The LPGA’s Tampa Bay region shutdown will continue as planned despite heavy damage to the host venue from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, less than 3 miles from downtown Clearwater, released a statement earlier this week that the club’s courses and facilities would be ready for The Annika piloted by Gainbridge Nov. 14-17.
The tournament, organized by World Golf Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam, begins a two-week swing in Florida to close out the 2024 season. The schedule culminates with the CME Group Championship Nov. 21-24 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
“The Pelican Golf Club experienced heavy rain and winds accompanied by extreme flooding last week. We are pleased to report that the club’s facilities coped with the hurricane conditions exceptionally well,” said the club in a press release. “Our team, led by Grounds Director Chris Corr, is hard at work on the cleanup efforts and has made tremendous progress.”
Justin Sheehan, Director of Golf at Pelican, added: “We are delighted to be able to welcome the Gainbridge-driven Annika to Pelican this year. We can’t wait to see the world’s best professional golfers in November. »
The club also announced last week that Caitlin Clark, WNBA Rookie of the Year will play in the pro-am on November 13 and is a panelist at a women’s leadership summit on November 12. Clark previously competed in the pro-am for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, playing in the same group with his fellow Iowa native. native and St. Simons Island, Georgia, resident Zach Johnson, and had a NIL university agreement with title sponsor Gainbridge.
Nease grad Auston Kim earns second ace
Auston Kim proves one thing during her rookie season on the LPGA Tour: she can hit at any time.
Kim, a graduate of Nease High and Vanderbilt, who was the 2016 Times-Union Secondary Player of the Year, recorded her second hole-in-one of the season last week during the second round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She used a 9-iron from 155 yards to ace the par-3 second hole at Qizhong Garden Golf Club, en route to a tie for 12th place, which was her best finish since a tie for fifth place at the Dow Championship on the 27th. June. .
Kim previously aced the par-3 18th hole at Wilshire Country Club during the second round of the JM Eagle LA Championship on April 27.
“It was 148 (yards) to the pin, and I was looking for a shot of 140,” she told lpga.com of her second ace. “I shot a 9, made a pretty good shot. “It stayed pretty straight on the hole the whole time. I made a good bounce, jumped forward and went in. I had no idea. My cadet told me he got in. He was looking through his rangefinder and he was like, “Oh, he got in.”
Kim shot a 68 in the round, then posted a final score of 66 to finish at 12-under 276, his second-best score through 72 holes this season.
Kim’s ace also resulted in an additional $20,000 donation from the CME Group in her name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This brought the season total for all holes-in-one by LPGA players to $400,000.
Travis Trace rallies to advance to PGA Tour qualifying
Graduate of Sandalwood and University of North Florida Travis Trace finished strong in Oklahoma to qualify for the second stage of the PGA Tour on October 11.
Trace shot 68 in the final round at Indian Springs Golf Club in Broken Arrow to finish at 5-under 279 and tied for 16th in an early qualifying round. He finished one shot from the cut line.
Trace made just one bogey in the final round and played his final eight holes at 2 under, with two birdies and six pars.
In the other qualifications of the first stage:
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Korn Ferry Tour veteran Patrick Flavin shot a 16-under 272 to win by four strokes at Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. He shot 66 in the final round.
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Former University of Tennessee player Spencer Cross finished 66-66 to win by one shot at Wilderness Ridge Country Club in Lincoln, Neb., at 17-under 267.
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Hazen Newman, who played college golf at Oklahoma State, won Broken Arrow’s qualifying match by two shots at 17-under 267. He more than made sure of that, with a final score of 63.
Five stage one qualifiers will be played from October 15 to 18 and four more from October 22 to 25. Qualifying at the Country Club of Ocala, which was postponed last week due to Hurricane Milton, will take place Oct. 29-Nov. 29. 1.
Five stage two qualifiers will take place from December 3 to 6. THE PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry will take place December 12-15 at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club.
PGA Tour: Tom Kim goes for a hat-trick in Vegas
Event: Open for Shriners Children, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas.
What is the handbag? $7 million ($1,260,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points for the winner).
Who won last year? Tom Kim shot 62-66 this weekend, but still had to work hard to outlast Adam Hadwin by one shot. Kim has won in Vegas the last two years.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.).
Registered zone players: Tyson Alexander, Bud Cauley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Nico Echavarria, Harris English, Ben Griffin, Patton Kizzire, Ben Kohles, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, JT Poston, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Carl Yuan.
Notable: The Tour plays its final event in the United States before a three-tournament international tour through Japan, Mexico and Bermuda. After this week, the next national event will be the RSM Classic November 21-24 at the Sea Island Club. … Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner, Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar lead the pack. … Ian Gilligan, a senior at the University of Florida, is playing under a sponsor’s exemption.
LPGA Tour: Asian Swing in Korea
Event: BMW Championship, Thursday to Sunday, Seowon Valley Country Club, Seowon Hills Course, Korea.
What is the handbag? $2.2 million ($330,000 to the winner).
Who won last year? Minjee Lee birdied the first playoff hole to beat Alison Lee for her 10th LPGA title.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Wednesday/Thursday-Saturday/Sunday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.).
Registered zone players: Auston Kim.
Notable: Lydia Ko, Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin and Allisen Corpuz lead the limited-field, no-cut event. … Ko won the tournament in 2023. … The Tour moves to Malaysia and Japan after this event before playing Hawaii, then the final two events of the year in Naples and Belleair.
PGA Tour Champions: Schwab Cup Playoffs Begin
Event: Dominion Energy Charity Classic, Friday through Sunday, The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
What is the handbag? $2.3 million ($414,000 to winner).
Who won last year? Harrison Frazar won his first PGA Tour or Champions Tour title when he made a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Richard Green.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 2 p.m.-5 p.m.).
Registered zone players: David Duval, Vijay Singh.
Notable: The first leg of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs brings the top 72 players from the final roster to Richmond. The top 54 after this week will qualify for the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Ark. …Ernie Els is at the top of the money list. After him, the top five include Steve Alker, Stephen Ames, Richard Green and Steve Stricker. …Singh is 32nd on the money list and Duval is 57th.
What are the odds (in golf)?
Shriners Open: Defending champion Tom Kim is +1200 per Hard Rock Bet, followed by Davis Thompson and Taylor Pendrith, both at +2250.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The LPGA tournament organized by Annika Sorenstam will take place as planned
