Under the heat of the sunArizona, the LPGA Tour has produced some of its most memorable moments in the Grand Canyon State.

The new website of LPGA Drive On Championship of this week is owned by women, is managed by women and was inspired by women, and today represent approximately 35% of the total players.

According to the National Golf Foundation, approximately 12 million women play golf in the United States on and off the course, and "the gender balance on the course looks set to change in the future, as more than a third of players aged 6 to 17 are now women today, compared to 14% in 1986”.

Superstition Mountain is clearly ahead of its time under the direction of Susan Hladky, who had to regain ownership and control of the club after the accidental death of her husband of 44 years.

“We are very female-friendly at Superstition,” said Marian McGill, assistant general manager of Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

« Our two courses are very easy to play and we organize many activities and golf tournaments for women. More and more of them are playing and we are making it fun for diverse groups of women with different levels of play”, added Mrs McGill about women's involvement in Superstition Mountain and the general increase in women's participation.

In 2001, Annika Sorenstam became the only player to achieve a round of 59 on the LPGA Tour in Moon Valley Country Club of Phoenix.

Ten years later, Arizona hosted the Cognizant Founders Cup. Born from the desire to Mike whan, then commissioner of the LPGA, in order to honor the 13 founding members, which has become one of the most popular stages on the circuit.

©Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club

In 2015, while participating in the Founders Cup, Sei Young Kim equaled the 72-hole scoring record set by Sorenstam, a record that Kim would eclipse three years later.

This year, Arizona is once again hosting one of the most unique events on the LPGA Tour, with the Drive On Championship, a tournament that, like the Founders Cup, was born out of a desire to recognize the resilience of the Tour the LPGA.

“It's a really great environment. The members are very nice to us LPGA girls”, said Jennifer kupcho, 2021 Drive On Championship runner-up and 2022 Chevron Championship winner. "Having the LPGA Tour in Arizona is exciting, and being here at our home club is super awesome."

Superstition Mountain hosted Safeway International from 2004 to 2008, with a list of Hall-of-Fame winners: Annika Sorestam (2004, 2005), Juli Inkster (2006), and Lorena Ochoa (2007, 2008).

“My golf career started here when I was 12 or 13 and my dad took me to Superstition Mountain to be a caddy in the Safeway International pro-am" , said Dana Finkelstein, who was born and raised in the area, and is part of the LPGA Drive On Championship field.

Although the tournament has moved from state to state, its goal has remained the same: to provide playing opportunities for the best players in the world.

This marks the start of a five-month period in the United States for the circuit. This weekend's competition at Superstition Mountain and Country Club is also a long-awaited return to the desert for the Tour, which hasn't played in Arizona since the 2019 Cognizant Founders Cup.

To celebrate the Tour's return to Arizona, the LPGA Drive On Championship will feature a number of new fan experiences. The 19th Hole Beer Garden, located near the driving range, will host DJs and screens that will play both tournament coverage and a bit of March Madness. Fans can also pick up souvenir cups at the “You Glow Girl” concession stand on the 17th hole.

The inaugural LPGA Drive On Championship was held in July 2020 in Toledo, Ohio, following the tour's three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the canceled events, the Drive On Championship added a much-needed boost to the schedule and began the circuit's return to competition.

The Inverness Club hosted the first Drive On Championship and allowed players to compete in two back-to-back tournaments in conjunction with the Greater Toledo LPGA Classic, which has long been held at nearby Highland Meadows Country Club. Danielle Kang won both events.

©Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club

Three months later, the LPGA Drive On Championship was staged again to replace the circuit's three-week visit to Asia, which had been canceled as a result of the pandemic. In October 2020, Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia hosted the best players in the world on the Jack Nicklaus course. It was there that Ally Ewing took her first victory, resisting a boosted Danielle Kang to win by a single shot.

In March 2021, the LPGA Drive On Championship returned for the third edition and was held at Golden Ocala Golf Club, an hour's drive north of Orlando, Florida. It was there that Austin Ernst picked up the third victory of his LPGA Tour career with a landslide five-stroke win over Jennifer Kupcho.

©Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club

In 2022, the LPGA Drive On Championship started afresh, without the history or records of the first three editions. The new version of the tournament took place in February 2022 as part of a three-week series of events in Florida and was played over 54 holes at Crown Colony Golf Club in Fort Myers, Florida. It was here that Leona Maguire earned her much-anticipated first victory on the LPGA Tour, winning by three strokes ahead of Lexi Thompson to become the first Irish player to win on the tour.

The Drive On Championship has achieved its goal and more, not only providing much-needed playing opportunities for the world's best female golfers, but also paving the way for rising stars to find glory for the first time on the circuit. This year, the new edition of the championship will take place in Arizona, where memories are made on the LPGA Tour.

The LPGA Drive On Championship is also the first full tournament of the season, with 144 players, two Monday qualifiers – Yaeeun Hong and Celine Herbin – and a $1,75 million purse. World number two Nelly Korda tops the list, alongside two-time HSBC Women's World Championship winner Jin Young Ko. Lexi Thompson will also make her first start of 2023 at Superstition Mountain this weekend.

For more information on the tournament click here and to see the player field click here

To read our latest article on the LPGA 

Jin Young Ko double winner of the HSBC Women's World Championship