IVINS, Utah (KUTV) — For the first time in more than six decades, the Ladies Professional Golf Association is returning to Utah — and organizers at Black Desert Resort said they’re setting a new standard for how women athletes are treated.
Patrick Manning, managing partner for the resort, said more than 30,000 fans are expected to attend the spring tournament.
The course, nestled between the red rocks and black lava of Ivins, will now be the only venue in the world to host both a PGA and LPGA event each year.
MORE on PGA: Fans flock to Black Desert Resort for return of PGA TOUR
“When I found out the difference between the experience the men get compared to the women it pissed me off,” Manning said. “So, we’re sending eight jets to Houston to pick up all 144 women and their plus ones and fly them here privately. They will also stay at the resort for free.”
He said providing a stage for the best women golfers in the world has been a “vision quest” for Black Desert.
“The thing I’m most looking forward to is showing the world that Utah shows up for women,” Manning said.
Nikki Hope, Marketing Director at St. George Academy and Trailblazer Club Coordinator at Utah Tech University, has long been a participant and fan of women in sports. She said that support from women athletes has exploded in the last few years and to see that represented in Southern Utah through this event is “huge.”
“Women have shattered the ceiling. They’ve put their name on it and it’s just going to get better and better,” Hope said. “This being a golf-loving community and having the women come and represent here this is going to blow the roof off.”
“For me, this resort is more than a physical place,” Manning said. “It’s a tool to leverage impact. We’re really rolling out the red carpet for the women.”
Manning said they are changing little between October’s PGA event and May’s LPGA event.
“In year one, the PGA told me this was run as smoothly as any event they’ve ever been to. So that’s kudos to the tournament team,” Manning said. “I had three mayors reach out to me and say they got zero emails, zero phone calls and no complaints about the event.”
He said they are making some minor changes to improve the flow of foot traffic around the course.
“Every tournament has bottlenecks. But we’ve corrected that and when the women come here, we won’t have that as a pinch point,” Manning said.
Black Desert’s PGA event aired in 226 countries and reached more than 500 million households. Manning said they are aiming for the same global impact for the women’s tour.
The event is May 1 – May 4. Tickets and volunteer spots for the tournament are still available at blackdesertevents.com. Manning said volunteers get rate behind-the-scenes access — and a front-row seat to women’s sports history.
“I want the player experience to be number one,” Manning said. “But, number two, I want the world to see Utah showing up for women. I want to see lots of people here celebrating them. This is going to be seen in 226 countries, so we want to show that Utah cares about women’s golf.”
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