The Palos Verdes Golf Club Becomes the Stage for an Exciting Finish as the LPGA Wraps UP the DIO Implant LA Open By Photographer and Contributor Steve Tabor
The Palos Verdes Golf Club (PVGC) hosted the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s (LPGA) for the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open from March 27th to April 2nd. Competing for the $1.75 million purse were 144 golfers including sixteen of the top twenty golfers on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (RWWGR), major championship winners, multiple winners on the LPGA tour, and notable alumni from UCLA, USC, and Pepperdine University. Nasa Hataoka, defending LA Open champion and currently ranked 12th on the RWWGR and the winner of 2022 Palos Verdes Championship by Bank of America, Marina Alex, returned to the tee boxes at the PVGC.
The sixteen members of the RWWGR competing in the event were World Number 1 golfer, Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda (2), Jin Young Ko (3), Atthaya Thitikul (4), In Gee Chun (9), and Hyo Joo Kim (10), Lilia Vu (11), Nasa Hataoka (12), Georgia Hall (13), Leona Maguire (14), Danielle Kang (15) Charley Hull (16), Xiyu Lin (17), Ashleigh Buhai (18), Ayaka Furue (19) and Jennifer Kupcho (20).
Former Los Angeles area collegiate players in the field included Lady Bruin alumni Bronte Law, Alison Lee, Ryann O’Toole, Patty Tavatanakit, Mariajo Uribe, and Lilia Vu. Former Lady Trojans taking to the tee boxes were Jennifer Chang, Allisen Corpuz, Annie Park, Lizette Salas, Jennifer Song, and Gabriella Then. Danielle Kang, Pepperdine University alumni, was also in the field.
Long-time LPGA favorites in the field included LPGA legend with twenty career wins including two major championships, Christie Kerr. Stacy Lewis, a thirteen-time winner with two major championships. Paula Creamer, aka the Pink Panther, has accumulated twelve career tournament wins, including ten wins on the LPGA tour.
Of special note, Ching-Tzu Chen, a senior at Oregon University, earned a sponsor exemption based on her runner-up finish at the collegiate championship held in February.
When play began on Thursday morning, the seventy-two players assigned to the morning flight faced a combination of sub-fifty-degree temperatures, and a mixture of rain, hail and sunshine. But, the weather for the afternoon round improved and the players found improving course conditions. Surprisingly though, it was two players from the morning flight that finished on top of the leaderboard.
Using the Monday qualifying round to enter the 144-player field, and teeing off in the morning flight of golfers, Mi Hyang Lee shot an incredible bogey-free round of six under par with a score of 65, while recording birdies on four holes on the course’s front nine and birdies on the 11th and 18th holes on the back nine. In second place was fellow South Korean golfer, Hyo Joo Kim, who shot a five under par, for a score of 66.
As the sun rose on Friday, weather conditions improved along with the scoring opportunities. Starting the day tied for seventh place at three under par, 20-year-old, Rouning Yin from Mainland China, shot a seven under-par 64, tying the tournament record for lowest single round. Her two-day total of 10-under par placed her in a tie for first place with Hyo Joo Kim, who shot a bogey free round of 66.
Yin was not the only golfer on Friday to tie the tournaments lowest single round score of a seven under score of 64. Jennifer Kupcho used her seven under par score to move into a tie for seventh place for a two-day total of six under par. Lizette Salas also shot a round of 64 and moved her into a tie for ninth place with a two-day score of five under par.
Following her round Yin stated, “I felt my short game was in a pretty solid spot right now. I can strike the ball well and my approach shot is pretty good. Last year, I only played a fade with every shot. This off-season I was working on maybe hitting a little draw, and I think that works. Yeah, I think I’m playing pretty good. Maybe I can win one or two tournaments this year.”
Kim commented, “My short game today was really good, and I think that led to a bogey-free round. There were a couple of situations actually where I could have carded a bogey, but in those instances my putter worked well.”
At the conclusion of Friday’s play, 78 players with a score equal to or better than two over par would advance to the weekend rounds. Going into Saturday's play, Yin and Kim were tied for first place at ten under par; Nasa Hataoka was alone in third place at nine under par; Maude-Aimee Lablanc held solo fourth place at eight under par.
Lilia Vu and Megan Khang were tied for fifth place at seven under par.
Jennifer Kupcho and Patty Tavatanakit were tied for seventh place at six under par.
