2023 Lotte Championship (Apr 12 - 15)

[Argonne69]

Race to the CME Globe: 500 Points

 

Format: 72 holes

 

Purse: $2,000,000

 

Location: Hoakalei Country Club, Ewa Beach, Oahu, HI

 

Par: 72

 

Yardage: 6,303 yds

 

History: This is the 11th year for the event. In 2022, Hyo Joo Kim captured her fifth career LPGA Tour title, shooting a final-round 71 for a two stroke win over Hinako Shibuno.

 

Coverage:

 

April 12: The Golf Channel 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm (EDT)

April 13: The Golf Channel 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm (EDT)

April 14: The Golf Channel 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm (EDT)

April 15: The Golf Channel 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm (EDT)

 

[Argonne69]

'Back to prime time golf (for North America). Just a reminder that this one runs Wednesday through Saturday. Check your DVR settings. 

 

[kwcsports]

5 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

'Back to prime time golf (for North America). Just a reminder that this one runs Wednesday through Saturday. Check your DVR settings. 

 

Why is it Wed-Sat ?

[Argonne69]

Just now, kwcsports said:

Why is it Wed-Sat ?

 

The tournament is sponsored by a Korean conglomerate. Since Hawaii is nearly a day behind Korea, the tournament finishes on a Saturday locally, which allows for a Sunday afternoon finish in Korea. 'Good for TV ratings.

 

[18majors]

39 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

The tournament is sponsored by a Korean conglomerate. Since Hawaii is nearly a day behind Korea, the tournament finishes on a Saturday locally, which allows for a Sunday afternoon finish in Korea. 'Good for TV ratings.

 

 

 

Good point!  I thought it's because Hawaii is 5-6 hours behind mainland and this gives players more time to fly back to the continent.

[Argonne69]

Just now, 18majors said:

 

 

Good point!  I thought it's because Hawaii is 5-6 hours behind mainland and this gives players more time to fly back to the continent.

 

I'm sure the players appreciate the extra travel day with the season's first major the following week. 

 

[Stooch]

Pretty weak field but it is the week before a major and the wind can cause havoc, so I get skipping it.

[Rapidcat]

Poa greens?

[18majors]

21 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

Poa greens?

 

 

It's more like bermudagrass:

 

Turfgrass Greens: Seashore paspalum .900”

Collars: Seashore paspalum .390”

Approaches: Seashore paspalum .390”

Tees: Seashore paspalum .390”

Fairways: Seashore paspalum .440”

Rough: Seashore paspalum 2

Edited April 10, 2023 by 18majors

[Rapidcat]

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

 

 

It's more like bermudagrass:

 

Turfgrass Greens: Seashore paspalum .900”

Collars: Seashore paspalum .390”

Approaches: Seashore paspalum .390” Tees: Seashore paspalum .390”

Fairways: Seashore paspalum .440”

Rough: Seashore paspalum 2

 

Ok, I know you are accurate with this type of content. I read poa somewhere but I could have been mistaken.

 

Nonetheless, is a paspalum variant a good warm up for the greens at the Chevron?

 

This event needs some recalibration for next season, it hasn't worked based on the top players skipping it (date, location, travel, course).

 

This season is taking so long to get momentum and we are in April.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Rapidcat

[18majors]

7 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

 

Ok, I know you are accurate with this type of content. I read poa somewhere but I could have been mistaken.

 

Nonetheless, is a paspalum variant a good warm up for the greens at the Chevron?

 

This event needs some recalibration for next season, it hasn't worked based on the top players skipping it (location, travel, course).

 

This season is taking so long to get momentum and we are in April.

 

 

 

 

The grass is similar but the greens at Chevron are cut much shorter; presumably much faster:

 

Greens:  Tifeagle bermudagrass, 0.100"
Collars: 419 bermudagrass .400”
Approaches: 419 bermudagrass .400”
Tees: 419 bermudagra** .400”
Fairways: 419 bermudagrass .400”
Rough: 419 bermudagrass 2.5”

Edited April 10, 2023 by 18majors

[18majors]

 

Bet365.com odds:

 

Hyo Joo Kim              7/1       Georgia Hall               8/1       Celine Boutier            9/1

Nasa Hataoka           11/1      Brooke Henderson    14/1      Hea Ran Ryu              14/1

 

Long Shots;

Annie Park               125/1     Yealimi Noh              100/1

Edited April 10, 2023 by 18majors

[Lobby]

Paspalum.

