The Olympia Gold Classic was a women's professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

tournament on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

, held in southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in Los Angeles County from 1978 to 1982. It was played in late winter at the

Rancho Park Golf Course Rancho Park Golf Course is a municipal golf course in the western United States, located in southern California in the city of Los Angeles. Owned and operated by the city's Department of Recreation and Parks, the par-71 course in the Cheviot Hil ...

in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

from 1978 to 1980 as the "Sunstar Classic," then moved east to Industry Hills Golf Club in City of Industry in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and 1982, in a renamed event sponsored by

Olympia Brewing Company The Olympia Brewing Company was a brewery in the northwest United States, located in Tumwater, Washington, near Olympia. Founded in 1896 by Leopold Friederich Schmidt, it was bought by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983. Through a series of ...

History

Nancy Lopez Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships. Amateur career Lopez won the New Mexico Women's ...

, age 21, won the inaugural edition by a stroke for her second career win; she won her first at the previous tournament in Florida two weeks earlier and won nine times in 1978, including five consecutive in late spring. Lopez successfully defended the title in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, sinking a birdie putt on the final hole to edge

Hollis Stacy Hollis Stacy (born March 16, 1954) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974, winning four major championships and 18 LPGA Tour events. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the veterans cate ...

by a stroke. The last three editions were hampered by heavy rains; 1980 was 54 holes as the first round was washed out, and 1981 was reduced to 36 holes with no weekend The next year it went the full 72 holes, but the final round was postponed a day to Monday.

Sally Little Sally Little (born 12 October 1951) is a South African-born professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1971 and won 15 LPGA Tour events, including two major championship, during her career. In 2016, she became the first female ...

was the champion the last two years. It was not succeeded by any event in the Los Angeles area in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Tournament names

* Olympia Gold Classic – (1981–1982), at

Industry Hills Golf Club Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms (commonly referred to as Industry Hills), is a golf club located in the City of Industry, California. It is made up of two 18-hole courses known as The Ike and The Babe. It is the location of PGA, LPGA, a ...

in City of Industry * Sunstar Classic – (1978–1980), at

in Los Angeles

Winners

*Due to heavy rain, final round in 1982 was held on Monday; no weekend rounds in 1981, and no opening round in 1980.

References

External links

Industry Hills Golf ClubRancho Park Golf Club
{{Former LPGA Tour Events Former LPGA Tour events Golf in California Sports competitions in Los Angeles County, California Recurring sporting events established in 1978 Recurring events disestablished in 1982 Women's sports in California