Loose Impediments

2010 LPGA Schedule: Winners and Losers

No wonder early favorites Donna Orender and Pete Bevacqua withdrew their names as candidates for the LPGA commissioner gig that went to Michael Whan. Because the 2010 schedule that was just released reflects the long road ahead for Whan.

There are 23 events with dates (with a Korean event TBD); two of the 23 have dates but no courses. After a first glance, here are the winners and losers of the schedule. OK, so I'm a little late to the party, but considering that the first event is nearly three months away, this should keep. 

Last-Minute Trip

What are you doing next week? If you have a couple of free days, you may want to go to the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. Because some rooms just became available.

Just 30 miles south of San Francisco, it's a beautiful place with a hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean and two courses. The Arthur Hills-designed Ocean course just hosted the LPGA Tour's Samsung World Championship, won by Paula Creamer.

And while the Arnold Palmer-designed Old course is mostly inland, in my opinion it has the second most spectacular finishing hole (click on the photo to see a bigger version) on the West Coast after Pebble Beach's 18th. It's a 418-yarder that tumbles downhill from tee to green.

One-of-a-Kind Jim

In our July/August issue, we ran a short profile of Jim Benepe, who made history 20 years ago at the Western Open:

In the summer of 1988, Benepe was a 24-year-old mini-tour pro who received a sponsor's exemption into this first PGA Tour event, the Beatrice Western Open at Butler National Golf Club outside Chicago. Incredibly, he edged Peter Jacobsen by a shot. The records of the early years of the PGA Tour are incomplete, but Benepe is the only player in the past 50 years to win in his first PGA Tour event.