BELMONT, Mich. — Nelly Korda returned to Blythefield Country Club on Thursday to defend her title as champion of the Meijer LPGA Classic.
“I think it’s an amazing event. The whole town gets behind it. We enjoy coming to Grand Rapids. I love the city,” Korda said during a press conference. “We all like the golf course. It’s usually in really good condition.”
Korda will compete against 144 other golfers from around the world. Nine of them are ranked in the Top 10 and 18 in the Top 25. All of them are competing for a share of a $2,500,000 purse. Last year, when she won, Korda donated $25,000 to Kids Food Basket in Grand Rapids.
“It’s a great field of LPGA golfers. So, when you look at the field we have top players in the field,” said Meijer LPGA Executive Director Cathy Cooper. “Wonderful women out there. Even more so this tournament is definitely about golf, but this about community.”
Cooper said that what makes the event special is that the proceeds goes to Meijer’s Simply Give program, which helps local pantries and partners keep their shelves stocked with foods and other items to combat hunger. Meijer contributes as well.
“We’re all about really helping those in our communities and so many support us,” Cooper said. “We feel it’s really important to support them as well in what they need whether it’s food, whether it’s shelter, if it’s a disaster, if it’s school, whatever it is we try to help.”
Officials also help families, she said. They set up care tents, a play area and a putt-putt course that caters to moms, dads and children.
“It was the first event on tour to provide a family care area and it’s really great because Kimberly Clark is our partner,” Cooper said. “You can walk into them. They’re air conditioned. They have changing tables. They have really comfortable chairs for moms that are nursing. But, it’s a great place to get away and take care of your kids and don’t have to leave the tournament.”
The tournament runs through Sunday evening. Cooper said they expect to see 55,000 people over the next few days.
She said they’re grateful to be back in full swing.
“We took a year off for COVID, came back last year, we didn’t even have the tournament in the big way that we have it this year and we saw amazing numbers,” Cooper said. “So, what we’ve got out here, which is bigger than we've ever done, we're feeling very good about it."
