Observations from the Senior PGA revealed fans’ tendencies in navigating the course. As a result, shade canopies and misting stations have been strategically placed throughout. Finally, parking has been condensed, “to streamline everybody’s experience getting to the property,” Mengel said.
Amy Yang, the defending KPMG Women’s PGA Champion, was slated to get her first look at Fields Ranch East during media day for the championship on June 2. Reached by phone in early May, she confessed to not knowing much about the layout except by reputation. But having broken through last year at Sahalee Country Club near Seattle for her first major championship victory, Yang says she is much more focused on her own game than the venue for her upcoming title defense.
“I have heard that the golf course is very challenging, especially the greens,” explains Yang, who is in her 18th season on the LPGA Tour. “For me, yeah, the preparation has already started. I’ve been working on my technical stuff. Golf is not a game of perfect, so I tend to fall back to my old tendencies. I’ve been working on my short game and putting quite a bit, because that is going to be important. And also some mental training, making sure I’m staying in the present and very focused on what I’m working on with my mental coach. It’s still in process.”
Yang is more excited than nervous about her first major title defense. The native of South Korea had posted 21 top-10 finishes in major championships before her three-stroke victory last year. The win came in her 74th major start, and she is still reveling in the accomplishment.
“Yes, yes, yes. That was one of my dreams,” Yang, who keeps her trophy in sight on a shelf in her living room, said about her breakthrough triumph. “Growing up, I really wanted to play the LPGA Tour, and win tournaments. And, of course, winning a major was one of the big goals I had, and I couldn’t achieve it for a long time. And, I don’t know if you know this, but people talked a lot about that I have not won many tournaments on U.S. soil. So to win a major – and in the U.S. – was very special. I won’t forget it forever in my life.”
On the other end of the experience spectrum is Natalie Vivaldi, PGA, who will make her debut in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after finishing second last August in the LPGA Pros Championship at Innisbrook Resort’s famed Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida. In fact, Vivaldi, the Director of Instruction at Emerald Isle Golf Course in Oceanside, California, will be playing in her first LPGA Tour event, and yet might be one of the most prepared to take on Fields Ranch East.
Vivaldi visited PGA Frisco in April to get in a few practice rounds, and she has gained further insights on the East Course by playing a simulator version at a Full Swing facility near her home in Oceanside.
“It’s a special place. I would call it heaven on earth for golfers,” Vivaldi says of her visit to PGA Frisco. “It’s a little piece of paradise. The course was long and difficult and windy, but that’s what’s to be expected in Texas. So, it’s going to be a big challenge for everyone. I think it’s going to be super fun.”
The golf is only half the fun for the former San Diego State and Colorado University player. “This is no joke. I think there are 40 to 50 of my friends and family flying out to support me. So that’s what I’m most excited about, just the amount of people who are going to be out there showing me love and support,” Vivaldi says.
“They all know it’s a dream come true for me. So that’s going to be definitely the most special part. I mean, this will be my own Happy Gilmore crowd out there. Kind of a funny story.”
Despite making her first start in the LPGA Pros Championship – with her mom Julie on the bag – Vivaldi was one of the eight professionals out of a field of 112 players to advance to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She fell three strokes shy of Allie White of Lancaster, Ohio, who successfully defended her title with a 3-over 216 aggregate score at Innisbrook. White, Director of Golf at Lancaster Golf Club, also serves as an assistant men’s and women’s golf coach at Division III Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
The other players to earn spots at Fields Ranch East, in order of their respective finishes at Innisbrook: Nicole Felce of Clearwater, Fla., Allie Knight of Knoxville, Tenn., Dr. Alison Curdt of Simi Valley, Calif., Heather Angell of Fort Myers, Fla., Changkija of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Ashley Grier of Hagerstown, Md. Grier defeated Leslie Cloots of Chapel Hill, N.C., in a sudden-death playoff to secure the final berth after they tied for eighth at 221.
A PGA of America Assistant Professional at Lake Nona in Orlando, Changkija is a former LPGA player who is making her ninth appearance in the Championship and sixth in a row. Her best finish was a tie for 30th in her debut in 2016. Recently, she finished T-35 in the PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and also was in the field for that championship last year at Fields Ranch East and West.
“It’s a difficult course, and it should be drier in June with a bit more wind. I’m glad I’ve seen it; I have a pretty good idea of the tee-shot lines,” says Changkija, one of five women populating the PGA Professional Championship field in Port St. Lucie and the only one to make the cut. “I would like to execute better (than last year). I need to just go through my game plan. The more stress-free golf I play, then I know I’ll be better.”
In addition to Changkija, Grief, Knight, Joanna Coe and Katelyn Sepmoree are the other women teeing it up in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship who competed at PGA Golf Club.
NBC Sports will provide 26 hours of live coverage of the championship while Golf Channel adds nearly another 20 hours of programming. An estimated 500 million homes globally are expected to tune in.
“You think about all the eyeballs on this property and on the Championship, so much exposure for our home office and resort property, it’s significant and impactful,” Mengel said.
“It’s exciting to be in this Championship and especially at the home of the PGA of America, and it will be great playing in front of family and friends again,” says Curdt, who is making her eighth start in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“It’s such an awesome facility to host it. I saw it when it was under construction, so I’m looking forward to seeing it now. This is a great way to make the PGA of America shine. It’s a great way to highlight the best athletes in the world. It just seems like a perfect opportunity for golf.”