Now there's a combination of letters I never thought I run across.

[woahnelly]

57 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

Bet365.com odds:

 

Hyo Joo Kim              7/1       Georgia Hall               8/1       Celine Boutier            9/1

Nasa Hataoka           11/1      Brooke Henderson    14/1      Hea Ran Ryu              14/1

 

Long Shots;

Annie Park               125/1     Yealimi Noh              100/1

 

Yealimi is +18000 on DK. Gina Kim is +25000 🫢 Somebody named Theresa Lu is +6500 (?). Vegas is drunk. 

[MagicClassic407]

Very happy to see Gigi Stoll (age 26 and winner of the last Epson Tour event) finished 1st in Monday qualifying in Hawaii. Peaking...........🙂

[hebsan]

5 hours ago, Stooch said:

Pretty weak field but it is the week before a major and the wind can cause havoc, so I get skipping it.

The moving of the Chevron to the week after the Lotte does screw up the field.  The Chevron (ANA) was the first week in April then a week off before Lotte.  The Lotte is missing a lot of players that routinely came out here.    

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

Five Things to Know About the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei

lpga.com/news/2023/five-things-to-know-about-the-lotte-championship-presented-by-hoakalei

10 Apr 2023

 

Hyo Joo Kim of The Republic of Korea poses with the Lotte Championship Trophy after winning the LOTTE Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on April 16, 2022 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

Photo Credit: 2022 Getty Images



 

Written By: Kikue Higuchi

Kikue Higuchi is a journalism student at Northwestern University and an intern at the LPGA.



After a blustery stay in Los Angeles, the LPGA will be moving further west in search of higher temperatures and more sun at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei. The tournament’s 11th installment will return to the Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach and, as always, will be highlighted by a hula dance during the awards ceremony.

Dangerous Defender

When Hyo Joo Kim last visited the Hoakalei Country Club she shot 11-under – two strokes ahead of her closest competitor – to win her fifth LPGA Tour victory. By all accounts, Kim is poised to put up a staunch defense of her title this weekend. The world No. 9 has been skirting her sixth win since the 2023 season began, having yet to finish outside the top 10. In her three starts she had recorded a T10, a T8 and a T3 result. Her recent third-place finish came at the DIO Implant LA Open where she shot 12-under, buoyed by a pair of 5-under 66s in her opening rounds. Kim’s last win in Hawaii also came on the back of two 5-under rounds to start the tournament. With every tournament, Kim has been inching closer and closer to another win and the LOTTE Championship seems like the perfect place to stage her breakthrough.

Another Player to Beat

World No. 7 Brooke Henderson is another player to beat this week, having won the event back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 by a whopping four strokes in each contest. Henderson is no stranger to the winner’s circle and just captured her 13th LPGA win at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Coincidentally, Henderson also earned her most recent victory by four strokes. So, if Henderson manages to get four shots ahead of the field, it’s probably a sign that win number 14 is on the way.

Winningest French Golfer

World No. 8 Celine Boutier is returning to the LPGA Tour for the first time since her victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain made her the winningest French player in Tour history with three career wins. The Frenchwoman earned her win through a birdie on her first playoff hole against Georgia Hall after shooting 20-under through four rounds. Boutier has had a couple weeks off to relax and celebrate her historic win, so by now she should be ready to capture another – if only to set the bar higher for the French players to come.

A Home Crowd in Hawaii

Just two golfers in this week’s field call Hawaii home, but luckily both hail from the island of Oahu: Allisen Corpuz of Kapolei and sponsor invitee Mariel Galdiano of Pearl City. Both are up and coming in the world of women’s golf, with Corpuz just starting her second season on the LPGA Tour and Galdiano starting her second season on the Epson Tour. Corpuz has picked up where she left off in 2022 – 10 top-20 results, including a runner up finish at the ISPS Handa World Invitational – having made her way to T3 in just her second start of 2023 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. 

