The LPGA is returning to Georgia for the first time since 2006.
All it took was a worldwide pandemic and the willingness of Reynolds Lake Oconee to make it happen.
The LPGA had to cancel all four of its Asian stops this season, including two in October, because of travel concerns involving COVID-19 and needed to find an opportunity for its players. Reynolds, looking to showcase its property and show off its newly renovated Great Waters course, was an eager partner.
That’s how the LPGA Drive On Championship - Reynolds Lake Oconee got on the schedule. It is the first regular LPGA event to be played in Georgia since 2006, when lack of sponsorship put an end to the tournament hosted from 1992-2006 by Eagle’s Landing Country Club.
The LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee will be a 72-hole full-field event that carries a $1.3 million purse, with the winner receiving $195,000, and will televised on Golf Channel. The tournament will not be open to spectators.
The field for the inaugural event is a good one. It includes Danielle Kang, the current leader in the Race to CME Globe, the LPGA’s version of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Kang has two victories this season, including the previous LPGA Drive On Championship held in July. She ranks No. 3 on the money list, No. 5 on the Rolex Rankings and No. 1 on the U.S. Solheim Cup points list.
Additional players the top 10 of the Race to the CME Globe are Stacy Lewis (No. 7), Austin Ernst (No. 8) and Mel Reid (No. 9), who each have won events this season. Other tournament winners are Gaby Lopez and Sophia Popov. Even Hall of Famer Juli Inkster is playing.
Also in the field is Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse, who considers the event a home game even though she had not played Great Waters until this week. A four-time All-American at Stanford, Stackhouse had her best showing of the season last month when she tied for fifth at the Portland Classic, one of five top-10 finishes in her young career.
“This is the first tournament I’ve played in Georgia since turning pro because we don’t have a stop in Georgia,” Stackhouse said. “Definitely has a home-course feel. I’m sad that we don’t have any fans out, but I can still feel it here with some of the guys that work at the course. A couple of them have come up and said, ‘Hey, Stackhouse, you’re from Atlanta.’”
Like Stackhouse, few players in the field have played the course, a Jack Nicklaus signature layout that was reopened last fall after a big makeover. Stackhouse spent last week at home working with her swing coach and taking lessons from new putting coach.
“I think the challenge this week is definitely going to be approach shots,” Stackhouse said. “A lot of the greens are really small, even a couple of the par 5s have some smaller greens than you would expect. So iron placement becomes really important.
"I don’t think Jack set this up to get you into a lot of trouble off the tee, so it’s about knowing where the pin is, where the OK miss is.”
The event already has had two run-ins with COVID-19. Maria Torres withdrew because her caddie tested positive. She has shown no symptoms, but is self-isolating. The LPGA also said a child-care provider tested positive Monday, and the children and teacher are quarantined. The players of the children are not considered contagious, based on CDC guidance.
