Commissioner: LI course could be part of LPGA Tour

GLADSTONE, N.J. - Could Long Island become a regular stop for the LPGA Tour?

If LPGA commissioner Michael Whan has his way, it will be. Before coming to New Jersey this week for the Sybase Match Play Championship, Whan made a special stop at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton to talk to the club's officials and check out the area.

Sebonack is the site of the 2013 U.S. Women's Open Championship. Whan said Thursday he was so impressed that he would like to see the tour make a regular stop out there.

"We would love to have a tournament on Long Island," he said. "I spent the day out there looking at the area, looking at the courses, talking to people to figure out if we can someday hold a tournament.

"Now that I'm seeing what we're building around the Open for 2013, it makes me realize it's a nice place for us to be long term. I would like to see the Open be the beginning of something."

The 2013 Open will be the first U.S. Women's Open held on Long Island and the first time the championship will be conducted in the state of New York since 1973. Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck hosted the 1957 and 1972 U.S. Women's Opens and The Country Club of Rochester hosted the 1953 and 1973 championships.

It will be the first national championship conducted at Sebonack Golf Club, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak and opened in 2006.

Whan said there has been no formal talk with sponsors about an event after the U.S. Open, but from what the USGA is doing to get ready for the Open, he believes that the business climate on Long Island is a good one for golf.

Said Whan: "The USGA does a nice job of creating interest and I think the fans are going to like what they see. We want to make sure we stay there after we have our big coming-out party."