The LPGA’s stop in the Tampa Bay area will go on as scheduled despite heavy damage to the host venue from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, less than 3 miles from downtown Clearwater, issued a statement earlier this week that the grounds and club facilities will be ready for The Annika driven by Gainbridge Nov. 14-17.
The tournament, hosted by World Golf Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam, begins a two-week Florida swing to cap the 2024 season. The schedule culminates with the CME Group Championship Nov. 21-24 at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
“Pelican Golf Club sustained heavy rain and winds with extreme flooding last week. We are happy to report the club facilities handled the hurricane conditions exceptionally,” the club said in a statement. “Our team, led by Director of Grounds Chris Corr, are hard at work with cleanup efforts and have made tremendous progress.”
Justin Sheehan, director of golf at Pelican, added: “We are thrilled to be able to host this year’s The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. We look forward to seeing the world’s best women professional golfers in November.”
The club also announced last week that WNBA rookie of the year Caitlin Clark will play in the pro-am on Nov. 13 and is a panelist at a Women’s Leadership Summit on Nov. 12. Clark has previously competed in the pro-am for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, playing in the same group with fellow Iowa native and St. Simons Island, Ga., resident Zach Johnson, and had a college NIL deal with title sponsor Gainbridge.
Nease graduate Auston Kim logs second ace
Auston Kim is proving one thing during her rookie season on the LPGA Tour: she can strike at any moment.
Kim, a Nease High and Vanderbilt graduate who was the Times-Union’s high school player of the year in 2016, made 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 out to ace the par-3 second hole at the Qizhong Garden Golf Club, on her way to a tie for 12th that was her best finish since a tie for fifth in the Dow Championship on June 27.
Kim previously aced the par-3 18th hole of the 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 140 shot,” she told lpga.com of her second ace. “I pulled a 9, hit a pretty good shot. “It stayed pretty straight on the hole the entire time. Got a good bounce, bounced forward, and went in. I had no idea. My caddie told me it went in. He was looking through his rangefinder and he was like, ‘oh, it went in.’ It was a really good surprise.”
Kim shot 68 in the round, then went on to post a closing 66 to finish at 12-under 276, her second-best 72-hole score this season
Kim’s ace also resulted in another $20,000 donation by the CME Group in her behalf to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It raised the season total from all holes-in-one by LPGA players to $400,000.
Travis Trace rallies to move on in PGA Tour qualifier
Sandalwood and University of North Florida graduate Travis Trace finished strong in Oklahoma to advance to a PGA Tour second-stage qualifier on Oct 11.
Trace shot 68 in the final round at the Indian Springs Golf Club in Broken Arrow to finished 5-under 279 and in a tie for 16th in a first-stage qualifier. He finished one shot clear of the cut line.
Trace made only one bogey in the final round and played his last eight holes at 2-under, with two birdies and six pars.
In other first-stage qualifiers:
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Korn Ferry Tour veteran Patrick Flavin shot 16-under 272 to win by four shots at the Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz. He shot 66 in the final round.
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Former University of Tennessee player Spencer Cross had a 66-66 finish to win by one shot at the 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 the Broken Arrow qualifier by two shots at 17-under 267. He more than made sure of it, with a closing 63.
Five first-stage qualifiers are being played Oct. 15-18 and four more Oct, 22-25. The qualifier at the Country Club of Ocala, which was postponed last week because of Hurricane Milton, will be Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
Five second-stage qualifiers will be Dec. 3-6. The PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry will be Dec. 12-15 at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club.
PGA Tour: Tom Kim goes for a Vegas three-peat
Event: Shriners Children’s Open, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas.
What’s the purse? $7 million ($1,260,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Who won last year? Tom Kim shot 62-66 on the 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, 5-8 p.m.).
Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Bud Cauley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Nico Echavarria, Harris English, Ben Griffin, Patton Kizzire, Ben Kohles, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Carl Yuan.
Notable: The Tour plays its last event in the U.S. before a three-tournament international swing through Japan, Mexico and Bermuda. After this week, the next domestic event will be the RSM Classic Nov. 21-24 at the Sea Island Club. … Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner, Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar lead the field. … Ian Gilligan, a senior at the University of Florida, is playing in a sponsor exemption.
LPGA Tour: Asian Swing goes to Korea
Event: BMW Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Seowon Valley Country Club, Seowon Hills Course, Korea.
What’s the purse? $2.2 million ($330,000 to the winner).
Who won last year? Minjee Lee birdied the first playoff hole to beat Alison Lee for his 10th LPGA title.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Wednesday/Thursday-Saturday/Sunday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.).
Area players entered: 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 in 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-Sunday, The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Va.
What’s the purse? $2.3 million ($414,000 to the winner).
Who won last year? Harrison Frazar won his first title on either the PGA Tour or Champions Tour when he rolled in a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Richard Green.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m.).
Area players entered: David Duval, Vijay Singh.
Notable: The first leg of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs brings the top 72 players on the final money list to Richmond. The top 54 after this week will advance to the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Ark. … Ernie Els leads the money list. Following him among the top five are Steve Alker, Stephen Ames, Richard Green and Steve Stricker. … Singh is 32nd on the money list and Duval is 57th.
What are the (golf) odds?
Shriners Open: Defending champion Tom Kim is +1200 by Hard Rock Bet, followed by Davis Thompson and Taylor Pendrith, both at +2250.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Caitlin Clark will be in Florida for Annika Sorenstam LPGA event
