“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” Mark Berman made it happen. In January of 2020, while planning his daughter’s rookie schedule for her professional golf career, Mark realized there were limited opportunities for competitive play for women coming out of college to properly prepare to qualify for the LPGA Tour. And that is how The Orca Golf Bag Women’s Match Play Championship came to be. 

World Golf Village is thrilled to host the inaugural Orca Golf Bag Women’s Match Play Championship from October 26 to November 7, 2021. The two week tournament will feature two separate, yet connected tournaments. The Orca Golf Bag Women’s Match Play Championship will begin on the King & Bear course with a 54-hole one-week Stroke-Play tournament and will continue the second week with a Match-Play championship at Slammer & Squire. A guaranteed $50,000 will be shared between the winners of the two tournaments. In addition to the cash prize, the match-play winner will take home the title of Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Champion and receive a celebratory golf bag designed by Erica Bennett of Orca Golf Bags, the nation’s only women-owned golf bag design company.

The structure of the tournament isn’t the only thing that makes The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship unique. The tournament will host unique programming to celebrate women’s initiatives on the course and beyond. Donna Orender, Founder and CEO of Generation W, and her team will be leading the women’s initiatives for The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship. “Generation W and it’s girl-focused program, Generation WOW, provides the guidance, leadership, and education that many girls – especially busy athletes – just don’t get in college and high school. So, let’s provide them value beyond just a place to tee it up, and while we’re at it, let’s bring in the business and local communities where the girls playing can learn and they can also be role models in our community,” Berman shares.

The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship will represent two of the fourteen 2021 events on the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT). Gary DeSerrano, WAPT President, shared his excitement for the new event stating, “We are very excited to bring the WAPT to the Jacksonville area and in particular, the World Golf Village. We are certain the next stars of the women professional golf will look forward to this new and exciting event.”

Gary DeSerrano isn’t the only one excited for The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship to be held at World Golf Village. Sherry Davidson, President of Davidson Realty, is eager to join World Golf Village Residents in welcoming these guests. “It will be so wonderful for the Residents of World Golf Village and the greater St. Augustine community to welcome and support these sixty-four talented ladies and their families to our area and compete in The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship.” 

The Orca Golf Bag Women’s Match Play Championship will undoubtedly provide these sixty-four women the opportunity to grow both as athletes and as leaders as they strive to make their dream of competing in the LPGA happen.