Recap of the ShopRite.
1. Awesome event supported like crazy by ShopRite. They have a bunch of pro-ams. Two full days with at tournament course along with two offsite pro-ams.
2. The offsite pro-ams bring in Epson Tour players and pay them $1500 per pro-am plus put them up at the hard rock. This type of pro-am is available a lot on the men’s side but unheard of on the women’s side outside of this event. Vital to female pros to be able to make side money like this. Really awesome that the event is supported so much to be able to do this.
3. Well attended, tons of volunteers all were amazing.
4. The bugs are insane. Players warned me prior, I dismissed them since I’m from northern Michigan, I’ve dealt with bugs. I should have listened.
5. The greens were in rough shape. Four or five were terrible, but all were pretty bad. If this was a PGA Tour event, there would have a riot, multiple social media posts, articles written etc. And although i spoke with a ton of players who complained privately, nothing was said publicly.
Again, back to covering the LPGA as the major sport it deserves. Players HAVE to speak out about it. And the Tour/sponsors have to be ok with them doing so. It’s how change happens.
I thought about not saying anything about the greens, i don’t want to take away from a great event that’s been on the LPGA schedule for 50 years. But I wouldn’t have cared how long an event was on the PGA Tour if the greens were in this condition, I would have just tweeted about it. We need to cover the LPGA the same.