The Prairie Invitational Committee has been hard at work planning for the 2020 championship and beyond. They are announcing some changes to the tournament beginning with the 2020 championship which are designed to better align with the mission of the championship which is to “determine the best Female Golfer in the Midwest”. The 2020 championship is scheduled at Shadow Glen Golf Club on July 27-29, 2020. The changes in the championship are outlined as follows:
- The field is reduced to a total of 78 players
- All play will be in starting times off the #1 and #10 tee beginning at 7:30am on July 27 and July 28; starting times on July 29 will all be off the #1 tee beginning at 7:30am
- All play will be in threesomes
- A Player’s Reception will take place on Sunday, July 26th in the evening
These changes are designed to create a championship with the highest caliber players in the region while improving the player experience. Golfers in the Players Division will all begin on the #1 tee on Tuesday and finish on #18 in true championship fashion. Awards for the Players Division will take place immediately following the completion of play on Tuesday, and the cut to the low 18 players and ties in the Open Division will be announced at that time as well.
The Prairie Invitational Committee sent invitations to compete in the 2020 championship on February 1, 2020. Registration will open on March 2, 2020. The committee anticipates that the championship will fill within a few days of open registration. Golfers who do not receive an invitation to compete may apply to play in the championship, and those applications will be reviewed beginning on June 1, 2020. Places in the championship field will be allowed to applicants not on the invitation list if there is still space available in the tournament.
The Prairie Invitational Committee will issue invitations to the 2020 championship based on the following criteria with the six-state area defined as Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Oklahoma:
- Champions and Runners-Up in state or regional golf association major championships (such as Women’s Amateur, Girls Junior, Women’s Match Play, etc)
- Champions and Runners-Up in high school state championships
- All female PGA and LPGA professionals
- USGA National Championship Qualifiers
- Members of the Girls 4-State Teams
- Members of the Women’s Fore State Teams
- Any player who has completed 54-holes in the two prior Prairie Invitationals
- Players who reside in or play collegiately in the 6-state area who have a World Amateur Golf Ranking
- Top 10 in previous years: Women’s Player of the Year Points List, Senior Women’s Player of the Year Points List, and Girls Player of the Year Points List
- In addition, invitations will be extended to the champion or highest finisher not currently registered for the following events in 2020:
- Kansas City Women’s Match Play
- Kansas City Girls Junior
- Kansas Junior Amateur
- Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur
- Kansas Women’s Amateur
- Kansas Girls Match Play
- Kansas City Girls Match Play
Please contact Jacque Madison (jacque@kcgolf.org or 913-649-5242, ext2) with any questions regarding The Prairie Invitational.