Roberta Bowman, chairwoman of the Women’s Open steering committee, said Tuesday morning that organizers hope to surpass the record of 118,000 set at the 1998 Open at Blackwood Run Golf Club in Wisconsin. That would be 10,000 more than Pine Needles drew in 1996.
Pine Needles has already smashed the record for corporate sales — $2.4 million, topping the previous record of $1.8 million, Bowman said.
The purse for this year’s Open is a record $2.9 million.
“We’re ready for a very successful tournament, and we are in line to meet all of our initial goals, including attendance, ticket sales, fund-raising and charitable giving to women’s health groups,” Bowman said.
The 2001 Women’s Open has a goal of raising $250,000 for women’s health and wellness. Bowman said the steering committee is about $40,000 shy of that goal. Organizers hope sales of a $10 Women’s Wellness Pin during the week will help them surpass that goal by Sunday.
“We encourage everyone to buy a Women’s Wellness Pin for $10 to help us reach that goal,” said Kathy Higgins of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina, who is credited with coming up with the concept of the Women’s Health Festival at the Open.
The money raised by the Women’s Open will benefit a number of charities, including FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
Bowman and Higgins were joined Tuesday morning by women’s golfing legends Patty Berg, winner of the first Women’s Open; Peggy Kirk Bell, owner of Pine Needles and honorary chairwoman of this year’s Open; and Kathy Whitworth in the Women’s Health Pavilion to kick off the Women’s Health Festival.
The 10,000-square-foot pavilion, located at the main entrance gate near the 14th green, features a number of information booths and exhibits that focus on women’s health and wellness. There will be special speakers and presentations throughout the week.
“It’s wonderful how all parties involved have taken the spotlight that shines on women’s golf and spread it to include women’s health,” Higgins said.
The legacy of the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s Health Festival will be community-based “Well Woman” projects funded by proceeds from the festival and the championship combined.
In 1996, proceeds from the Women’s Open at Pine Needles benefited breast cancer awareness and prevention.
The Women’s Health Festival continues through Sunday and is open to ticket holders from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Rainy Start
The rain came down Monday, the first of three days of practice rounds at the Open. But it didn’t dampen the spirits of the spectators who braved the foul weather in hopes of getting a glimpse of their golfing heroes.
Despite Monday’s practice round being canceled by thunderstorms, 14-year-old Megan Stanikowsky of Charlotte got the thrill of her young life when she found herself just feet from the prohibitive favorite to win the Open — Annika Sorenstam.
“I was in the Merchandise Pavilion looking at the hats when my mom tapped me on the shoulder and pointed,” Stanikowsy said. “And there was Annika walking right by us. I was too nervous to ask for her autograph. But it was enough just to be that close to her. She’s my hero. Someday I want to be just like her and play professional golf.”
The young Stanikowsky is well on her way, boasting that she recently shot a personal best 86 playing on the junior varsity golf team at Charlotte Latin.
In order to make it on the tour, Stanikowsky will probably have to lower that score to just about equal the age of her grandmother, Eileen, 74, who is attending her first-ever USGA event.
Though less thrilled by the close encounter with Sorenstam — she admits to not being a golf fan — the elder Stanikowsky is happy just to be sharing the week with three generations of Stanikowskys.
“It’s a girls’ week out,” Eileen Stanikowsky said as she optimistically selected a green visor emblazoned with the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open logo to shield her eyes from the hidden sun. “I guess I should be buying an umbrella instead. But I just know the weather will clear up and it will be a beautiful week.
“We’re here for the whole thing, and we’re already having a wonderful time. This is a beautiful area. I hadn’t visited Moore County since I was a young girl. It has certainly changed. But I see you still have pine trees everywhere.”
Picking up the detritus of those pine trees was groundskeeper Willie Brown. Brown has been working with a crew of maintenance men and groundskeepers for months to ready the course for the Women’s Open.
His task on this stormy day was to clear the pinecones and pine needles blown onto the grounds of Pine Needles.
“Don’t guess they’ll need to water the grass today,” Brown joked as he stuffed tree debris into a black plastic bag. “Wouldn’t want any golfers have their ball bounce off a pine cone. It’s nice to know that all our work is going to be on national television. Everybody’s gonna see all the work we’ve done. I’m real proud of that.”
Someone looking for some work to be proud of on this gloomy day was Scott Anston, sportswriter for the Cullman (Ala.) Times.
A golfer himself, Anston is combining work with play. He is officially on vacation, but he is also searching out stories for when he goes back home.
“I figure I can get a whole passel of stories out of this thing,” he said as he drank coffee with several other soggy journalists gathered around the Mr. Coffee machine. “But there ain’t much to write home about today. I’m just hoping the rain stops, so I can maybe squeeze in some golf later this afternoon. Like they say, all work and no play.”
Record Crowd Expected
The rain did put a slight damper on ticket sales Monday, but the Championship staff is optimistic that it won’t hurt efforts to attract a record crowd, said Pine Needles Chief Operating Officer Kelly Miller.
“Of course we didn’t sell a whole lot of tickets on Monday, what with the rain,” Miller said. “But the forecast is promising, and we’re confident we’ll end up with a record-breaking crowd.”
The skies began clearing Tuesday afternoon as golfers took to the course for practice rounds, which continue today.
The first of the four Championship rounds begins Thursday, with threesomes teeing off at 7:30 a.m. on hole No. 1 and hole No. 10. Play will continue through the week, ending with the final round Sunday.
There are 150 players in the field. The field will be be cut to the 60 lowest and anyone tying for 60 th place and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader after the second round Thursday.
The Open will be televised on ESPN Thursday and Friday and on NBC Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets are available at the gates.
