Safeco Classic

Safeco Classic
Tournament information
LocationKent, Washington, U.S.
Established1982
Course(s)Meridian Valley C.C.
Par72
Length6,241 yards (5,707 m)
Tour(s)LPGA Tour
FormatStroke play - 72 holes
Prize fund$650,000
Month playedSeptember
Final year1999
Tournament record score
Aggregate270 Patty Sheehan (1990)
To par-18 Patty Sheehan (1990)
Final champion
Sweden Maria Hjorth
Meridian Valley Country Club is located in the United States
Meridian Valley Country Club
Meridian Valley Country Club

The Safeco Classic (often styled as the SAFECO Classic) was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in the Seattle area, sponsored by Safeco Insurance. It was played 18 times, from 1982 to 1999, at Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent, Washington, usually in mid-September, the week following the Safeway Classic in Portland.[1][2]

With the opening of the Seattle Mariners' Safeco Field in Seattle in July 1999, Safeco entered a 20-year, $40 million agreement for the naming rights of the new major league baseball stadium. Safeco ended its sponsorship of the LPGA event in October 1999 and a new sponsor did not emerge.[3]

Multiple winners of the 72-hole event were Patty Sheehan (1982, 1990, 1995), Juli Inkster (1983, 1988), and Karrie Webb (1995, 1996).

  1. ^ "LPGA Tournament Chronology 1980-1989" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  2. ^ "LPGA Tournament Chronology 1990-1999" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  3. ^ Smith, Craig (October 6, 1999). "Safeco ends sponsorship - 18-Year association with LPGA Tour ends". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 8, 2015.