Mallon Wins Her First Legends Tour Event in Delray Beach

Meg Mallon won her first event since joining the Legends Tour this afternoon, shooting an even par 72 to follow her opening 69 to win by one stroke over Juli Inkster. The Walgreens Charity Championship was the final event of the Tour’s 2014 schedule.

Reviving the Playing Captaincy for 2016 Ryder Cup Rebirth: Mickelson for Captain?

Has the drama associated with the team captain become an indispensable part of these international team golf competitions? If not, perhaps the restoration of the practice of having a playing captain would boost U.S. morale. With a playing captain, the American players might become a true team instead of independent agents who must be herded by a captain who is not of their own choosing and represents an arbitrary appendage to the team. The American downfall appears to have begun here at Oak Hill C.C. in Rochester in 1995. They were cocky then, too, come to think of it.

Rochester’s Danielle Downey Classic Should Include LPGA “Legends” Competition

In 2006, the Wegmans LPGA Rochester tournament featured a Tuesday “shootout” for former Rochester champs mostly retired from LPGA competition. Pat Bradley was the 18-hole winner over players such as Patty Sheehan, Nancy Lopez, Jane Blalock, Deb Richard, and Kathy Whitworth. It was very successful and well-attended (an LPGA tour caddie remarked that there was a larger gallery that day than at the prior week’s tournament in Westchester County). In fact, the attendance probably exceeded most Thursday tournament rounds. There is a hunger to see former stars that formed a bond with the local golf community and that have largely, although not completely, exited the limelight.

Including a similar event, or even a 36-hole Legends Tour event before or during Classic week at Brook-Lea C.C., would be a great way to remember that Rochester golf history of which Danielle Downey formed a part. The 2014 LPGA Championship completely failed to do this. Correcting that error at next summer’s Symetra Tour event would guarantee even greater attendance and attention for the Downey Classic.

Those past champs, or the LPGA “legends” players in general, could compete in their own senior division in a block of times either before or after the tee times for the main Symetra Tour competition-on Saturday and Sunday perhaps. Something similar to this is done each year at the 3M Championship. Staged on a Donald Ross course and featuring the LPGA’s past, present, and future, the Danielle Downey Classic would bring “full circle” Rochester’s LPGA golf history in a way the LPGA tournament never quite did.

Pat Bradley Halves Handa Cup Singles Match Hours After Nephew Keegan Stumbles at Ryder

Pat Bradley and Alison Nicholas halved their Handa Cup match at Old Waverly G.C. today. The U.S. won 28-20 and snatched back the Cup they lost last year in Nashville. See the Handa Cup scores here. Nancy Lopez served as Captain of the American Team and Sally Little of South Africa was Captain of the World Team.

Pat Bradley sinks a putt on 18 to halve her match with Alison Nicholas. Credit: The Legends Tour

Americans Win Handa Cup Over World Team at Old Waverly

Sherri Steinhauer closes out her match on 18 and clinches the Cup. Credit: The Legends Tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final score was 28-20. Although tied at 12-12 following team play on Saturday, the Americans dominated the singles on Sunday and won back the Cup they lost last year at Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville, TN. In the marquee singles match, American Juli Inkster defeated Laura Davies 67-68. Interesting note: LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley halved her match with Alison Nicholas, thus earning the Americans one point, on the same day her nephew Keegan lost his Ryder Cup singles match in Scotland.

Here were the Sunday singles match-ups and scores:

Trish Johnson’s 67 bests Laurie Rinker’s 71

Beth Daniel’s 72 bests Lorie Kane’s 74

Juli Inkster’s 67 bests Laura Davies’ 68

Wendy Doolan’s 69 bests Val Skinner’s 80

Barb Mucha’s 71 bests Dawn Coe-Jones’ 73

Sherri Turner and Jenny Lidback halve their match with both shooting 74

Christa Johnson’s 71 bests Mieko Nomura’s 75

Meg Mallon’s 68 bests Jane Crafter’s 70

Pat Bradley and Alison Nicholas halve their match with both shooting 74

Sherri Steinhauer’s 69 bests Alicia Dibos’ 70

Liselotte Neumann’s 68 bests Rosie Jones’ 70

Nancy Scranton’s 74 bests Helen Alfredsson’s 75

 

See The Legends Tour’s Facebook page for dozens of great photos from today’s play.

 

 

 

Lopez, Stephenson Absent from Saturday Lineup at Handa Cup

U.S. Team Captain Nancy Lopez had the option of placing herself into the lineup for today’s Handa Cup matches at Old Waverly G.C. but she declined to do so. Instead, all twelve American regulars will see action in Saturday’s team matches.

Jan Stephenson is also sitting out Saturday’s matches although it is unclear whether it is due to necessity (e.g. she had to withdraw) or a decision by World Team Captain Sally Little to bench her.

Will fans see either of them tee it up for Sunday’s singles matches?

Old Waverly Golf Club

Jan Stephenson

 

Saturday Handa Cup Pairings at Old Waverly Will Reveal Strategies of Lopez and Little

With the Handa Cup’s kickoff tomorrow at Old Waverly G.C., we will likely learn of the Saturday morning team pairings this evening. If the respective captains, Nancy Lopez and Sally Little, have a bold strategy for the day’s play, it may be evident in the pairings.

