Canyon Ranch, LPGA Serve Up Healthy Favorites In New Cookbook

Proceeds from “The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch” will go to Shape Up America!

TUCSON, Ariz., July 1, 2006 — It’s the perfect recipe for an extraordinary cookbook: Combine the favorite foods of Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) players with nutritious guidance from the chefs at the renowned Canyon Ranch integrative wellness resorts. Mix them well in a full-color, illustrated, 60-page booklet. The result is a varied selection of flavorful, healthy meals in “The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch,” a joint effort of Canyon Ranch and LPGA to raise awareness of the benefits of healthy eating.

All proceeds from the $10 book, available at www.canyonranch.com and www.lpga.com, will benefit Shape Up America!, a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization committed to raising awareness of obesity as a health issue.

“This cookbook is an excellent way for us to demonstrate how easy it is to tweak a recipe and make it healthier,” said Canyon Ranch Corporate Chef Scott Uehlein. “When we worked with the LPGA players, we only had to make small changes to cut fat, reduce calories or increase the flavor and nutritional value in their favorite foods.”

In four chapters, “The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch” includes lunch entrees and accompaniments (“Front Nine”), snacks and drinks (“Clubhouse Turn”), dinner entrees (“Back Nine”) and desserts (“19th Hole”). Among the player recipes that received “Canyon Ranch makeovers” are LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Famer Nancy Lopez’s “Turkey Chili,“ 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner Karrie Webb’s “Avocado, Mango & Walnut Salad,” Japanese superstar Ai Miyazato’s “Edamame Rice Balls” and LPGA rookie Morgan Pressel’s “Championship Bundt Cake.” The booklet also features new recipes from Canyon Ranch chefs.

“As professional athletes, many of whom are mothers, the LPGA golfers realize the importance of feeding themselves and their families well,” said Roxanne Housley, vice president of Sales & Strategic Alliances for Canyon Ranch. “Both the players and Canyon Ranch are mindful of the benefits derived from eating quality, wholesome foods.”

Earlier this year, the LPGA chose Canyon Ranch as its official wellness partner. In a combined effort to promote health and overall wellbeing among tour players, Canyon Ranch is providing every winner of an LPGA event an all-inclusive stay for two at one of Canyon Ranch's two destination resorts. “The LPGA Cooks with Canyon Ranch” is the first of several planned joint initiatives to raise public awareness of the benefits healthy living.

"In addition to being world-class athletes, LPGA players have tremendous talents and exciting interests away from the golf course," said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens, whose recipe for "Beef Lasagna" is also featured in the cookbook. "This cookbooklet beautifully showcases some of our players’ skills in a different environment—the kitchen—allowing fans to interact with their favorite LPGA stars in a whole new way. We’re thrilled with the cookbooklet and very proud to partner with Canyon Ranch to provide combined support for Shape Up America!’s mission."

The mission of Shape Up America! is to provide evidence-based information and guidance on weight management to the public, healthcare professionals, policymakers and the media. According to the organization, to date, obesity has been linked with more than 30 medical conditions – particularly Type II diabetes and heart disease, where about two-thirds of all cases are overweight. Approximately one-third of adults in the United States are overweight, nearly another third are obese, and an estimated 15.5 percent – 9 million – youths are considered overweight.

Shape Up America!’s initiatives, as well as Canyon Ranch and the LPGA’s proactive, preventative approach to wellness, are supported by some of the nation’s top medical experts.

“One of our top priorities for American healthcare needs to be transitioning from a treatment-oriented society to a prevention-oriented society,” said U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona. “Obesity, as a preventable illness, needs to be stopped now as it reaches a level of epidemic proportion in the United States.”

Shape Up America! was founded in 1994 by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. A network of respected professionals in the fields of medicine, public health, nutrition and physical activity provide support and guidance for the campaign. The award-winning Shape Up America! Web site – www.shapeupamerica.org – offers weight management information for adults in an entertaining and engaging manner.

About Canyon Ranch
Canyon Ranch has been offering healthy, active vacations for more than 26 years. The life-enhancement company has two destination health resorts – the original, which opened in Tucson, Ariz., in 1979, and a second, which opened in Lenox, Mass., in 1989. The company also operates three Canyon Ranch SpaClub fitness, spa and wellness facilities located in The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, at Gaylord Palms resort in Kissimmee, Fla., and onboard the Queen Mary 2 luxury ocean liner. In addition, Canyon Ranch partners with the renowned Cleveland Clinic on health initiatives, such as an advanced Executive Health Program. In early 2007, the company will open the first Canyon Ranch Living residential community in Miami Beach. Additional information is available at www.canyonranch.com.

About Ladies Professional Golf Association
Featuring the world’s best women golfers, the LPGA’s membership includes touring, teaching and club professionals. The LPGA Tour in 2006 features 34 events, with total prize money of nearly $50 million. Since 1981, the LPGA and its tournaments have raised approximately $170 million for charity. From the dreams of its 13 founders in 1950, the LPGA has evolved into the world’s preeminent women’s professional sports organization. The LPGA has grown from its roots as a playing tour into a non-profit organization involved in every facet of golf. The LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) membership boasts a total of nearly 1,200 women golf professionals who serve as teachers, golf professionals, club managers and coaches. Through the LPGA T&CP membership, the LPGA is working to increase the involvement of women and youth in golf, as well as contribute to the growth of the sport overall. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information on the LPGA, log on to www.LPGA.com.

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