Is this really the first step for the LPGA Tour to return to the Coachella Valley?
Could playing the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells Golf Resort truly open the door to the LPGA’s return to the desert after the women’s tour departs following the 2022 Chevron Championship, ending a 51-year streak at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage?
Indian Wells city officials have not been shy about coveting the return of the LPGA to the desert and ensuring that return takes place at the city-owned golf resort. As the Epson Tour Championship arrives at the resort this week to award 15 playing cards for the 2025 LPGA season, the possibility of an LPGA the return to the desert is tempting.
But it’s not child’s play either.
Many cities across the country would love to host a professional golf event, whether it’s the LPGA, PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions. But the elements that must be put in place for such a tour to be able to bring its traveling road show to your city are numerous and varied.
More: Tickets, parking, information for Epson Tour Championship in Indian Wells
For example:
The right date
The LPGA had a big meeting in the desert at the end of March and beginning of April with the Chevron Championship, the major championship played under different names at the Mission Hills Country Club. But this date in the first quarter of the year was swallowed up by the PGA Tour Champions with the Galleri Classic. Could an October date, with weather that could be fantastic or very hot, fit into the LPGA calendar in the future?
The right golf course
The Players Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort will host this year’s Epson Tour Championship, with the Celebrity Course possibly hosting in 2025 as the Players Course undergoes major renovations and rerouting. Some of these renovations will be designed to better accommodate a large tournament than the current configuration of the course. Will the LPGA review and approve the reconfigured course?
The right sponsorship
The simple translation of this is money. A sponsor must bear a large portion of the production costs of a tournament, from golf course installation to television costs to the event budget. The city of Indian Wells is the sponsor of the Epson event, but it may not want to carry the burden of an entire LPGA tournament. That would mean finding either a title sponsor or at least a primary sponsor to throw money into the kitty. Remember that a new event in the desert would still bring in a purse of at least $2 million, if not more.
The right people
Every tournament requires someone, either one person or more likely a group of people, to lobby for the event and convince everyone that the tournament is a great idea. In the case of an LPGA return, the city of Indian Wells has already assumed this responsibility, so this category is checked.
The right charity
Again, this shouldn’t be much of a problem with so many well-established and strong nonprofits and charities in the Coachella Valley. Choosing just one could be the problem here. Finding legitimate candidates will be easy.
The ball therefore appears to be in the LPGA fairway. The city wants an LPGA event and is willing to invest at least some of the money for such a tournament.
The LPGA must answer the other questions. Is the golf course okay? Is the time of year right?
But there may be a much larger question. Since the LPGA has already left the Coachella Valley after 51 years of existence, and the tournament that was played in the desert is so iconic and important, does the LPGA really want to return to the desert?
Any LPGA event that takes place in the desert risks being compared to the major tournament known for decades as The Dinah. Even though a new tournament will ideally take place in two or three years, the newcomer will have to find a way to make itself important enough not to be overshadowed by the old tournament. In some ways, that would make an October date, as the LPGA concludes its CME Championship, a big selling point for a new event.
Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or [email protected]. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to Desert Sun.
This article was originally published on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Epson Tour is coming to the Palm Springs area this week; could the LPGA follow?
