Professional tours that will be played in the Pacific Northwest this year

The Pacific Northwest will welcome the LPGA and Champions Tours this summer with a pair of tournaments in the Seattle and Portland areas.

First on the tee will be LPGA Safeway Classic, set for Aug. 17-19 at Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek Course. It marks the fourth straight year the event has been held at Pumpkin Ridge after moving from longtime home Columbia Edgewater.

Suzann Pettersen won last year’s event in a playoff. The tournament features a purse of $1.5 million and last year the Safeway Classic drew 88,000 fans for the week.

Pacific Northwest players such as Wendy Ward, Paige Mackenzie and Jimin Kang will be part of the field.

See www.safewayclassic.com for more information on the tournament.

Next up will be the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic, set for the TPC Snoqualmie ridge Aug. 24-26. Mark Calcavecchia won last year’s tournament, which features a purse of $2 million.

The event will draw the top players form the Champions Tour, including hometown favorite Fred Couples. Other Pacific Northwest Champions tour players Bob Gilder from Corvallis and Peter Jacobsen from Portland are expected to compete.

The tournament was voted as the Champions Tour’s Player Award winner for 2011. For more information check out www.boeingclassic.com.