Lizette Salas, Charley Hull, and Perrine Delacour were tied for ninth place at five under par.
Atthaya Thitikul, Frida Kinhult, Hannah Green, and Nelly Korda were tied for twelfth place at four under par.
Thursday’s leader Mi Hyang Lee, fell into a tie for sixteenth place at three under par.
During her round on Saturday, Yin birdied the 2nd hole, but struggled through the rest of the front nine holes. On the back nine holes Yin’s putter came alive as she recorded four birdies on her scorecard including consecutive birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 14th holes.
During her post round interview Yin remarked, “I was a little struggling with my putter on the front nine. After eight, which I made a bogey with a three putt, I just told myself and I told my caddie, I said, “We just got to trust the line and putt it.”
Kim finished her second round at two under par, but still managed to maintain a hold on second place.
However, it was Britain’s, Georgia Hall, who drew the attention of attendees and those watching at home. Within a few hours of Carlota Ciganda recording a new single round tournament scoring record of eight under par score of 63. Hall shot a round of nine under par for a score of 62. Not only was this a new single round tournament record, but it was Hall’s personal best single round score. Hall’s performance catapulted her from tied for 29th place at the start of the day to solo possession of third place and moved her into Sunday’s final group with Yin and Kim.
With the thought of finishing second in sudden death playoff to Celine Boutier in the prior week’s LPGA Drive On Championship in Arizona, Hall commented to reporters, “It’s been quite full on for me the last couple weeks. Yeah, late Sunday last week and it, it’s very mentally tough out there. You have to think a lot because there is a lot of spin you can put on the ball. So, I think just really, take this afternoon and get away from ‘like’ thinking about golf and be fresh for tomorrow. I think that’s my priority.”
At the conclusion of Saturday’s round Yin held her first place position with a two-shot lead over Kim. With a four under par round of 67, Yin accumulated a three round total score of 14-under par. Kim’s two under par total left her with a three-round total of 12-under par. Hall was sitting third on the leaderboard with a three round scoring total of ten under par.
With Saturday’s round in the books and Sunday’s starting Leaderboard in place, players and spectators were left to wonder:
Could Yin, the LPGA sophomore, hold on to first place after finishing Saturday 14-under par and take her first LPGA title?
Could Kim overcome a two-shot deficit at 12-under par, and earn her sixth victory on the LPGA tour?
Could Hall put together another breathtaking round and overtake Yin and Kim on the last day of the competition?
Could fourth place contestants, Hataoka, Danielle Kang, Thitikul, or Delacour currently tied for fourth place at nine under par, somehow pull off an incredible come from behind round and manage to hoist the trophy at the end of the day?
With Yin, Kim and Hall in the final group of the day, Yin started the first hole with a par and her second hole with a birdie, one stroke under par. She had difficulties with holes three, four and five by bogeying, one stroke over par, each hole. She managed to card consecutive birdies on holes six, seven, eight, and nine and finished the front nine two strokes in the lead with a 34, 2-under par.
Kim was unable to make up any ground on Yin on the front nine and shot a score of 34 with birdies on holes two and seven. Hall started the day four strokes behind Yin, but her 33 on the front nine moved her to within three strokes of a tie with Yin.
Before reaching the 18th green, Yin was one under par for her round and 15-under par for the tournament. Kim was two over par for the day and three strokes behind Yin at 12-under par. Hall, at 14-under par, had the best round in progress, out of the three golfers. Through 17 holes, Hall was bogey-free with four birdies on her card and one stroke behind Yin at 14-under par for the tournament.
The golfers left the 18th tee with their drives safely in place to reach the green. Kim, three strokes behind, had little chance to catch the leader. The only winning scenario for Kim hinged on Yin not being able to reach the bottom of cup (hole) in three shots. Kim’s hopes were quickly dashed as Yin’s second shot landed on the green approximately 20 feet to the right of the hole leaving many to think she could easily finish with a par. The stage was set for Hall to maybe pull off a miracle, if she could somehow manage to land her approach shot, from the fairway, on the green and have it find the bottom of cup, she would force Yin to birdie the hole by sinking her first putt in order to tie for the lead. Hall’s approach shot came to rest approximately 7 feet behind the hole, but it still gave her hope to tie Yin for the lead. If Yin needed two strokes to finish her round and if Hall could sink her putt in one stroke, Hall would tie for the lead and force a sudden death playoff.
