After a successful return to northern New Jersey during the fall of 2021, the LPGA is looking forward to settling into the region with the Cognizant Founders Cup after signing a three-year agreement with Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. This year's championship takes place May 9-15, offering exciting golf from the game's top women players and an outstanding championship experience for fans. The MGA recently caught up with Tournament Director Scott Wood to gather his insight on the upcoming championship.
MGA: Can you share some on the success of 2021 and the LPGA's return to northern New Jersey?
Scott Wood: Last year was a lot of firsts for us. We had a new title sponsor in Cognizant Technology Solutions, which is based out of Teaneck, New Jersey. When they came on board they wanted to elevate the tournament, so immediately they doubled the purse to $3 million. That in itself bumped us to being the highest non-major, non CME purse. We played at Mountain Ridge Country Club which is kind of one of those hidden gems in northern New Jersey that was just a beautiful facility. So, 2021 for us was extremely special for those reasons, plus we were just getting back to playing golf. The Founders Cup was the first event to shut down domestically in March of 2020, so for our staff and the players and everything that we do to help celebrate the LPGA through the Founders Cup tournament, it had been a long layoff for us. We were ready to get back at it. It was a stellar field and a great champion in Jin Young Ko, who’s in a dominant phase right now in her career. Her run through the LPGA has been nothing short of spectacular … so it’s nice to sit back and think, ‘We’re watching history here while we celebrate the history through the Founders Cup.’
MGA: What is the LPGA looking forward to with Upper Montclair Country Club as the new host venue?
SW: With the move to Upper Montclair, it’s great that it’s still in the same vicinity, so some of the relationships we started last year with a new fan base, corporate and local business base, that we’re able to build upon the momentum that we started last year. … There’s a lot of history at Upper Montclair. They just went through a multi-million-dollar renovation. The clubhouse is spectacular. The staff there is so accommodating. They want to help tell our story and help make us successful. We’re excited to have a home there for the next three years and I know our players are excited about it. … We just keep elevating this tournament year after year and certainly agreeing to a long-term deal with Upper Montclair is continuing that trend for us.
MGA: How are preparations going for the championship and what’s it been like to have a quick turnaround from last October to May?
SW: Typically, we have 12 months to plan year-to-year, so this is a pretty quick turnaround. I think one of the most appealing aspects of agreeing to move the tournament to Upper Montclair is that we have a history there. There's a blueprint for us to work off, which is certainly very helpful when you're planning a professional golf tournament of this magnitude. ... There will be some key learnings coming out of this year that we'll be able to improve upon year after year moving forward. … We're looking at the blueprint from the early-to-mid 2000s to say, ‘OK, how can we make it better.’ One of the things we’re doing is a re-route. We’re still going to use the South and the West courses but we're going to re-route the West course a little bit to accommodate for some hospitality builds. I love 16-17-18 that we’re going to be using and it’s going to make for a fantastic finish.
MGA: What would you say to someone that didn’t go last year or may be planning to attend an LPGA event for the first time?
SW: LPGA athletes are some of the most approachable ever. I think for fans that are going to come out and experience it for the first time, that's going to be the thing they're notice right off the bat. If you see your favorite player, whoever it is, they’re going to be accessible for you to interact with them a little bit—get that autograph or get that photo with them. I think that’s something that our players excel at. Secondly, the layout at Upper Montclair is going to allow you to see a lot of golf and bounce around to catch those marquee groups and watch a lot of golf.
(cont.) Outside of having the world’s best golfers on-site for a week, we’re going to have our LPGA USGA Girls Golf clinic on Saturday. That’s kind of the junior day where anyone can come participate. We’ll have activities and lessons, so it’s a day filled with world-class golf but also fun and engaging activities. … For the adults, we’ll have our lessons where we have teaching professionals that come out and you can get a free 10-minute lesson.
MGA: Can you tell us a little about ticket sales?
SW: I'm seeing a lot of people buying weekly grounds tickets, so that that tells me that that people are excited about it and that people are going to want to come back multiple days to experience this. It just depends on what you want to do when you come out. If you're looking to come out and walk on the front nine and back nine or just kind of bounce around a little bit, then the general admission ticket is for you, but if you want an elevated ticket experience with food and beverage included and a nice seat and covered patio, then we have some nice hospitality options. Especially on the par-3 17th, I think that our Pioneer Pavilion there is going to have a lot of excitement.
MGA: Any final thoughts you'd like to share about the Founders Cup?
SW: What I like to tell people whenever they ask me what is the Founders Cup, my elevator pitch is that we're celebrating the past, we're honoring today and we're securing the future. Thirteen women started this tour back in 1950 and I'm still amazed that 72 years later, here we are. We’re the longest running women’s sports organization in the world. We have the best athletes and the best golf that’s being played. … Everything that we try for at the end of the tournament is not only award a $450,000 check to the winner, but also donate money back to the LPGA USGA Girls’ Golf program. We’re just trying to do our part to help secure the next generation of LPGA players through that program. We’re approaching 100,000 young girls ages 7-17 in that program with over 500 chapters worldwide, so it’s making a difference.