The LPGA Tour announced on Wednesday in Daytona Beach, Fla., a rescheduled start to the 2020 season with a new tournament, the LPGA Drive On Championship, which will be played from July 31-Aug. 2 at Inverness Club (pictured) in Toledo, Ohio.
No spectators will be allowed on the course for the tournament, which has been funded by some of the 2020 LPGA tournaments that were canceled, because of social distancing in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The LPGA season was scheduled to re-start with the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana on July 23-26 at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, but that event has been moved to Aug. 6-9.
Golf Channel will televise both tournaments and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio has said that spectators will be allowed on the course at Highland Meadows.
“Thanks in part to the generosity of our partners who could not reschedule their events in 2020, we are adding a valuable additional playing opportunity for our LPGA Tour members,” LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said. “We are so appreciative of our longtime partners, Marathon and Dana, as well as the memberships at Highland Meadows and Inverness, for adjusting their schedules and helping us create a valuable two-week stretch in the Toledo area as we work to safely return to competition.
“This new event will allow us to test our Covid-19 protocols before we get to welcome back our fans at the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana.”
The LPGA Drive On Championship will feature a field of 144 players competing for a $1-million purse and without sponsors, pro-ams or spectators.
The famed Inverness Club, which opened in 1903 and features a course designed by Donald Ross, has hosted four U.S. Opens (won by Ted Ray in 1920, Billy Burke in 1931, Dick Mayer in 1957 and Hale Irwin in 1979) and two PGA Championships (won by Bob Tway in 1986 and Paul Azinger in 1993.
The course also hosted two U.S. Senior Opens (won by Bruce Lietzke in 2003 and Olin Browne in 2011), the 1973 U.S. Amateur (won by Craig Stadler) and the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur (won by Preston Summerhays).
In addition, Inverness was the site of NCAA Championships in 1944 and 2009, and is scheduled to host the 2021 Solheim Cup.
For the complete revised LPGA Tour schedule, visit https://www.lpga.com/tournaments
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