It would be difficult to resist the temptation to pair Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas for the sake of both sheer intimidation and tradition, a tradition that began at the first Solheim Cup at Lake Nona in 1990. The pairing of Nicholas and Davies defeated Lopez and Pat Bradley in the very first match. However, Sally Little may wish to spread the talent around and use Davies in a different pairing with a less experienced partner. Davies has been maintaining her hectic golf schedule and it can probably be assumed that Davies and Juli Inkster are the two top players this year. Both have been keeping their games sharp in regular tour play. I’ll predict Davies and Neumann. Liselotte’s short game would complement Laura’s distance.

A playing partner to keep the great Jan Stephenson from getting too hard on herself might be another Little goal. I would go with Alfredsson and Stephenson and then Nicholas and Trish Johnson, who just won on the LET thus becoming the oldest winner ever on either the LPGA Tour or LET. Crafter’s putting might pair well with Wendy Doolan.

On the American side, Lopez might be enticed by the idea of Inkster-Daniel and Jones-Steinhauer pairings out of the gate as power-pairings to score a quick couple of points Saturday morning.

Perhaps Captain Lopez will also put Pat Bradley and Sherri Turner out together. Their experience and wisdom would be complementary and, personality-wise, it would appear to be a comfortable combination. Sherri’s distance would also complement Pat’s iron play and short game.

Why keep speculating though? We shall soon know.

 

8:54 PM Update: Well, as it turned out, Inkster-Mallon will be the U.S. Team’s power-pairing for Saturday’s morning and afternoon matches. The World’s power-pairing will be Laura Davies and Trish Johnson in both Saturday matches. It appears that Captain Lopez is playing the same U.S. pairings in the afternoon while Sally Little “mixed it up” a bit more by reshuffling some of her pairings.

Nicholas is paired with Coe-Jones in the morning and Helen Alfredsson in the afternoon. Assistant World Captain Coe-Jones is apparently substituting for Jan Stephenson who is not scheduled to play Saturday. (There is no mention of this on the Legends Tour site.)

Perfect New Golf Event for Rochester? A Return of the LPGA’s Greats

They first came to Rochester more than 37 years ago. Many of these women made such an impression on local golf fans that it can’t be said that they ever truly left. Now, as the final Rochester LPGA event has been staged at Monroe G.C., after 37 years at Locust Hill C.C. and having been a “major” championship since 2010, the golf community is left without a top-tier women’s golf event. However, good memories and the spirit of the event persist among the many players, volunteers, organizers, and fans of the yearly competition. Though the Rochester community’s LPGA tournament is gone, and many of the revered players have moved onwards to their “senior” days, these players remain in the heart of Rochester golf fans—and ready to compete here again.

The community greatly benefited from the event’s long presence. Due to its support of Camp Good Days and other charities, and the golf competition itself, it became a local tradition and gathering place for the golf and business communities.

The Legends Tour, spearheaded by 1979 Rochester LPGA champion Jane Blalock in 2000, has assembled a contingent of events each year for LPGA players 45 and older. Many of the “legends” who were former Rochester champs enjoyed blockbuster crowds in 2006 when a special, former champions “shootout” was held at Locust Hill on Tuesday of tournament week. Attendance was comparable to most Thursday or Friday rounds.

A perfect, albeit smaller and more modestly-funded, replacement for the long-running LPGA tournament at Locust Hill and Monroe would be a Rochester Legends Tour event. Once again, the likes of Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Pat Bradley, Rosie Jones, Laura Davies, and Juli Inkster would grace the local golf scene as part of a community-building event. (Note: Annika Sorenstam will also be 45 in October of 2015)

Perhaps the USGA will decide the stage an inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, a possibility under consideration. Rochester, due to the mutual appreciation between LPGA players and Rochester fans through the decades, and its great golf venues, would be an excellent choice for the first Open. In either case, whether as a fan-friendly Legends event, or a USGA championship, a return is possible and this blog is intended to serve as an informal discussion forum dedicated to the subject.

As related by the D&C: “Nancy Lopez will never forget the crowds, and the way Rochesterians welcomed the players of the LPGA Tour into their town, into their homes and into their hearts…”

 

 

 

An Inaugural Senior Women’s Open Wouldn’t be First Open in Rochester for LPGA Pros

The 1973 U.S. Women’s Open, conducted by the USGA, was held at The Country Club of Rochester, one of the premier private clubs in the area. Several clips of the television coverage of that event are available (see below). Several still-competing Legends players were in the Open field that week in 1973, including Jane Blalock, Shelley Hamlin, Susie Berning (the winner that year), Sandra Palmer, Donna Caponi, and JoAnne Carner.

Clip #1 in a series of ABC television coverage videos from that 1973 U.S. Women’s Open currently on Youtube is located below. The other clips can be easily found on Youtube. The commentary by Byron Nelson is classic!

Susie Berning won the 1973 U.S. Women’s Open at CCR in Rochester

Rochester’s LPGA Tournament History and Records, 1977-2014

See the Democrat and Chronicle’s coverage here. Unmentioned by the D&C is that the 1973 U.S. Women’s Open was held at The Country Club of Rochester and likely provided some impetus to the creation of the LPGA’s Rochester event, first held four years later in 1977.