‘It’s kind of like a hidden gem.’ Bradenton on national stage with LPGA Tour event
The trophy was so heavy, it had to be placed in a built-in case.
“I think the wall would have gone down,” Nelly Korda said.
Korda, the defending champion of this week’s LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup presented by the U.S. Virgin Islands at Bradenton Country Club.
On Thursday, she kick-started her title defense with a 3-under par 68 on a course roughly five minutes from HCA Florida Blake Hospital, where she was born.
Naturally, Korda had a large crowd following her around the Donald Ross-designed track.
Having the tournament return to Bradenton Country Club, 4646 Ninth Ave. W., Bradenton, elevates the profile of the golfing community for a nationally televised audience.
“There’s so much to see here,” said Korda, who was three back of the lead when she finished her round. “You have beautiful Sarasota, you have beautiful Bradenton, you have Longboat Key, you have Anna Maria Island. I mean, it’s kind of like a hidden gem.”
The tournament is a boon for the club, too.
But to have the LPGA Tour back, the club needed to vote, and 80% of the membership approved its return. That set the ball in motion with roughly twice the amount of time to prepare compared to the timeline ahead of the 2024 tournament.
“We were told this is one of the biggest turnouts for an LPGA event they had all year,” club president John Priester said.
Priester said having a huge turnout, an 80% membership approval of hosting and Korda’s shot on the 18th hole in last year’s final round to get into a playoff and win were contributing factors to the event being a success for the club.
“The LPGA has already expressed their desire, they would like to continue an event here and we are not unopposed to that at all,” Priester said. “Again, membership would vote.”
However, there is a plan to tear down the existing clubhouse and rebuild a new one.
“That could play a factor with (the LPGA Tour),” Priester said. “They may not want to be here ... we’re working hard to establish that timeline, whether we’ll have it by the time next year comes about where we will be in the process of demolition? That’s to be determined.”
For now, though, the LPGA Tour is in Bradenton this week at a course that turned 100 years old in 2024.
“Even last year, we had seven of the top 10 players come here and to have this year, speaking with some of the caddies and some of the players, they thought this was such a well-run tournament, they wanted to come back here and play again,” Priester said.
Getting ready for an LPGA Tour event
In 2024, there were three months to prepare for the LPGA Tour’s return to the area. The tour last held a tournament in the area at Sarasota’s Bent Tree Country Club in the 1980s. The LPGA’s Epson Tour, a rung below the LPGA in the golf pyramid, held events under the Symetra Tour banner at Sara Bay Country Club in southern Manatee County during the 2010s.
But the LPGA had not held a tour event in the area until choosing Bradenton Country Club last year. This year, the prep time doubled to six months allowing more time to find volunteers and set up the course.
Priester’s wife, Tricia, is the volunteer chair for the Founders Cup, which secured roughly 360 to 400 volunteers this week.
Tricia Priester said they emailed all the volunteers from last year starting in October to prep for this year’s tournament. Then they messaged the club a few times, before beginning to email non-members in November. There were email lists from the Korn Ferry Tour event in Lakewood Ranch and ladies golf associations in the area.
“And we still picked them up Monday,” Tricia Priester said.
The Priesters also said the club’s staff, behind director of golf Nick Campbell and club manager Rob Hubbard, are instrumental in the work to get things ready in advance.
Tricia Priester, a Bradenton native who grew up on one of the holes at Bradenton Country Club, said the maintenance staff works from around 3 a.m. until 7 p.m. each day.
That’s just to get the course prepped for play during the tournament.
“I never thought there would be anything here,” Tricia said reflecting on imagining an event as big as the LPGA Tour when she was growing up.
How to attend LPGA Tour in Bradenton
Daily tickets, beginning at $39 for general admission, can be purchased at SeatGeek.com. General admission weekly passes start at $129.
For more information on parking, hospitality and complimentary junior tickets, visit SeatGeek.com.
The tournament airs daily on The Golf Channel and concludes Sunday.
