Chevron the start of a new tour tradition
A timeline to when a golfer began playing the LPGA Tour is often identified by the name associated with what was originally the Dinah Shore, which officially included her name until 2000.
The next generation of players called the women’s golf tournament the Nabisco Championship, followed by what Houston’s Stacy Lewis referred to as the Kraft Nabisco Championship. And through 2021, the title sponsor of the first LPGA major of the year was the ANA Inspiration.
Now, it is the Chevron Championship, and as Lewis stated, “hopefully for years to come. That’s the tradition we’re looking to create.”
Tradition has been an integral part of the tournament. The 2023 Chevron Championship ends a 51-year run on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
For the first time the championship will be contested on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands next month (April 20-23).
Initially, some of the golfers were skeptical of the change to a new venue.
“After talking to some of the players. I think Dinah was to me the biggest part, biggest tradition that we needed to (bring along) with this championship,” said Lewis, who will be the 2023 and 2024 Solheim Cup captain for the U.S. “Dinah needs to be part of this championship for as long as it’s around. And of course, the trophy is named after her.”
New site, new course, new date from late March, and new home of the LPGA’s first major of 2023. Lewis, a former world No. 1 player and two-time LPGA Player of the Year, will be among the women golfers competing at the 2023 Chevron Championship.
The first of five majors played annually on the tour, the Chevron Championship continues to be elevated in status. Chevron took over as title sponsor in 2022.
The purse was increased by 60 percent last year, up to $5 million. Next month’s tournament will pay out $5.1 million.
“This championship, it’s literally the major you’re thinking about in January,” Lewis said. “It’s when you start practicing. It’s what do I need to do to get my golf game ready for April? You’re thinking about it from the moment you start back playing that year.”
A member of the Chevron Player Advisory Board, Lewis, who graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2003, was heavily involved in the process of bringing the tournament to the Houston area. Carlton Woods welcomed the tournament and there has been phenomenal community support.
A later date on the schedule means the Chevron Championship will not compete with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and ensures network coverage for the first time on NBC. The championship is also a week before the PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational, which is April 28-30 at The Woodlands Country Club.
“Playing the week before Augusta, it always kind of hampered us on the weekend. Network TV a couple weeks later in Texas isn’t going to hurt us,” said Lewis, winner of two major golf championships in the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship and 2013 Women’s British Open.
“With the schedule we’re going to continue with now, having those extra couple weeks is to try to get more full-field events before this championship. The girls can have more of a lead from the winter break up to the event. I think our schedule is going to continue to evolve.”
Houston has hosted PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions events on an annual basis. The last major women’s golf tournament in Houston was the U.S. Women’s Open in December, 2020, played in bitter cold at Champions Golf Club.
“The big takeaway for everybody that hasn’t seen a lot of women’s golf is how straight they hit it, how many greens they hit,” Lewis said. “They don’t make a ton of mistakes. The talent level is at such a great place. These girls are so good at such a young age. It’s definitely one of those things you got to come out and see it. TV doesn’t always do it justice and we need to get as many people out there as we can.
“Women’s golf is much more relatable for the casual fan. You watch (PGA Tour players) hit it 300-plus yards and there’s (only) one percent that can do that. So, the women’s game is much more relatable to the average male that plays the game, hitting the same distances, similar length of golf courses. And I think people will be surprised at how good these girls are.”
Lewis played a practice round at Carlton Woods in December. The course will set up fairly long, in the area of 6,700-6,800 yards for the women, typical of the length for the bigger events on tour of late. There is a lot of runoffs of the greens. Difficulty will also depend on the firmness of the greens. The warm weather should dry the greens a bit.
Opened in 2001, the Nicklaus Course is tree lined and there are houses off the fairways. Wind will factor.
“It’s going to be a great test,” Lewis said. “I’ve gotten lots of questions on what the golf course is like. Everybody’s a little concerned. Moving a big championship like this, that has such great traditions and history.
“I’ve been trying to reassure them that the golf course is going to be great. The Woodlands, the community, the players are going to love being here, from whether they stay with housing or whether they are staying by The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. There’s stuff to do.”
As with major championships, length is a factor and the short game will be pivotal off the Bermuda grass. It is a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course with typical bunkering. Nicklaus likes to place water and misses to the left because he hit a natural fade. So, a majority of tee shots set up better for fades.
“Being in Mission Hills, you always had a familiar leaderboard,” Lewis said. “There were certain people the course really favored and they made it look almost easy. It’s quite exciting going into this tournament and having a more challenging course in many ways.”
Over the past five years or so at Mission Hills, the course had become softer and the rough was not as long, allowing the long hitters to bash the ball.
“Kind of open this up to see who’s going to play well here and open it up for the best in the game and see how they can do,” Lewis said.
The Nicklaus course will play long but also strategic. The players will be tested. The greens have different levels and shelves.
“It’s going to be a combination of playing some really great golf,” Lewis said. “It’s not going to be one thing that’s going to stick out.”
A couple make-or-break holes will be the par-3 17th with its massive-sized green, and the reachable par-5 No. 18. Two trees sit on the right half of the 18th fairway, requiring hitting a fade. If the tees are playing up, some players may go right and try to go over the bunkers. There’s water on the left as well.
“I’m interested to see how the players play 18,” Lewis said. “There’s going to be drama there. I’m just interested to see how.”