VESTAL, NY – The Binghamton Bearcats Athletic Association (BBAA) will host its 18th Annual Celebrating Women's Athletics Luncheon presented by M&T Bank on Monday, Feb. 27. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Events Center.
Former LPGA star and current CBS golf broadcaster Dottie Pepper will be the featured speaker this year. Dottie's golf career started right here in New York, as she won the 1981 New York State amateur title and the 1981 & 1983 New York state junior amateur titles. From there, she attended Furman University, where she earned five collegiate victories and was named All-American three times.
Dottie's success on the links didn't end there, as she joined the LPGA Tour in 1988 and went on to win seventeen official events on Tour, including two major championships (1992 & 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore). Her 19-under-par finish in the 1999 victory still stands as the lowest score in relation to par in a major championship. Dottie topped the LPGA Tour money list in 1992, and finished in the top ten in ten of eleven seasons between 1991 and 2001. Dottie also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup six times.
After her playing career, she began work as a golf commentator for NBC and The Golf Channel. After leaving NBC, she joined ESPN's broadcast team for two years before signing with CBS, where she has worked for the last seven years as an on-course reporter.
The Celebrating Women's Athletics Luncheon event has raised more than $550,000 to support the BBAA Scholarship Fund. In 2022, 10 BBAA Scholarships were awarded to student-athletes. This event began in 2006, with just 75 attendees, and today is one of the athletics department's primary fundraisers. In 2020, the event drew a record 810 guests.
Pepper is the latest of an impressive group of guest speakers who have come to Binghamton for the Celebrating Women's Athletics Luncheon. She is preceded by Nancy Hogshead-Makar (2022), Brenna Stewart (2021), Suzyn Waldman (2020), Joan Benoit-Samuelson (2019), Shannon Boxx (2018), Swin Cash (2017), Amy Van Dyken (2016), Rebecca Lobo (2015), Jennie Finch (2014), Shannon Miller (2013), Amanda Beard (2012), Julie Foudy (2011), Kara Lawson (2010) and Jessica Mendoza (2009).
Individual tickets are $60/person, and a table sponsorship is $600 which accommodates up to 10 guests and includes program recognition. For the second year we are offering team-specific table sponsorships, featuring the opportunity for up to 10 student-athletes from that specific program to attend. Table sponsorships are $1,000/each, and include table signage, program and video board recognition for the purchaser.
Individual tickets, table sponsors and team sponsorships are available for purchase at:
www.bubearcats.com/cwal