Rookie Bonanza

For the first time this season, all 31 of the LPGA Tour’s 2023 rookies will be in attendance. The young field is highlighted by 10-time JLPGA winner Minami Katsu who recorded a T7 at the DIO Implant LA Open. Katsu juggled birdies and bogeys through her first three rounds at the Palos Verdes Golf Club, but was able to turn in a clean card on Sunday with eight birdies to bring her score to 10-under for her first top-10 result. But Katsu’s T7 is just the second-best finish from a rookie so far this season. The best finish recorded by a rookie in 2023 was Natthakritta Vongtaveelap’s solo second result at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Vongtaveelap will return to the LPGA Tour for the first time this weekend since that runner up result.

Comments

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

18 hours ago, Stooch said:

Pretty weak field but it is the week before a major and the wind can cause havoc, so I get skipping it.

 

 

https://www.lpga.com/news/2023/proper-scheduling-a-key-to-success-for-players-in-lotte-championship

 

 

 

[iBanesto]

Weak field due to the Chevron but the highest purse and winner's share so far this year on the LPGA Tour.

 

$2 million and $300k to the winner.

Edited April 11, 2023 by iBanesto

[18majors]

 

Players to watch are Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall; they can either validate their recent form or prove their forms are transitory!

[woahnelly]

Picking Hae Ran Ryu to win and I am rooting for USC alum and Hawaiian native Allisen Corpuz to continue her good start for the season. 

[8602081]

Picking Lucy Li..

 

It's her time..

 

[Stooch]

The schedule is so sparce to start the season and without flow, while I know it's not the case, it almost feels like the top 10 players in the world don't care about this season lol.  Depending on the weather forecast, form coming in shouldn't be the ultimate factor.  If winds are up, 80% of field doesn't have a chance, it will be among a handful of wind players who are in good form.

[18majors]

2 minutes ago, Stooch said:

it will be among a handful of wind players who are in good form.

 

The "Goddess of Wind", Celine Boutier; is waiting patiently!  What a performance she delivered at Vic Open in 2019?

[Stooch]

5 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

The "Goddess of Wind", Celine Boutier; is waiting patiently!  What a performance she delivered at Vic Open in 2019?

Again, depends on the wind, from what I've noticed 15 MPH and above is where most of the LPGA field will start getting eaten up.  IMO if it's really windy the leaderboard will be top heavy.  Probably not by accident any notable player who showed up in Hawaii is a very solid wind player.

[tonyj5]

My field rating is an embassingly low 28%. This is one of the weakest fields ever!
My breakdown is 32% from the LPGA Priority List and 24% from the Rolex Rankings.

The field will led by Rolex Rankings top ten players:
Brooke Henderson
Hyo Joo Kim
Georgia Hall

There are way to many top players not teeing it up for me to list here, but players ranked in the top ten of the Rolex Rankings skipping the event are:
Lydia Ko
Nelly Korda
Jin Young Ko
Atthaya Thitikul
Minjee Lee
Lexi Thompson

The Monday qualifiers were:
Gigi Staal -1
Siyun Liu even par

There has been some important moves in the Rolex Rankings since the completion of the Dio Implant LA. Open two weeks ago:
Georgia Hall, with two consecutive runner-up finishes, jumps into the top ten 13-10. She replaces In Gee Chun, who drops out of the top ten.
Dio Inplant winner Ruoning Yin makes a gigantic move 146-30.
Carlota Ciganda jumps into the top fifty this week 52-42. She replaces Jeong Eun Lee6, who drops out of the top fifty.
Patty Tavatanakit jumps up from 76-58

There were also some big moves outside the top 100 by LPGA players:
Lucy Li 135-121
Maude-Aimee Leblanc 145-120
Perrine Delacour 183-143

Other stuff:
Nelly Korda's top ten finish at the Dio Implant LA Open was her Fourth top ten finish of the year. No one else has more than three.

The first five tournaments of the year has produced five different winners from five different countries.

Edited April 12, 2023 by tonyj5

[postfold]

Going with Nasa this week.  It's just after Easter and she's due to hop into the winner's circle again.

[MagicClassic407]

Georgia Hall for the win this week.

 

PS:  I thought for sure Gerina would join the field. Nope. Looking forward to seeing Amy Olson out there! 

PPS:  Good luck Kiira

[JungleJimbo]

15 minutes ago, postfold said:

Going with Nasa this week.  It's just after Easter and she's due to hop into the winner's circle again.

 

I made this GIF awhile ago

i.e. Nasa Hataoka's  ‘Hop-Hop-Hop’ 🐇 pogo bounce pre-shot routine

= makes me smile...

Does it make you smile too?