Hall prepares to mark her ball on the 18th green as she surveys her putt to send the match into sudden death.
Yin was first to putt and rolled her putt within 18 inches of the hole leaving her with an easy tap in putt that would guarantee her a par for the hole and a 15-under par finish for the 72 holes. The pressure was now on Hall. A hush fell over the crowd as Hall stood over her ball. If she sinks it, she ties Yin and forces another sudden death playoff. Missing the putt would mean that Yin was all but assured of a win by at least one stroke. As the ball left Hall’s putter it was directly headed for the hole, but as the ball approached the hole, it broke slightly left and slid by the left edge of the hole, leaving her with an easy comeback putt. After tapping in, Hall secured a second-place finish, but was visibly disappointed. Yin managed to tap in her putt and secured her first LPGA win!
Yin clinches her 1st LPGA win!
Following the close of the tournament Yin shared, “I think before the first round I talk to my coach, ‘(I) Said I don’t know, should I trust the line or trust myself?’ And my coach just told me, you spend like five minutes on the green, read the line, and putt on the line. You got to trust it or you’re just wasting time, yeah! I mean for my game, I have a goal that I cannot make three putts, cannot make (a) double bogey. After I hit the tree (on the tenth hole) I said, Let’s just make bogey here. Don’t even think about make par.”
Although she finished in second place, Hall left the course leading the field with fewest putts for 72 holes with a total of 105 putts for an average of 1.46 per hole and shooting a record lowest round!
The Final Leaderboard showed Yin in first place at 15-under par; Hall in second place at 14-under par; Patty Tavatanakit and Hyo Joo Kim tied for third place at 12-under par. Tied for fifth place at 11-under par were Carlota Ciganda and Nelly Korda. Tied for seventh place at 10-under par were Danielle Kang and Minami Katsu. In solo ninth place was Atthaya Thitikul at 9-under par. Finishing in tenth place at 8-under par were Perrine Delacour and Lilia Vu. First round leader Mi Hyang Lee finished 2-under par and tied for thirty-eighth place.
Yin received LA Open Trophy from Jincheoi Kim, DIO Implant Founder and Chairman.
Inside the Ropes
Following the tournament, PVGC General Manager, David Stocke, had some time to share his thoughts and reflections about hosting the LPGA and the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open.
PVP: Why were the holes reversed for the event?
DS: The primary reason for the holes to be reversed is for the extraordinary ocean views on our front 9 (tournament back 9). With 7 holes enjoying peekaboo or panoramic ocean views (holes 1 through 7), it made sense for them to flip the nines. The Golf Channel Coverage was set up at hole 2 green/6 green/7 tee area, with TV towers, and their on screen talent had ocean views behind them for the viewers enjoyment. Finally, our hole 9 (tournament 18) is closer to the clubhouse, Pro Shop Patio, and the Hospitality Tent, which is a better finishing hole to create some added drama with a stadium like feel.
PVP: What led to the selection of PVGC for the event?
DS: The picturesque and pristine seaside golf course and community of Palos Verdes Estates, with its close proximity to Los Angeles, was a primary driver to be selected as the host course for the DIO Implant LA Open. It takes many factors and boxes that need to be ticked in order to be selected for an LPGA tournament like this one. It begins with the golf courses reputation, how it holds up under championship play, the geographic area, and proximity to a major airport. It also takes a special community that is highly regarded to attract an LPGA or PGA Tour event that players would be excited to travel to.
PVP: What were the factors that tipped the scales in the PVGC's favor?
DS: The fact that Palos Verdes Golf Club is a longtime host of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge (Formerly the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge) also played a factor. This tournament is widely known as one of the most prestigious D-1 women’s collegiate events of the year, with 16 of the top ranked teams in the country competing. Many of these former college players have turned pro and have made their way onto the LPGA Tour. Last year’s LPGA Palos Verdes Championship by Bank of America enjoyed 35+ former players from this collegiate event.
The X factor was likely the Palos Verdes Golf Club’s grand and beautiful Mediterranean clubhouse with stunning panoramic ocean views. The clubhouse and grounds lay out extraordinarily well to host the many players, caddies, volunteers, Media, VIP Title sponsors, and patrons required to have a successful LPGA event.
PVP: Is this a long-term commitment with the LPGA?
