Location Sylvania, Ohio, U.S. Par 71 Tour(s) LPGA Tour | Established 1984, 32 years ago Length 6,506 yards (5,949 m) | |
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Course(s) Highland Meadows Golf Club | ||
The Marathon Classic, in full the Marathon Classic Presented by Owens Corning and O-I, is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. It was founded 32 years ago in 1984 and has been played yearly, except in 1986 and 2011, in Sylvania, Ohio, a suburb northwest of Toledo. The tournament is televised by Golf Channel and CBS Sports.
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History
The tournament was founded after PGA Tour caddie Judd Silverman, a Toledo native, sought to bring a ladies professional golf tournament to his hometown. He contacted sponsors and actor Jamie Farr, also a Toledo native, brought his name and several of his celebrity friends to the tournament. Throughout the history of the event, children's charities in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan have been the charitable beneficiaries of the tournament. They have received more than $6.2 million during the event's history.
From 2004 to 2010, the title sponsor was Owens Corning, the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass and related products, headquartered in Toledo, near the site of the tournament. In 2012, they became a presenting sponsor. Kroger, one of the largest American supermarket chains, with headquarters in Cincinnati, has also been involved as a sponsor of the tournament since 1997. Owens-Illinois (O-I) will begin being a sponsor during the 2012 tournament.
From 1984 to 1988 the tournament was held in the village of Holland at the Glengarry Country Club, which became Stone Oak Country Club in 1988. The event moved several miles north to the Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania in 1989, where it is currently played.
The largest playoff in LPGA history took place at the 1999 Jamie Farr, a six-player affair involving Karrie Webb, Carin Koch, Sherri Steinhauer, Se Ri Pak, Kelli Kuehne, and Mardi Lunn. Pak won it on first hole of sudden death by making a ten-foot birdie putt.
In 2007, Se Ri Pak won the Farr for the fifth time, becoming only the fourth LPGA golfer to win the same tournament on five different occasions.
The tournament was at risk of ending after 2009, due to a variety of circumstances including the slumping worldwide economy and reported dissatisfaction with LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. Late in August 2009, after Bivens had resigned under pressure, it was announced that the tournament would continue for at least one more year, albeit with a sharply reduced purse.
On June 29, 2010, LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan announced the Farr Classic would return for at least three more years beginning in 2012. The tournament took a one-year hiatus in 2011, as the Toledo area will host the U.S. Senior Open, a major championship on the Champions Tour, at the Inverness Club.
On December 2, 2011, tournament director Judd Silverman announced that the Jamie Farr Classic would have a new name and a new logo. The tournament would be known as the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic Presented by Kroger, Owens Corning and O-I. On January 8, 2013 the LPGA announced that Marathon Petroleum was replacing Jamie Farr as the title sponsor. In 2016, the event received network television coverage for the first time when CBS Sports broadcast the final round live.
Tournament names through the years:
2016 course layout
Highland Meadows Golf Club
Winners
Source:
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Tournament records
Source:
Multiple winners
Four players have won the event more than once.