SOUTH BEND, IN--(Marketwired - Feb 8, 2017) - The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and its Four Winds® Casinos are pleased to announce that the 2017 Four Winds Invitational will be held from Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11 at Blackthorn Golf Club, located at 6100 Nimtz Parkway, South Bend. The sixth annual tournament will feature a field of professional women golfers from around the world competing on the Symetra® Tour - Road to the LPGA®. The 2017 tournament will include 144 golfers who will be playing for a $150,000 purse.
"We are proud to bring back the Four Winds Invitational to South Bend for a sixth straight year. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians has lived in this region for hundreds of years and this is just one of many ways in which we continually reinvest in the community that has always been our home," said John P. Warren, Chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. "We have a great partnership with the Symetra Tour and thank all the volunteers in the community who have made the tournament such a success."
Over the first five years of the Four Winds Invitational, more than $750,000 in prize money has been awarded to athletes playing in the tournament. 50 golfers who competed in South Bend have graduated from the Symetra Tour and moved on to the LPGA Tour, including 2015 tournament winner and Major Champion Brooke Henderson and 2016 winner Jackie Stoelting. Additionally, $349,000 has been donated to Memorial Children's Hospital, which is from proceeds of the tournament.
"I want to thank the Pokagon Band and its Four Winds Casinos along with all of our sponsors and volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the past five years to ensure that the Four Winds Invitational continues to be among the best tournaments on the Symetra Tour," said Tim Firestone, Owner and General Manager, Blackthorn Golf Club. "We'll be releasing additional details on the 2017 tournament in the coming months."
The Four Winds Invitational is one of four Symetra Tour events that is part of the fourth annual Potawatomi Cup, which has a total prize pool of $40,000. It awards Symetra Tour players a bonus based on performance at events sponsored by four Potawatomi nations' casinos.
The 2016 Four Winds Invitational was held from June 17 - 19, 2016 at Blackthorn Golf Club. In 2016, Jackie Stoelting carded a 5-under 67 to win her second consecutive Symetra Tour event. More information is available at www.fourwindsinvitational.com.
About the Four Winds Invitational
The Four Winds® Invitational was established in 2012 as part of the Symetra® Tour - Road to the LPGA®, and is sponsored by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and its Four Winds® Casinos. It is held at Blackthorn Golf Club, located at 6100 Nimtz Parkway, South Bend, Ind. The tournament features a field of professional women golfers from around the world. More information is available at: www.fourwindsinvitational.com.