3 LPGA Epson Tour Pro Events in Michigan in Span of 6 Weeks
Pro golf returns to Ann Arbor with the expanded deal
By Tom Lang
Professional women’s golf has finally received this year some of the recognition and equity it has been deserving of for decades.
Not only did the USGA in January announce major increases in their purses for future U.S. Women’s Opens – and a robust LPGA Tour schedule came out as well with larger purses and more airtime.
Now the LPGA Tour’s feeder tour, renamed from Symetra to the Epson Tour, has made great strides to help young female pros make a serious run to the top.
The Epson Tour has announced wildly greater purses in 2022. The tour’s average purse in 2013 was $108,000. In 2022 it will average $210,000, with a single event high of $335,000 at French Lick Resort in August. The Epson Tour will also cut player entry fees and provide stipends for golfers that ‘graduate’ to the LPGA Tour to help kick-start their rookie season costs.
Michigan events in 2022 will be: Ann Arbor’s Road to the LPGA June 16-18, the Island Resort Championship in the U.P. the following week, June 24-26, and then from July 29-31, the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek CC.
The Ann Arbor Sports Commission took a big step in returning women's golf to Ann Arbor. Travis Pointe Country Club will host, coming four years since it had the LPGA’s Volvik Championship.
"The LPGA loved the Travis Pointe Country Club set up, and to bring an Epson Tour event back to this club and the Ann Arbor area is good news for women's golf," said Mike Nichols, Chief Business Officer of LPGA Qualifying Tours. "The Volvik Championship received tremendous support from the club members, local sponsors, the volunteers, and the entire community.
Mike Malach, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Sports Commission, said, "This is the first time the Sports Commission has taken on an event of this magnitude, and we are excited to make it a great event."
The purse will be $200,000 for the field of 144 women golfers.
Tony Mancilla, GM at Island Casino Resort, near Escanaba, which has hosted the Epson Tour for over a decade, said, "Epson taking over the title sponsor of the tour is very exciting. It shows both the stability of the tour as an established product in the golf industry and also reflects positively on the growth of the tour.
“The growth of the tour has mirrored the growth of our own golf business,” he added. “There were 15 events with an average purse of just over $100,000. Now there are 21 events with an average purse of $200,000. Our own golf business has grown from 14,000 rounds in 2011 to over 30,000 in 2021. As the Epson Tour gains more visibility through television, digital and print media, the tour will continue to grow both in events and purse size.”
The Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass ($225,000 purse) serves as the official U.S. qualifier for the LPGA’s Evian Championship.
The final Michigan event, in Battle Creek, has also been a longtime host for the Epson Tour. It has a partnership with Island Resort Championship through the Potawatomi Cup that the Potawatomi nation tribes put together to reward even more money to the Epson Tour players who perform the best in each of their events plus the Fourwinds Invitational in South Bend, Indiana.
