The Tribune

GEORGETTE Rolle is coming home to make her LPGA debut on the same piece of land where she learned to play and love the game of golf.

A native of Nassau, 28-year-old Rolle has been awarded a sponsor exemption into the inaugural $1.3 million Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic May 23-26 at the Ocean Club golf course at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. A professional golfer since 2008, the former Texas Southern University player has competed on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s developmental circuit, but now she is stepping up to the major leagues, and she’s eager to see how her game stacks up.

“I’m happy and very excited,” said Rolle, who last competed in a Symetra Tour event in Mexico last year before suffering an Achilles injury in June. “It’s really special. It’s an awesome opportunity to be able to play at home, and I’m going to be working very hard to play well.”

Rolle received one of two sponsor exemptions. The other was awarded to veteran Jill McGill, 41, of California, who has earned more than $2 million in her LPGA career. McGill, a former US Women’s Amateur champion, last competed in the 2011 Kia Classic.

“Our field is shaping up to be one of the strongest of the year-to-date on the LPGA slate,” said tournament director Matt Truax. “We are extremely excited and proud to have Georgette Rolle playing here at the Ocean Club. To have her playing in front of the home crowds will put an extra star on what will be an extraordinary tournament week.”

A graduate assistant coach since 2007 for the men’s and women’s golf teams at Texas Southern, Rolle currently works as a golf instructor while also trying to build her career as a touring professional.

She is an LPGA Teaching & Club Professional Class B member who serves as programme coordinator and instructor at the First Tee of Houston F.M. Law Park. She also comes home to the Bahamas each year to host an annual two-day golf camp for children 7-18 years old as a way of giving back to the game.

Rolle twice won the Bahamas National Amateur Championship, in 2003 and 2007, and also was the National Minority Champion, Women’s Independent Division, in ‘07.

She remembers playing at the Ocean Club before Tom Weiskopf redesigned it in 2000. Rolle worked for a short time at the new facility, and she has played on it numerous times, though not very often over the last few years.

“I barely remember the old layout. I can say I like the current course. It’s fun to play, and it has great views too,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll have anything like a home course advantage, but it will be nice to play at home and hopefully I can play well. My game is coming along. I’m trying to get stronger. I think endurance will be a key factor for me, but I’ll be excited to be there and that should help.”

In other news, officials of the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic have also announced that volunteers are still needed for the tournament to help fill vacancies in several different areas.

Sign-up is free and volunteers receive tournament logo shirts, free breakfast and lunch during working days and special parking. Prospective volunteers can contact Emily Palocioz at Emily@GlobalGolfManagement.com

In addition, Stacy Lewis and Yani Tseng, former No. 1 players on the Rolex Rankings, top the list of early commitments for the event.

Former major championship winners Paula Creamer (US Women’s Open) and Brittany Lincicome (Kraft Nabisco) are also entered.

Lewis is the 2012 Rolex Player of the Year, while Tseng, now fourth in the world, was the top-ranked women’s golfer on the Rolex Rankings Women’s World Golf Ranking for 109 weeks until being replaced by Lewis in March.

“I think everyone on the LPGA is excited about going to the Bahamas, not only to play in a world-class tournament, but also to see the beautiful beaches and enjoy the island,” said Lewis, No. 2 behind Inbee Park. “It’s also great to see a company like Pure Silk continue to increase their involvement with our tour.”

“I am so excited to see Pure Silk join the LPGA tournament family in the Bahamas,” added Lincicome, a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour. “I know that together with Bahamas tourism, they will help us put on a first-class tournament and showcase the LPGA’s best players in paradise.”

Lewis and Lincicome are among the LPGA players sponsored by Pure Silk.

The Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, a 72-hole stroke play competition, will be televised on the Golf Channel as well as by the LPGA’s global television partners.