DS: Productive discussions continue for a longer-term commitment with the LPGA, Outlyr, Palos Verdes Golf Club and the City of Palos Verdes Estates. The LPGA & Outlyr have both shown their interest in this successful relationship continuing with Palos Verdes Golf Club and the City of Palos Verdes Estates. All parties seem receptive to working out beneficial terms in the near future…stay tuned.
PVP: Besides reversing the holes, what other modifications were made to the course for the event?
DS: We worked directly with the LPGA’s course agronomist, John Miller, and their Senior Manager of Rules & Competitions, Mitch Moon. Height of cut for our greens, fairways, step-cut, roughs and sand depths are all adjusted to accommodate a top-notch tour event. The heavy rains and wet conditions brought us more than our fair share of challenges to prepare the course to idealistic tournament conditions. Our golf course Superintendent, Steve Manriquez, and our Director of Golf, Jim Gormley, along with the course maintenance team and Pro Shop staff really stepped up to the plate. They delivered excellent course conditions and services for the players and caddies to enjoy.
The camera lenses benefitted immensely too, which helped to showcase the club and the beautiful PV Peninsula with our lush greenery, tree-line fairways, and panoramic ocean views. Numerous modifications happened throughout the Clubhouse and grounds, including setting up a dedicated Media Room, having to convert our Fitness Center into player services, Physical Therapy, and storage, as well as setting up a temporary banquet kitchen in the existing Bud Oakley Room with refrigeration to handle the heavy demands of food and beverage for the week. Parking is always a challenge and the creation of a nice entrance for patrons took a tremendous effort as well.
PVP: When did the staff begin their preparations for the event?
DS: The staff began preparations almost a year ago with correspondence with Outlyr and the clubs LPGA Tournament Committee, chaired by former Club President, David Klein. A regular meeting schedule began in early December 2022, with weekly discussions with the PVGC staff, volunteer chairs, LPGA Tournament Committee, members of the Board, and all of PVGC management. As we got closer to the event, the weekly meetings became twice a week, and then quickly shifted to daily meetings.
PVP: Were there any surprises or situations that needed to be addressed?
DS: There are always numerous surprises with events of this magnitude, and we had our fair share. The creativity required for food and beverage to handle the tournament’s special event requests and parties to name a few. I would say the biggest challenges came from the mobilization of heavy equipment, food trucks, media trucks, and more with very soggy and wet conditions that Mother Nature brought to the Peninsula. The Pro-Am was impacted, as well as the first two days of play with rain and cooler than anticipated temperatures. We made the adjustments needed, and as they say, “the show must go on”. Ultimately, the scoring proved to still be difficult for the players, even with the softer conditions. The 36-hole cut came in at +2 and the final winning score of -15 confirmed the course held up extremely well versus the best players in the world.
PVP: What feedback did you get from the LPGA regarding the course’s playability or other aspects of the event?
DS: They were very pleased overall and the scores at +2 for the 36-hole cut and only 46 of 144 players came in under par for the week pays tribute to how challenging the Palos Verdes Golf Club is in a championship format.
PVP: How do the preparations for an LPGA event differ from preparations for collegiate events?
DS: Over 250 volunteers are involved to bring an event like this to life. With title sponsors, media, The Golf Channel, national TV coverage, LPGA officials, Tour vans, Security, Physical Therapy, Medical support, parking needs, and over 25,000+ in attendance over four days of competition, on top of all the players and caddies, it is a much bigger undertaking than a top-notch college event.
PVP: What are the lessons learned from this event?
DS: Palos Verdes Golf Club is a great venue to host an LPGA event. The staff, member, and community support is impressive. Our championship golf course, along with the picturesque PVE location, is highly desirable for the players, caddies, fans and for inspirational TV coverage. If the rains were to be this heavy in future years, we would spend more time finding solutions for heavy trucks and equipment to mobilize around the entrances and on the golf course. Securing more parking options closer to PV Golf Club would also pay dividends and provide more convenience for all those involved in the event.
Steve Tabor Bio
This South Bay native’s photographic journey began after receiving his first 35 mm film camera upon earning his Bachelor of Arts degree. Steve began with photographing coastal landscapes and marine life. As a classroom teacher he used photography to share the world and his experiences with his students. Steve has expanded his photographic talents to include portraits and group photography, special event photography as well as live performance and athletics. Steve serves as a volunteer ranger for the Catalina Island Conservancy and uses this opportunity to document the flora and fauna of the island’s interior as well as photograph special events and activities.
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