Year 2 of LPGA major event in Texas shows similarities, differences from Rancho Mirage era
This week marks the second playing in Houston of the Chevron Championship, the first major event of the year on the LPGA.
In other words, it’s the second year in a row the major tournament will not be played in Rancho Mirage after being played at Mission Hills Country Club for 51 years. The spot in the calendar at Mission Hills has been filled by a PGA Tour Champions event, the successful Galleri Classic, which was just played for the second time. The idea of the LPGA playing a tournament in March or early April in the desert seems to have relatively quickly disappeared.
As the Chevron Championship is played for the second time in Texas, there are some differences in the event and some similarities, beyond the events being played at The Club at Carlton Oaks in the Woodlands rather than the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills.
For instance:
The field
Like its predecessor in Rancho Mirage, this week’s major championship in Houston will feature a stellar field. That hasn’t changed, and you would expect that for any major played anywhere. The Chevron event will include 34 major champions, including past Chevron winners Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Pernilla Lindberg, So Yeon Ryu, Patty Tavatanakit, Lexi Thompson, Yani Tseng, defending champion Lilia Vu and Jennifer Kupcho, who won the event the last time it was played in the desert in 2022. Members of U.S. and European Solheim Cup teams, 40 golfers who have been in the Summer Olympics and 71 LPGA Tour winners are in the field as well.
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Dinah
Obviously Dinah Shore never set foot on the Club at Carlton Oaks, but she owned a home just off the ninth green of the Mission Hills course that bears her name. Keeping Shore’s legacy alive with a tournament that moved to a new state and a new time of year is a challenge. The Chevron Championship is trying to do that by maintaining the Dinah Shore Trophy as the trophy for the Houston event. In keeping the trophy, the event says Shore “was probably the single greatest influence in helping the Ladies Professional Golf Association achieve the prestige it enjoys today. Dinah was the first, and to date the only, honorary member to be inducted into the prestigious LPGA Hall of Fame.” This year marks the 30th anniversary of Shore’s death.
Past champions
It is more than a little strange when you go to the Chevron Championship website to see it list past champions back to 1972 and Jane Blalock when the tournament has been played just one year in Houston. The tournament has reached out to past champions and a number of them, including Mission Hills resident and three-time winner at Mission Hills Amy Alcott, are helping get the word out about the event in Houston in support of the LPGA and the major championship. The tournament is also continuing the tradition of the past champions' dinner that was started at the Mission Hills event.
Fan activities
The Chevron Championship website lists no fewer than 13 activities for fans during the week, many revolving around STEM activities and girls' golf. That’s part of Chevron’s commitment to science and technology. Such events have become an important part of tournament week for most events on all tours. When the tournament was in Rancho Mirage, conferences featuring LPGA players and stars of other sports had become the norm.
The Champion's Leap
Okay, this was certainly going to be tough for the Houston tournament to re-create because Mission Hills Country Club, tournament organizers and the LPGA itself had embraced the leap started by Alcott in 1988. The leap was a production featuring Poppie’s Pond in Rancho Mirage. There was a leap by winner Lilia Vu last year into a lake in from of the green on the 18th hole. But it lacked the entertainment quality of the Mission Hills leap. It will be interesting to see if the Chevron event has changed or upgraded the leap from last year.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: LPGA major looks strong in second year away from the desert
