JOANNA WHITLEY NAMED DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING FOR FRYS.COM OPEN


Release Date:
June 9, 2008

Media Contact:
Ryan Woodcock, (480) 348-7540

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Frys.com Open tournament director Scott Reid announced that Joanna Whitley has been named director of sales and marketing for the Frys.com Open. Whitley brings an extensive golf background to the staff, both as a touring golf professional and a member of the golf media.

"We are happy to have Joanna come on board and join our staff," Reid said. "She has a solid foundation of golf knowledge, as well as a great passion for the game, and she will be a great asset to our team."

Whitley has spent the last seven years pursuing her dream of a playing career on the LPGA Tour. From 2000–2007, she played professional golf on the Futures Tour and the Cactus Tour, where she earned three professional victories.

During that time, she also did freelance sports writing for the East Valley Tribune, where she covered the FBR/Phoenix Open and Arizona State's women's basketball program, and she also served as co–host of Backspin The Golf Show, a weekly golf radio show in Phoenix.

Prior to her move to Phoenix, Whitley was a reporter for the Journal Inquirer in Hartford, Conn., where she was the newspaper’s first female sports reporter in more than 25 years and covered the PGA TOUR’s Greater Hartford Open, as well as University of Connecticut basketball and the WNBA's New York Liberty.

Whitley earned a degree in art history from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., where she also was captain of the golf team.

The Frys.com Open is part of the PGA TOUR's Fall Series and will feature a full-field (132 players), four–day tournament with a $5 million purse and $900,000 payout to the winner. The Frys.com Open will be played Oct. 22–26, 2008, at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course, and the tournament will be televised all four days on The Golf Channel. For more information, log onto www.frysopengolf.com or call (866) 638–1050.