The Samsung World Championship, a women’s golf tournament featuring an elite 20-player field, will move to the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links this fall, tournament organizers and the LPGA Tour announced.

It will take place Oct. 2-5 and will be the first LPGA event at Half Moon Bay Golf Links. It also marks the return of the event to Northern California for the first time since 2002, when it wrapped up a three-year run at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo.

“We are pleased to bring the Samsung World Championship to such a fine venue that we know will provide what the championship always provides: a memorable event with a world-class champion,” tournament director Torrey Gane said.

Known for being held on some of the world’s finest courses, the Samsung World Championship has been played on five continents in 26 years. Half Moon Bay Golf Links becomes the 15th course to host the elite event, which began in 1980 at The Country Club in suburban Cleveland.

It will offer a $1 million purse.

“We are very pleased to be the host site for the 2008 Samsung World Championship,” said Mark Kendall, president of Kenmark Golf Management, which manages Half Moon Bay Golf Links. “In recent years, our two magnificent courses have gained national recognition and we’ve been selected as one of the premier golf resorts in the country.

“A key component has to do with the coastal winds, which is significant to any links-style golf course. The Ocean Course is also very gallery friendly, offering great viewing spots throughout the course.”

An Arthur Hills design that opened in 1997, the Ocean Course is a links course set on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There are ocean views on every hole, but the course’s signature holes are the final three: a 384-yard par-4, a 184-yard par-3, and the finishing 533-yard par-5 18th. All three play along the ocean bluffs and all three combine stellar shot making demands with stunning views.

The Ocean Course has been ranked as one of the top new courses that opened, according to Golf Digest in 1997, and since 2005 has been ranked as one of the top 50 by Golf for Women. It earned a No. 38 ranking among top Resorts for Golf Digest and a Silver Award Winner for Golf Magazine’s top resorts issue.

Past winners of the championship include some of the finest players in the world: Beth Daniel (1980, ’81 and ’94), JoAnne Carner (1982, ’83), Nancy Lopez (1984), Amy Alcott (1985), Pat Bradley (1986), Ayako Okamoto (1987), Rosie Jones (1988), Betsy King (1989), Cathy Gerring (1990), Meg Mallon (1991), Dottie Pepper (1993), Se Ri Pak (1999), Juli Inkster (1997, ’98 and 2000), Dorothy Delasin (2001), Annika Sorenstam (1995, ’96, 2002, ’04, ’05), Sophie Gustafson (2003) and Lorena Ochoa (2006, ’07).

The tournament was played at Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., the last four years. This year’s event comes one week before the LPGA Tour’s Longs Drugs Challenge at Blackhawk Country Club in Danville (Oct. 9-12), giving Northern California back-to-back weeks of women’s pro golf.

“Just to get in means you’ve had a great year,” said Laura Davies. “It brings the best of the best together and anytime you beat the best players, it’s a feather in your cap.”

Inkster (2000), Delasin (2001) and Sorenstam (2002) each won at Hiddenbrooke, an Arnold Palmer-signature course in Vallejo. Inkster finished 14-under-par, Delasin was 11-under and Sorenstam was 22-under on the challenging Hiddenbrooke layout.

• AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am set to continue through 2014

AT&T Inc., the PGA Tour and Monterey Peninsula Foundation Inc., Tuesday announced that AT&T has extended the title sponsorship of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, one of the country’s premier golf tournaments, through 2014. AT&T has been the title sponsor of the tournament since 1986.  

This year’s tournament started Monday and continues through Sunday. It’s a 72-hole PGA Tour golf championship that has been in operation since 1937. Top Tour professionals team with Hollywood celebrities, noteworthy musicians and various industry leaders to compete for a $6 million purse.

Since moving the event to Pebble Beach in 1947, the tournament has generated more than $66 million for local educational and community service programs, including $6.14 million last year.

It’s played at Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill.