This week the LPGA holds its only match-play competition of the season at the Sybase Match Play Championship in Gladstone, N.J. In its 62-year history, the LPGA has had numerous match-play tournaments, including three in the first season, 1950. The bi-annual Solheim Cup is also conducted at match play.

The first match-play competition was the June 19-24, 1950 Women’s Western Open, played at famed Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver. Babe Zaharias won $500 after beating Peggy Kirk, 5 and 3, in the championship match. The Texas Women’s Open in Fort Worth, Texas (won by Beverly Hanson) and the Hardscrabble Women’s Invitation in Fort Smith, Ark. (won by Patty Berg) were match-play events that concluded the first LPGA season.

There was an individual match-play event every year through 1954. The Women’s Western Open went to medal play in 1955 and the next time a match-play event was on the LPGA schedule was in 1978 when JoAnne Carner beat Sandra Palmer to win the Colgate Triple Crown Match-Play Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, Calif. There was another break until 1990 when the Itoman LPGA World Match Play Championship was held in Hawaii and won by Betsy King. There has been a match-play event, individual, two-player team or team format, most years since then.

“I love match play, but it's all about momentum and I feel like my game is in good shape and I feel like I attack a lot of pins,” defending Sybase Match Play champion Suzann Pettersen said after beating Yani Tseng in last year’s quarterfinals. “You just have to try to wear your opponents out by just giving yourself a look.”

No. 1 Matchup

Yani Tseng, the No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, has failed to advance past the quarterfinals in the first two Sybase Match Play Championships, losing to the eventual champion each time. In 2010, Sun Young Yoo beat Tseng 2 and 1. In 2011, Suzann Pettersen birdied the par-5 18^th hole to beat Tseng 1-up.

Tseng, the No. 1 seed this year, faces an experienced No. 64 seed in Jeong Jang. Jang, 31, has two career LPGA titles, the 2005 Ricoh Women’s British Open and the 2006 Wegmans LPGA.

Match-play course

Hamilton Farms, the site of this week’s Sybase Match Play Championship, is located in Gladstone, N.J., approximately 60 minutes west of New York City and 10 minutes from the headquarters for the United States Golf Association. The United States Equestrian Team’s headquarters are located on the property.

The 6,585-yard, par-72 layout, designed by architects Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry in 2001, was the host course for the 2005 and 2006 HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship, won by Marisa Baena and Brittany Lincicome, respectively.

There are 36 holes on site, including the Hickory Course, the only USGA-rated 18-hole par-3 course.

The Highlands Course, where the Sybase Match Play will be contested, finishes on what is normally the par-5 ninth hole. The nines were reversed for this event to take advantage of potential drama on the last three holes – a long par 3, a short par 4 and the 515-yard finishing hole, which has a downhill driving area and wetlands to the right and short of the green. The hole is nicknamed “Water Jump.”

Lopez awarded Byron Nelson Prize

World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez was awarded the 2012 Byron Nelson Prize on Tuesday at the HP Byron Nelson Championship’s Opening Ceremony. The Salesmanship Club of Dallas announced Lopez as its honoree last week for the PGA Tour event that is named after the late Byron Nelson“We are proud to have the opportunity to honor a woman who has done so much on and off the golf course,” said Steve Barley, president of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas. “Throughout her Hall of Fame career, Nancy displayed the competitive fire of a true champion, all while maintaining focus on her family life and her work off the golf course. Nancy was integral in shaping the LPGA Tour into what it has become today, and the work she is doing within her community now is inspiring.”

The Byron Nelson Prize, underwritten by philanthropist T. Boone Pickens and friends, is awarded to a person in the golf world who embodies the same philanthropic spirit for which Nelson was known. A nominating committee comprised of leaders in the golf industry, golf media and previous Prize recipients submits candidates each year and the final selection is made by a committee of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas.

Each year the Salesmanship Club makes a $100,000 contribution to the charity of the Prize recipient’s choice. Lopez has chosen AIM for the Handicapped to receive the charitable contribution. Located in Dayton, Ohio, AIM for the Handicapped helps those who are mentally challenged, visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically handicapped, and those with emotional, behavioral and learning disorders.

Previous winners of the Byron Nelson Prize include: Tom Lehman (2007), Ken Venturi (2008), Arnold Palmer (2009), Tom Watson (2010) and Deane Beman (2011).

Etc.

The 64-player field at the Sybase Match Play Championship includes players from 15 countries, including the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Scotland, Sweden, France, Paraguay, Japan, Colombia, Australia, Spain, Norway, England, Germany and Thailand…The USGA held a preview of the Mickey Wright Room at its headquarters in Far Hills, N.J., on Tuesday. Far Hills is located 10 minutes from the site of this week’s Sybase Women’s Match Play Championship. The Mickey Wright Room is scheduled to officially open on June 16 and is the USGA Museum’s first time honoring a female golfer and joins rooms dedicated to Bob Jones, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. Wright won 82 events on the LPGA and 13 major championships, including four U.S. Women’s Opens…The LPGA will continue its northern phase over the next month – to Galloway, N.J. for the Shoprite LPGA Classic in two weeks, then to Pittsford, N.Y., for the Wegmans LPGA Championship June 7-10 and the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada June 21-24.

Stats and Stuff: Sybase Match Play Championship

Related Articles