As the world’s best golfers prepare to chase major glory at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Course in Wales, another competition with major implications is getting underway at Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville, Tenn.

The 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship features 122 of the top teaching and industry professionals competing across four divisions, and of those players, 47 will be competing in the Championship Division with hopes of finishing inside the top eight to secure an exemption into the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

Here are just a few players to keep an eye on this week as they take on The President’s Reserve, a course designed by Denis Griffiths and recognized as “One of the Top 10 in Tennessee” by Golf Digest.

Championship Division

Stephanie Connelly-Eiswerth of Fleming Island, Fla., has made more appearances at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship than anyone else in the field with six, all of which came in a row from 2019 through 2024. As one of the most accomplished players competing, Connelly-Eiswerth has made a name for herself both on and off the course. She played college golf at the University of Central Florida, where she was a three-time All-CUSA selection, and Ohio State, where she was named All-Big Ten as a freshman. Following college, Connelly-Eiswerth joined the Symetra Tour, now the Epson Tour, where she earned six top-10 finishes over seven years.

Connelly-Eiswerth then made the jump to teaching as a dual LPGA/PGA Golf Professional. She is currently the Teaching Professional at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla., and continues to test her game at tournaments like the LPGA Professionals Championship. Connelly-Eiswerth won this championship in 2018 and has since earned wins at the 2024 PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship and the 2023 PGA Tournament Series Event No. 1, where she became the first woman to win an event in the series in its 46-year history. Connelly-Eiswerth was also recognized as the 2023 Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year.

Samantha Morrell of Naples, Fla., is looking to play her way into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her fifth time. The talented Morrell earned exemptions into that major championship through the LPGA Professionals Championship in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024. Morell played college golf at Old Dominion University, where she was a captain (2012-13) and graduated as the ODU Alumni Association’s Female Athlete of the Year.

Since graduating, Morrell has moved into the golf industry as a dual LPGA/PGA Golf Professional. She splits her time each year between Naples Grande in Naples, Fla., and Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. Despite her busy teaching schedule, Morell still finds time to compete in various tournaments each year, notching wins at the 2023 Connecticut Women’s Open and 2018 Met PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

Allie White of Lancaster, Ohio, is returning to the LPGA Professionals Championship as a two-time defending champion. The former Epson Tour member has competed in over 100 events across the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, as well as the LPGA and Ladies European Tours. No stranger to major tournaments, White has teed it up in two U.S. Women’s Opens (2009 and 2021) as well as the last two KPMG Women’s PGA Championships.

White played collegiate golf at the University of North Carolina, where she helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2011 ACC Championship, which was just the second conference title in program history. She served as a Graduate Assistant Women’s Golf Coach at Ohio University from 2016 to 2018 before making the transition into teaching as an LPGA Professional. White is currently the Director of Golf at Lancaster Golf Club.

Senior Division

Lisa Grimes of Gold Canyon, Ariz., has found success at every level of the game. In her senior year at Arizona State University, Grimes was rated No. 1 in the nation and won three individual titles. She also dominated at the amateur level, winning the 1980 Minnesota Women’s Match Play and 1982 Minnesota Women’s State Amateur. Grimes even made it to the semi-finals of the 1982 U.S. Women’s Amateur before falling to LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster. Grimes turned professional after college and proceeded to win five tournaments on what is now known as the Epson Tour and also played in 16 major championships. She has never lost her love for the game, or her playing ability for that matter, which she proved just last year when she won the Senior Division of the 2024 Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

Since becoming an LPGA Professionals member in 1993, Grimes has reached significant milestones, most notably becoming the LPGA National Club Pro Champion. She currently serves as the Director of Instruction at Alexandria Golf Club and Apache Creek Golf Club, is an LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Site Director and has served as an instructor at the LPGA Leadership Academies.

Charlaine Hirst hails from Cape Town, South Africa, but currently resides in Pinehurst, N.C. She was recruited to play collegiate golf at Longwood College in Virginia, where she was a four-time All-American and three-time Division II National Champion. Hirst competed on the Epson Tour for nine years and won the 2009 LPGA Professionals Southeast Section Championship.

Following her professional playing career, Hirst became an LPGA Professional, seeking to share her expertise and love for the game with golfers of all ages and backgrounds. As an LPGA Professional, Hirst has won the Challenge Division of the LPGA Professionals Championship five times. But more significantly than that, she has paved the way for the next generation of teaching professionals and girl golfers. In 2020, she was named a member of the LPGA Professionals Global Education team, and in 2021, Hirst was honored with the Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award for her exceptional work as an LPGA*USGA Girls Golf site director.

Cathy Johnston-Forbes of Powells Point, N.C., is back to defend her title in the Senior Division at the LPGA Professionals Championship. Johnston-Forbes won last year’s championship in exhilarating fashion by carding two birdies over her final three holes to force a playoff, which she then won with a par on the first extra hole. A longtime LPGA Tour member, she first competed in three events between 1981 and 1982 before becoming a mainstay on Tour from 1987 through her retirement in 2008. Johnston-Forbes earned 55 top-25 finishes during her career, including one victory at the 1990 du Maurier Ltd. Classic, a major championship at the time. She also helped the United States defeat Japan at the 1990 Nichirei International.

Super Senior Division

Louise Ball of Pinehurst, N.C., is once again teeing it up at the LPGA Professionals Championship, albeit under a different title this year. Ball was elected as President of the LPGA Professionals in October of 2024, taking office in 2025 and serving in the esteemed role since the start of the year. An instructor at Golfari Golf Schools at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., Ball first joined the LPGA in 1997 and became a Class A member in 2003.

For over 27 years, Ball has dedicated her career to teaching the game to students of all ages, genders and abilities throughout North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Ball also ran her own Girls Golf program from 1998 to 2018. She has earned her fair share of accolades over the years, including the 2019 Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award, the 2017 LPGA Jeri Reid Spirit Award and the 2014 LPGA National Junior Golf Leadership Award. She has also appeared on the LPGA Top 50 Teachers since 2017.

Susan Bond-Philo of Lake Worth, Fla., ran away with the Super Senior Division title at the 2024 LPGA Professionals Championship, winning by 10 strokes at 8-over for the tournament, one of many championships she has won as a senior. In fact, she has already earned Senior Women’s Open victories in four states – Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. Bond-Philo also qualified for her second USGA Senior Women’s Open in 2024.

Her career took a different path in 1990, however, when she assumed the role of Assistant Professional at the Wellesley Country Club in Massachusetts. Since then, the dual LPGA/PGA Golf Professional has served in various capacities, including Head Golf Professional at Weekapaug Golf Club in Rhode Island and as a Teaching Professional at renowned clubs in Florida, such as Johns Island Club and Grand Harbor Golf Club.

Challenge Division

Janean Murphy has dedicated her life to teaching the game of golf to generations of players. As the Director of Instruction at Meadowbrook Country Club in Ballwin, Mo., Murphy develops, leads and oversees programs for players at every level to participate in. She followed up her successful high school and collegiate golf careers by coaching The Woodlands High School Lady Highlanders golf team to three consecutive Texas State Championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Murphy then joined the LPGA in 2004 and received her Class A status in 2008. She has also earned her fair share of awards, including the 2024 LPGA Global Teacher of the Year, 2022 LPGA Midwestern Section Teacher of the Year and 2019 U.S. Kids Top 50 Coach.

Players to Watch: 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship

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