Columnist Victoria Sun: LPGA tourney parts ways with D.I.

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

Victoria Sun covers golf for the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4078 or via e-mail at victoria@lasvegassun.com.

Endings happen every day.

People die and get divorced.

Broadway plays close, restaurants and retail stores go out of business.

And as sad as they sometimes are, endings pop up in our everyday lives whether we like it or not.

On Tuesday, LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw and International Management Group Tournament Director Michael Stearns decided to hold the $1 million Arch Championship, the season-ending LPGA tournament that decides the top awards in women's golf, at a new site, ending its relationship with the Desert Inn.

The tournament, formerly known as the PageNet Championship, was held at the D.I. for the last four years and will be held Nov. 16-19 at a site to be determined. Se Ri Pak is the defending champion of the tournament that drew few fans last year.

"Venues in Las Vegas and Florida are in the running," Stearns said in a press release. "And hopefully we can even return to Steve Wynn's new hotel sometime down the road."

Calls to Stearns were not returned.

Votaw said as recently as April that he looked forward to having the tournament at the D.I., when he showed up for a celebrity golf outing in honor of the resort's 50th anniversary.

The release said the change of venue was because the Desert Inn will be closed by Wynn, the new owner of the property. Since the announcement, many hotel staffers have taken new jobs elsewhere. Votaw and IMG concluded that because of the depleted staff, the resort would not be able to run the tournament as smoothly as it has in the past.

"We at the LPGA regret leaving a venue that has been such a great host for the culmination of our season at the Arch Championship," Votaw said in the release. "We originally felt we could return to the Desert Inn in 2000 despite the facility's many changes that were made by the ownership, but after discussions with both IMG and the Desert Inn, we felt this would not be the case."

Mark LeFever, COO and CFO of the Desert Inn, maintained in the release that although the resort has undergone some changes, its commitment to the tournament never wavered.

In a brief telephone interview, LeFever was terse when asked about not hosting the tournament.

"The tournament won't be here," he said curtly. "That's really all I can say. They're driving the bus on this one."

Driving the bus away from a gorgeous site that will ultimately see its end sometime in 2001.

"I heard that we'll be open at least through September or October of 2001," said Chris Morgando, general manager of the D.I. golf course. "But everything is day-to-day.

"We are booking tee times through September of 2001 and we are looking forward to being open through then."

Yes, it would have been nice if the tournament was held at the D.I. for one final hurrah, but that would have only masked the inevitable.

All things, no matter how good they are, eventually come to an end.