her.
Betsy's Hall of Fame career started in 1977. It took her seven years to win in 1984, and win she did. She won three times in '84 and had four second-place finishes and 21 top ten finishes to earn LPGA Player of the Year honors. From 1984 through 1989, Betsy won a total of 20 LPGA events - more than any other golfer (male or female) in the world.
Betsy has won six major championships - Kraft Nabisco (3), LPGA Championship (1), and U.S. Women's Open (2) - adding to her total of 34 tour victories. She was the LPGA money winner in 1984, 1989 and 1993. A member of the U.S. Solheim Cup five times, and in 2007 was captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup. The USA retained the Solheim Cup in Sweden and was only the second team in history to win as an away team.
King was LPGA Player of the Year in 1984, 1989 and 1993. And in 1995 Betsy was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
In spite of all her successes on the LPGA Tour, Betsy's passion has been to help those in need. She has spent countless hours working with Habitat for Humanity, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and continues to work internationally with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Forsythe has indicated that The Gettysburg Championship will be supporting the Golf Fore Africa program that King is working with. This work is set up to assist needy children in Africa that have been affected with AIDS. This, in combination with The First Tee of Susquehanna Valley, will accomplish the goal of the championship to be able to support charities that benefit children.
Betsy's involvement in the event will be a mix of personal appearances leading up to the week of August 19. During that week, Betsy will be playing in the Pro-Am Tournament. Additionally, she will be the keynote speaker at the Sponsor Gala on Wednesday evening, August 20. Finally, Betsy will take part in the closing ceremonies on August 24 at The Links.
