Tournament Play for the Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic, the LPGA Futures Tour’s only event held outside the United States, begins today and continues through the weekend at El Tigre Golf Course in Nuevo Vallarta. Parking and admission are free, so come down and cheer on the players.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Defending champion Cindy Lacrosse of Tampa, Florida returns to El Tigre Golf & Country Club to defend her title at this week’s Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico. The event is the LPGA Futures Tour’s third tournament of the 2011 season.

LaCrosse finished the 2010 season on the Futures Tour as the top money winner and as the 2010 Player of the Year, earned full 2011 LPGA Tour status. Her win in Mexico was her first professional victory of three tournament wins last year.

The Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic will feature a purse of $125,000, with a cash prize of $17,500 and $12,500 for the runner-up. The tournament will be contested over 54 holes (three rounds) in a stroke-play format.

In addition to LaCrosse, five top-10 finishers from the 2010 tournament in Mexico will be in the field. They are: 3rd – Chelsea Curtis of New Seabury, Massachusetts; tie for 4th – Hannah Jun San Diego; 6th – Jane Rah of Torrance, California; and Mallory Blackwelder of Versailles, Kentucky, Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Adrienne White of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, all tied for ninth.

LPGA Futures Tour professionals in the tournament field who are natives of Mexico will be: Lili Alvarez of Durango; Ani Carrillo of Guadalajara; Tanya Dergal of Durango; Marcela Leon of Monterrey; Pamela Ontiveros of Gomez Palacio; and Sophia Sheridan of Guadalajara.

Mexican amateurs in the tournament field will be: Liisa Kelo Escartin, 25, of Mexico City, who played college golf at Arizona State University and participated in the Women’s Mexican Amateur Open from 2005-2011; Gabriela (Gaby) Lopez Butron, 17, of Mexico City, a member of the Mexican Amateur Team and Mexico’s top-ranked girl, who attends Sagrado Corazon School; Daniela Ortiz, 18, of Morelia, a Mexico National Champion who will play for Nova Southeastern University in Florida, beginning in August 2011; and Regina Plasencia, 16, of Guadalajara, who was the 2010 Optimist International tournament champion and who has played in three LPGA tournaments in Mexico. Plasencia is also the cousin of professional Sophia Sheridan.

Schedule of Weekend Events

Friday, April 8
7 am – First Round Tournament Play (morning wave start at 1st, 10th tees)

12 pm - First Round Tournament Play (afternoon wave start at 1st, 10th tees)

Saturday, April 9
7 am - Second Round Tournament Play (morning wave start at 1st, 10th tees)

12 pm – Second Round Tournament Play (afternoon wave start at 1st, 10th tees)

Sunday, April 10
8 am - Final Round Tournament Play (1st tee only start)

Approx. 2:30 pm – Awards Ceremony, 18th green at El Tigre

For more information, visit rivieranayaritclassic.com or lpgafuturestour.com.