Queen City Championship attracts many of women’s top players
Premier women’s golf is returning this week to Cincinnati for the first time in more than 30 years.
The inaugural Kroger Queen City Championship presented by Procter & Gamble will be played through Sunday at Kenwood Country Club in Madeira.
The 144-player Ladies Professional Golf Association field will include 13 of the top 20 players, according to the entry list and this week’s Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings: Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson, Atthaya Thitikul, Lexi Thompson, Hyo-Joo Kim, Nasa Hataoka, Jennifer Kupcho, Sei Young Kim, Jessica Korda, Leona Maguire, Hannah Green, Hye Jin Choi and Danielle Kang.
The tournament features a purse of $1.75 million and will offer 12 hours of live Golf Channel global coverage. It is the first time for such high-level golf in Cincinnati since the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center at Kings Island hosted the LPGA Championship in 1989, when Nancy Lopez finished three strokes ahead of Ayako Okamoto to win the tournament. Lopez won the championship three times while it was played there from 1978 to 1989.
Kenwood Country Club, built in 1930, last hosted golf at its highest level — the U.S. Women’s Open Championship — in 1963. It also was the site of the 1933 U.S. Amateur and the 1954 Western Open in 1954. The club is one of 39 out of 3,800-plus country clubs in the U.S. that is over 90 years old. It renovated its 36-hole layout during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Queen City Championship events began Monday, and a practice round is planned for all day today. A Pro-Am, in which professionals and amateurs compete with one another, is scheduled for Wednesday. The first round will begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, followed by the second round Friday, the third round Saturday and the final round Sunday. A closing ceremony is set for the end of play, about 5 p.m. Sunday, on the 18th green.
Ticketing details for all events can be found on the tournament website. Parking, available at Ensemble Health Partners – Lot B, 11511 Reed Hartman Highway in Blue Ash, is $10 (cash only or purchase in advance when ordering tickets).
Planning to go? You should know that:
· Wallets and small clutches or purses (4.5-by-6.5 inches) will be permitted.
· Cell phones must be turned to silent on the grounds.
· No coolers will be permitted on the grounds.
· No containers, large bags or backpacks will be permitted.
· No lounge or oversized chairs with extended foot rests will be permitted (small golf stools and collapsible sport-spectator chairs without chair bags are allowed).
· No cameras or camcorders Thursday-Sunday (Tuesday and Wednesday, cameras are allowed for personal use only).
· No noise-producing electronic devices, such as TVs, radios, etc., will be permitted.
· No weapons permitted (regardless of permit) — including firearms, knives and any other item that the tournament deems unlawful or dangerous in its sole discretion.
· No pets other than service animals are permitted to the grounds.
· All purses and small bags are subject to search. Unauthorized items will be confiscated.
