2023 Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play (May 24 - 28)

[JungleJimbo]

15 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Correct and this event has always held 2 invitee spaces, so nobody should be upset that Yaeeun and Muni are in the field .. they are at least an upgrade over last years invitees in Tiff Chan and now retired Youngin Chun .. the problem should be just to have the top 64 based on points and nix these invites, but you need to appease the sponsors and in the grand scheme it means very little

 

14 hours ago, Stooch said:

I get it, earning your status should really matter but I can't muster the energy to care about Sponsor invites being allowed here, when the 64th ranked player in the field has a world ranking #323.

 

16 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

 

The 64th ranked player in the field with a world ranking of #323 is the other sponsor's invitee Yaeeun Hong who lost all her matches.

 

How much sway /influence matter, in terms of having a good agent , w.r.t. getting these Sponsor Exemptions? 

 

Muni He 's agency = WME-IMG.

Yaeeun Hong = previously with IMG. Now with Yim Agency(?).  

 

LPGA Tour Player-Agent List

(+webcache  for online search without needing to download) : 

  https://www.lpga.com/-/media/files/contact-us/2023/2023-player-agent-list_031523.pdf?la=en&hash=E437EA602572907F5789FA8DAE4BE1C3395978A6

 

@KBong  previously referred to IMG as the "Death Star" (presumably w.r.t. their gravitational pull?)

 

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[golfingonly4fun]

Did anyone hear Morgan talk about the rules violation in a preceeding match? I thought it was the Furue/Maguire match but the story doesn't match the scorecard. If i heard it correctly the player moved her coin on the 2nd hole, they then finished the hole. Two holes later the player remembered she had not replaced the coin, and told her opponent and a rules official. As they could not change the scoring on the 2nd hole once it was finished, the player conceded the next (fifth?) hole, which Morgan was calling out as a classy move.

 

Great story, anyone else hear it and remember which match/player she was talking about? 

[Argonne69]

14 minutes ago, golfingonly4fun said:

Did anyone hear Morgan talk about the rules violation in a preceeding match? I thought it was the Furue/Maguire match but the story doesn't match the scorecard. If i heard it correctly the player moved her coin on the 2nd hole, they then finished the hole. Two holes later the player remembered she had not replaced the coin, and told her opponent and a rules official. As they could not change the scoring on the 2nd hole once it was finished, the player conceded the next (fifth?) hole, which Morgan was calling out as a classy move.

 

Great story, anyone else hear it and remember which match/player she was talking about? 

 

It was the Ayaka and Stacy match earlier in the week. Yes, they talked about it. 

 

[golfingonly4fun]

1 minute ago, Argonne69 said:

 

It was the Ayaka and Stacy match earlier in the week. Yes, they talked about it. 

 

Thanks for confirming!! I'm in two match play leagues at the club for my first year, I've never thought about such a situation...

[Stooch]

8 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

@Stooch is this the ridiculous shot that you referenced? (timestamp ~1m20s)

 

https://www.youtube.com/@LPGA

 

 

 

 

 

yep lol

[North Texas]

11 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Grueling way to earn a spot at the US Open, but well done.

Congrats Pajaree, she looked promising a few years ago, maybe that spark is back, maybe not. Good luck girl.

 

Got home from playing golf in time to see the back nine of the championship match. And wouldn't you know it. The girl I had never heard of beat the girl that I heard of 😊

[HMHS]

20 hours ago, 18majors said:

 

 

 

 

 

Both Ayaka and Pajaree are top notch; there can't be a better winner!  

 

Sorry, I've a question for you! You're fairly new here but seem to know LPGA well; did you use a different username/email address before?

 

I've followed PGA/LPGA, NCAA, JPGA/JLPGA, Asian tour, even Thai LPGA for quite some time now.  Decided to chime in finally because it seems like this board is "less busy" (in a good way) relative to the PGA board.  

 

Net, my first time in this forum.  

 

On a separate note,  Atthaya T must be really happy her best bud won (her IG indicates so and has been like that for a while).  Congratulations to Pajaree! 🇹🇭  

[HMHS]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

It was the Ayaka and Stacy match earlier in the week. Yes, they talked about it. 

 

It was Stacy who talked about it to the media people, if I am not mistaken, otherwise those media people might not have even known about it.  Correct me if I am wrong.  

[18majors]

31 minutes ago, HMHS said:

because it seems like this board is "less busy" (in a good way) relative to the PGA board.  

 

 

It'll be much busier now that we've you on board!  It's always worth celebrating when a new poster came with unbiased deep knowledge.

[GolfMoose]

Previously, I wasn't too sure about this course...first glance it struck me as almost too unnatural, like someone whose previous experience was designing for mini-golf had been given unlimited money.  A windmill guarding a hole wouldn't have seemed out of place.  🙂   Even the girlfriend, a very casual watcher, had suddenly commented on how impossible landing the 17th seemed.  So many shots that would be excellent ones elsewhere would careen off or run through or come back, it just seemed "tricked up", perhaps even gimmicky.

 

This year it seemed players like Furue really were able to hit some precision shots, do what the course demanded.  It would be interesting to see tournament GIR stats for the first year versus this one. 

 

Why doesn't this get a better field? Wednesday start in the middle of three NJ tournaments? Prospect of playing 3-4 rounds in the heat with little payout? I've heard it said the mens match play event uses group play (vice single elimination) as sponsors/network don't want Rahm/Rory/JT/Spieth out of it quickly but many of the LPGA equivalents certainly weren't here.  

