IVINS — The golf course at Black Desert Resort in Ivins has only been open for a few days, but it is already drawing the top women golfers in the world.
St. George News has learned that the course will be hosting a stop on the LPGA Tour starting next year and for several years to come.
A news conference will take it official Tuesday morning at Black Desert Resort, which is still mostly under construction.
The golf course opened all 18 of its holes to players this past Saturday and has already been gaining a national reputation as the last course designed by former PGA pro and architect, the late Tom Weiskopf. It also was already designated as the home course and training center for Utah Tech University’s golf team.
But Patrick Manning, managing partner of Black Desert developer Enlaw LLC, said while the goal was always to create a world-class golf facility, the idea of a professional golf tournament coming to the course seemed like just a dream.
“I would say that I saw it more as an impossibility than a likelihood,” Manning said. “And it turns out it’s highly possible and it’s going to happen.”
While the St. George metropolitan area has hosted lower-level minor league baseball in the past as well as last year’s Ironman World Championship, this will be the first time that one of the major sports leagues will be calling the area home.
The Copper Rock Golf Course in Hurricane has hosted an event on the Epson Tour, the developmental league of the LPGA Tour, for the last three years. But the Ivins event will host the big leagues.
The Black Desert Resort LPGA Tour event will also be the first major professional golf stop in the state of Utah since the Utah Open in Provo in 1963.
The LPGA Tour is nationally televised on NBC, CBS and the Golf Channel and is considered the top women’s golf competition in the world. There are 32 stops on the LPGA Tour in 2023, including 11 outside the U.S.
The Black Desert Resort/Ivins stop will be in May during the West Coast swing of the tour, which is signing a multi-year contract. That will make 2024 the first of several years at least of Ivins being the center of women’s golf at least one weekend a year.
Ivins Mayor Chris Hart said having the pros converge in his city and highlight its Red Mountain backdrop can only be a benefit.
“This event will certainly enhance Ivins’ image as a recreation destination just as Tuacahn and neighboring Snow Canyon have for many years,” Hart said.
Something that Manning and other officials say won’t be boosted is traffic. Plans are already in place to use a system of shuttle busses at remote sites to handle any additional traffic the tournament might draw.
It’s not something untried. Most major golf tournaments, whether LPGA Tour or PGA Tour, usually limit on-site parking to competitors, staff, VIPs and the media while spectators are shuttled in from other locations.
And much of the same will be the case during the LPGA Black Desert Resort Tournament.
“We’ve looked at all the major parking lots from the churches nearby to Tuacahn. Also at Black Desert, we will have 2,000 underground parking spaces,” Manning said. “We intend to run buses and shuttles back and forth from all. We are just doing everything we possibly can to try to keep cars off the road. That is a No. 1 priority for us.”
Volunteers will also be a vital component for the tournament – from those who hold “Quiet” signs at the tees to ushers. Manning said the large volunteer turnout helping at last year’s Ironman Championship showed the area can come through.
“I think (Ironman) has definitely helped from the standpoint of knowing that we’ve got the volunteer base here,” Manning said.
As far as economic impact, the LPGA Tour event is likely to bring in tens of millions on a yearly basis to Ivins and surrounding areas. A city in Texas reported a $12 million impact on its community from holding an LPGA Tour event last year.
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