The Olympia Gold Classic was a women's professional

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

tournament on the

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

, held in southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

to 1982. It was played in late winter at the Rancho Park Golf Course in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from 1978 to

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and 1982, in a renamed event sponsored by

Olympia Brewing Company The Olympia Brewing Company was a brewery which operated at the Olympia Brewery in Tumwater, Washington. Founded in 1896 by Leopold Friederich Schmidt, it was bought by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983. Through a series of consolidations, it ...

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 LPGA Tour, 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three women's major golf championships, major championships. ...

, 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

, 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 song ...

, sinking a birdie putt on the final hole to edge Hollis Stacy 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 was the champion the last two years. It was not succeeded by any event in the Los Angeles area in

1983 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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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 Championsh ...

in City of Industry * Sunstar Classic – (1978–1980), at Rancho Park Golf Course 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 tournaments 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