[woahnelly]

34 minutes ago, GolfMoose said:

Previously, I wasn't too sure about this course...first glance it struck me as almost too unnatural, like someone whose previous experience was designing for mini-golf had been given unlimited money.  A windmill guarding a hole wouldn't have seemed out of place.  🙂   Even the girlfriend, a very casual watcher, had suddenly commented on how impossible landing the 17th seemed.  So many shots that would be excellent ones elsewhere would careen off or run through or come back, it just seemed "tricked up", perhaps even gimmicky.

 

This year it seemed players like Furue really were able to hit some precision shots, do what the course demanded.  It would be interesting to see tournament GIR stats for the first year versus this one. 

 

Why doesn't this get a better field? Wednesday start in the middle of three NJ tournaments? Prospect of playing 3-4 rounds in the heat with little payout? I've heard it said the mens match play event uses group play (vice single elimination) as sponsors/network don't want Rahm/Rory/JT/Spieth out of it quickly but many of the LPGA equivalents certainly weren't here.  

 

PGA match play is the exact same - top 64 , only group winners advance. 

 

Likely a lot of players skipped because  of back to back NJ events, the new Mizuho event + The ShopRite field looks stronger than usual + these ladies aren't flying private like the men! 

Edited May 29, 2023 by woahnelly

[GolfMoose]

53 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

 

PGA match play is the exact same - top 64 , only group winners advance. 

 

Yes, that's what I meant.  Going back prior to 2014 it had been played for 10+ years as single elimination but apparently the big names disappearing quickly wasn't well liked.  

[AWinfortheAges]

So is it safe for Thailand to claim itself the Capital of Women's Match Play Golf? 

(2023 International Crown Winners & 2023 Bank of Hope Match Play Champion)

Edited May 30, 2023 by AWinfortheAges

[Argonne69]

4 hours ago, GolfMoose said:

Previously, I wasn't too sure about this course...first glance it struck me as almost too unnatural, like someone whose previous experience was designing for mini-golf had been given unlimited money.  A windmill guarding a hole wouldn't have seemed out of place.  🙂   Even the girlfriend, a very casual watcher, had suddenly commented on how impossible landing the 17th seemed.  So many shots that would be excellent ones elsewhere would careen off or run through or come back, it just seemed "tricked up", perhaps even gimmicky.

 

This year it seemed players like Furue really were able to hit some precision shots, do what the course demanded.  It would be interesting to see tournament GIR stats for the first year versus this one. 

 

Why doesn't this get a better field? Wednesday start in the middle of three NJ tournaments? Prospect of playing 3-4 rounds in the heat with little payout? I've heard it said the mens match play event uses group play (vice single elimination) as sponsors/network don't want Rahm/Rory/JT/Spieth out of it quickly but many of the LPGA equivalents certainly weren't here.  

 

Give Tom Fazio a big budget, and he'll spend it. Lol. The course has been around for some time now, so those trees got a chance to grow out. Vegas loves its waterfalls. 

 

I assume the terrain was fairly flat to start, so all those mounds had to be made. No different than Pete Dye's sculpting of Whistling Straits. 

 

[Argonne69]

As purses continue to grow, the top players are not going to commit to playing a possible 7 round week for such a small paycheck. 

 

The schedule certainly doesn't help with three tournaments on the east coast. Move it to early May after the LA Championship and before the Hanwha and you'd probably get a better turnout. 

 

[Tasals]

I really disliked how the course was playing, those greens were an absolute joke. Watching the ball land on the front and roll 40 yards to be 10 yards past the flag was just a strange set up. There were flags that even in perfect lies unless the player mishit them and landed fatted in the rough they were never getting closes to with a 9 iron or less.

 

Straight up killer round by Pajarre against Grant 8 birdies in 16 holes is just absurd with how those greens were taking shots.

 

Just an odd choice of a set up. especially when its extended holes and playing time.

[JungleJimbo]

2 hours ago, AWinfortheAges said:

So is it safe for Thailand to claim itself the Capital of Women's Match Play Golf? 

Alongside Sweden! eg Anna Nordqvist loves matchplay (timestamp ~1m38s)
 

 

[Lobby]

Maybe I missed it (those videos some posted seemed to start on autoplay, messing with my browser). 
 

Why wasn’t the consolation round (Hrant McGuire) played?

 

did y’all hear anything?

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

[grm24]

4 hours ago, Lobby said:

Maybe I missed it (those videos some posted seemed to start on autoplay, messing with my browser). 
 

Why wasn’t the consolation round (Hrant McGuire) played?

 

did y’all hear anything?

This was discussed earlier in this thread. The LPGA did away with the consolation match for this event.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by grm24

[JungleJimbo]

23 hours ago, golfingonly4fun said:

Did anyone hear Morgan talk about the rules violation in a preceeding match? I thought it was the Furue/Maguire match but the story doesn't match the scorecard. If i heard it correctly the player moved her coin on the 2nd hole, they then finished the hole. Two holes later the player remembered she had not replaced the coin, and told her opponent and a rules official. As they could not change the scoring on the 2nd hole once it was finished, the player conceded the next (fifth?) hole, which Morgan was calling out as a classy move.

 

Great story, anyone else hear it and remember which match/player she was talking about? 

 

23 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

It was the Ayaka and Stacy match earlier in the week. Yes, they talked about it. 

 

 

19 hours ago, HMHS said:

It was Stacy who talked about it to the media people, if I am not mistaken, otherwise those media people might not have even known about it.  Correct me if I am wrong.