I’m not going to lie, this news stings.
Last Friday, LPGA officials informed players that the Black Desert Championship is officially off the 2026 schedule after making its debut this past May.
The Skratch team was just on site in southern Utah for the PGA TOUR’s stop, the Bank of Utah Championship, where we got to experience the beauty of Black Desert and all that it and the surrounding area has to offer.
This is one of the most visually stunning venues I’ve ever seen and it was truly a golfer’s haven in the middle of the desert. Between the other-worldly looking canyons, vibrant green rolling hills, and striking black lava rocks—the technicolor appearance of Black Desert lends itself to being a picture perfect setting for professional golf.
Officially announced to join the Tour’s schedule back in 2023, Black Desert and its managing partner Patrick Manning knew they wanted to make a splash with this inaugural women’s event.
“I realized the unfortunate disparity between the treatment that the men get versus the treatment that the women got, and can I say that it pissed me off?” Manning said in an interview with Skratch last month.
The 72-hole event followed the first LPGA major of the season, the Chevron Championship. Players were chartered on a private plane to Utah, where they stayed on property.
“We really rolled out the red carpet, sitting there on the tarmac at St. George Airport—we flew them in privately—they didn’t pay to stay at the resort. It was really important to not just have an LPGA tournament, but let’s support these ladies that work their butts off and deserve great treatment every where they go,” Manning continued.
South Korea’s Haeran Ryu won the 72-hole event by five shots over Esther Henseleit and Ruoning Yin.
Black Desert Resort isn’t hosting a women’s tournament, but their contract with the LPGA Tour remains in place. What does that mean?
Instead of being a title sponsor the resort will become one of the LPGA’s marketing partners—meaning the resort’s money and resources are being repurposed for something else.
Skratch reached out to Black Desert Resort for a comment on what this new partnership entails:
“Black Desert is proud to have hosted the inaugural Black Desert Championship, a milestone for the LPGA Tour and for women’s professional golf in Utah. Building on that success and our shared commitment to advancing the future of women’s golf, we’ve worked closely with the LPGA to shape a new framework for our partnership that creates broader, year-round impact for the Tour and its players. As part of this evolution, Black Desert will serve as an Official Marketing Partner of the LPGA Tour, expanding our support beyond a single tournament week helping drive greater opportunity, visibility, and growth across the Tour.”
The contract is still reported to run through 2029. Additionally, as part of the OMP, the resort will host the LPGA’s first partner summit next March as a first pivot of partnership—an initiative led by new commissioner Craig Kessler.
Other assets of this new marketing partnership are still being worked out and have yet to be reported.
The LPGA released this statement regarding the decision:
“Through this marketing partnership, Black Desert will help advance our mission by increasing opportunity, visibility, and growth across the Tour for the remainder of our agreement. Their continued partnership represents a powerful step forward in our collective effort to elevate the women’s game globally. We are deeply grateful to Black Desert for recognizing the goals we are working towards as a tour—and for aligning their support to help us achieve them.”
The official 2026 schedule is set to be released during the LPGA’s season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship next week in Naples, Florida.
We’ll keep an eye on how things with Black Desert will shape out, and will relive the memories we made Utah.
