As the 2021 LPGA season winds down, next year’s schedule is becoming a little clearer. The tour will make an early stop in South Florida in January, returning to Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, Florida, for the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
The tournament is in its third year on the LPGA schedule, and after debuting at Boca Rio in 2020, moved to Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida, in 2021 for the second playing. LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam competed that week – Lake Nona is her home golf course – and remarkably made the cut in her first official start since retiring from the LPGA in 2008. Nelly Korda won the event.
The 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will feature a field of 120 players competing for a $2 million purse and will be played Jan. 27-30.
“We are thrilled to continue our work with the LPGA Tour and return to Boca Rio Golf Club for the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio,” said Dan Towriss, President and CEO of Group 1001, the parent organization of Gainbridge. “In the tournament’s first two years, we have established the Gainbridge LPGA as a world-class championship. It is an honor for us to support women’s golf and provide a platform for the game’s best players to showcase their talents to fans all over the world.”
Boca Rio is a member-owned golf club built in 1967. It is located four miles from the Atlantic Ocean on 200 acres of native Florida wilderness.
This season, the Gainbridge LPGA was one of five stops in Florida, where several LPGA players call home.
“I love an event where you can stay at home. It makes the week a little easier,” Palm Beach Gardens resident Austin Ernst, a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team who is 24th on this year’s money list, told the Palm Beach Post.
“Boca Rio is a great course. It’s a good test. There’s a good mix of holes. The course played long last year because of the rain, but I think it’s a great venue.”
With eight events still to go on the LPGA in 2021 – including six domestic events – the full picture of the 2022 LPGA schedule is still unknown.
Craig Dolch contributed reporting.