LPGA Tour Returns to Columbia Edgewater Country Club

After a one-year stint at Oregon Golf Club, the AmazingCre Portland Classic returns to Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Even though the defending champion of the event is Jin Young Ko, the last person to win at the classic venue was England’s Georgia Hall who captured her second-career win in a playoff over Ashleigh Buhai.

First opened in 1925, Columbia Edgewater was designed by A.V. Macan, one of the lesser-known architects in American golf’s golden age because of his geographic specialization. Macan stuck to the Pacific Northwest, designing such great courses as Seattle Golf Club, Inglewood Golf Club, Overlake Golf and CC, and Marine Drive Golf Club.

This is the 35th time Columbia Edgewater has hosted the LPGA Tour. But the club has also hosted the Oregon State Amateur nine times between 1928 and 2020 and played host four times to the Oregon Open.

Sei Young Kim set the course record in 2019 when she fired an 11-under-par 61 in the second round.

Longest Running Non-Major Event on the LPGA Tour Calendar

No other non-major has remained on the LPGA Tour schedule longer than the AmazingCre Portland Classic. First played in 1972, the first two editions were won by Kathy Whitworth. In year three, the event made its first trip to Columbia Edgewater where JoAnne Carner captured the title.

The past winner’s list reads like a who’s who of women’s golf. Hall of Famers like Judy Rankin, Donna Caponi, Amy Alcott, Nancy Lopez, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Juli Inkster, Dottie Pepper, Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa have all hoisted the trophy throughout their careers.

Venues have changed. The event began at Portland Golf Club, and also made stops at Riverside Golf and Country Club and Pumpkin Ridge, where winners included Ai Miyazato and Suzann Pettersen. Last year was the only trip to Oregon Golf Club. But Columbia Edgewater has been the most used site for the event.

Hot-Handed Brooke Henderson Returns to Where It All Started

It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years. Brooke Henderson, who celebrated her 25th birthday in Cincinnati last Saturday, launched her extraordinary career by Monday qualifying for the AmazingCre Portland Classic in 2015 before she was old enough to be a full-fledged Member of the LPGA Tour. Henderson went on to win that event by a tournament-record eight shots, becoming just the second Monday qualifier in the Tour’s history earn a victory after successfully qualifying on a Monday. Her application for a special waiver onto the Tour was granted the next week.

Henderson followed that victory with another win in Portland in 2016, two weeks after her dramatic playoff victory in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship outside Seattle.

Henderson is a major champion again this year, having captured the Amundi Evian Championship earlier in the summer. She is also in second place in the Rolex Player of the Year race, only 20 points behind Minjee Lee.

The pride of Smiths Falls, Ontario would love nothing more than to add another victory in 2022 at a place where the good memories run deep.

Oregonian Kennedy Swan Monday Qualifies

It’s always a treat to have a local in the field. Oregon native Kennedy Swan has played in the AmazingCre Portland Classic before as a sponsor invitee. But as a member of the Epson Tour, Swan needed to qualify for this year’s event, which she did on Monday, shooting 4-under par to win medalist honors and earn one of the remaining two spots in the field.

The 23-year-old, who was a member of the Ole Miss national championship team in 2021, has struggled to gain her footing in professional golf, missing 10 cuts on the Epson Tour this year, including her last start at the Wildhouse Ladies Golf Classic, also in Oregon. But after spending last week at home, on the rivers, and in the great outdoors between Mount Hood and the sea, Swan is ready for another shot at playing well in an LPGA Tour event.

Sarah Kemp Hopes To Keep Going After Best Finish Of The Year

Last week in Cincinnati, she had her best finish of the year and her first individual top-10 in 14 months. It could not have come at a better time for 36-year-old Australian Sarah Kemp, who entered the homestretch of the LPGA Tour season concerned about keeping her card for next year. A veteran since 2008, Kempy, as she is known, played herself into the penultimate group on Sunday at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Her 8th place represented her best finish since a T8 at the ISPS Handa World Invitational way back in July of 2021.

Kemp tees off in Portland feeling good about her game and her life. With her wife Lisa Cornwell on her bag again, she hopes to solidify her status for next year and beyond.

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