As the LPGA begins the 2015 season on Wednesday in Ocala, Fla., at the Coates Golf Championship, here are some numbers to ponder:
- 390: The number of hours that Golf Channel and NBC will include during the 2015 season, the most televised hours in LPGA history. NBC will air two LPGA majors, the Evian Championship and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
- 66: This is the 66th season of LPGA golf. The first tournament was held Jan. 19-22, 1950 at Palma Ceia Country Club in Tampa, Fla., just 100 miles south of this week’s site at Golden Ocala.
- 34: There are 34 events on the 2015 schedule, stretching from late January to mid-November, the week before Thanksgiving.
- 18: Golf Channel and NBC saw an 18 percent increase in viewership of North American events during the 2014 season.
- 16: There are 16 rookies in this week’s field, which totals 120 professionals.
New course, familiar holes
The Ron Garl-designed Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, built in 1986, includes eight “tribute” holes that replicate some of the world’s most famous courses.
Beginning at the fourth hole through the sixth and continuing at the 11th through the 15th, golfers this week will be reminiscing about the famous holes from Augusta National, The Old Course, Royal Troon, Muirfield and Baltusrol.
Augusta National’s famous back nine is displayed at the par-3 sixth (looks like the 16th with a fronting pond), the par-3 11th (like the 12th with a Rae’s Creek lookalike in front) and the par-5 12th (like the dogleg left 13th at Augusta).
Golden Ocala’s 13th hole resembles The Road Hole, the par-4 17th, at The Old Course (complete with a road adjacent to the green) and the 14th looks like the first hole at St. Andrews.
Lewis goals
Even though Stacy Lewis became the first American player since Betsy King in 1993 to win the Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy and money list title in 2014, the top American player still eyes the fact she has dropped to No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (after holding No. 1 late in 2014) and her close calls during last season (six second-place finishes).
“That’s what motivates me this year, that last year could have been an unbelievable year,” Lewis said. “It was good, but it could have been unbelievable. So that’s what I am looking for, I’m looking for a major this year.”
Pancake with Waffles
Third-year LPGA member Brooke Pancake has a degree in Marketing from the University of Alabama. She is showing her knowledge of that field as she recently signed a sponsorship agreement with Waffle House.
Pancake first expressed an interest in waffles during National Pancake Day last year and that created a social media stir. During the Grand Rapids, Mich., tournament last year she met a man who had a friend who was an executive with Waffle House. That led the new sponsorship agreement.
She will sport the Waffle House logo on a yellow golf bag. She started this week out with a putting contest at an Ocala, Fla., Waffle House prior to competing in the Coates Golf Championship.
Etc.
There will be five tournaments within six weeks to begin the season – the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic next week, an off week and then three consecutive international events in Australia (ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open), Thailand (Honda LPGA Thailand) and Singapore (HSBC Women’s Champions). … Paula Creamer married Derek Heath on Dec. 13, with friend Morgan Pressel serving as the matron of honor. Heath is a former Air Force pilot now working for United Airlines. … Former LPGA player Amanda Blumenherst had her first child in late November. … Nelly Korda, 16, and the younger sister of LPGA star Jessica, won the Harder Hall Invitational amateur in Sebring, Fla., in early January. Nelly was returning from a back injury in 2014. … This week’s first tournament is on a Wednesday-Saturday schedule to avoid Super Bowl Sunday. Television coverage on Golf Channel begins Wednesday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Saturday from 3-5 p.m. … Sadena Parks and Cheyenne Woods are the first African-American duo on the LPGA since 1971 and the fifth and sixth in LPGA history. Parks earned her card via the 2014 Epson Tour and Woods via the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. Woods is making her 2015 debut as a member during the same week her famous Uncle Tiger is starting his PGA Tour season at the Waste Management Open in Scottsdale, Ariz. … Power pairings: For the first two rounds, Stacy Lewis-Lydia Ko-Karrie Webb and Inbee Park-Michelle Wie-Paula Creamer are paired together in consecutive groupings. They go at 12:35 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. EST time on Wednesday.
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