It will be interesting to see if organizers and the LPGA Tour can complete the deal to bring a women’s professional golf tournament to Tega Cay beginning next year.
Talking to the local organizers, they’re bullish about their ability to make this happen though they admit there are still sponsorship issues to finalize. That’s a serious challenge in any business right now, doubly so for a golf tournament.
Would an LPGA Tour event work at Tega Cay in the fall? Maybe.
It would have to get most of the top players, something that didn’t always happen for the Fieldcrest Cannon Classic at the Peninsula Club in the ’90s. It would need Paula Creamer, Suzann Petterssen, Lorena Ochoa and Natalie Gulbis, among others, to play.
Getting Michelle Wie is the ticket but she’s still planning on attending college in the fall which could knock her out of playing here.
It was surprising to hear Tega Cay as the host course if only because it hadn’t been mentioned before when there has been talk of a possible LPGA Tour event coming here. Tega Cay has 27 holes and a large clubhouse facility, which helps.
If it all comes together, it would be a nice addition to the local golf calendar at an ideal time to play golf in this area. Putting it together is the hard part.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Tega Cay and the LPGA Tour? Maybe
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1 comments:
Fall is definitely the right season to have a tournament here, but Tega Cay isn't the right place. The course just isn't that great, and certainly isn't up to championship needs and standards--even those of the LPGA. A lot of room, yes; but layout, no.
If this is the best we can offer the LPGA, they'll pass us up after the first contract ends and head back to Alabama's RTJ Trail courses or wherever.
Come on--we'd love to see the LPGA come here to the Charlotte metro...but to a much better course, with the potential for a long run of many years.
Oh, and BTW--congrats to Ballantyne Resort for finally getting it into their heads that losing your bent grass greens every year isn't worth the fast speeds that some golfers say they want. Replacing them with hybrid bermuda is worth it, even if the greens are a touch slower than pro standards. (Why would you want those anyway for a local course that doesn't see the pros?) A little slower overall, and maybe paint during the winter when the grass is dormant in exchange for no burned out areas, smaller divots (even when they're fixed), and better conditioning year-round? Shouldn't that be a no-brainer? When are the Carolina Trail courses going to figure it out? #3 on Skybrook; #1, 2 and others at Birkdale; some at CGL...it's just not worth it!
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