50th ANA Inspiration!
Hi everyone,
This week on the LPGA Tour is the first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration! This event is a huge one and has been called the "Masters of women's golf". Every young girl who aspires to play professional golf dreams about winning this event and taking the famous leap into Poppie's Pond. I know I have!
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This year, 2021, marks the 50th playing of this event. In 1972 the first playing of what was then called the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle took place. Jane Blalock, who is from New Hampshire, came out with the win that week! Jane earned the highest paycheck in women's golf at the time with $20,500 (we have come a long way in women's golf and women's sports as a whole but there is still so much to do to eliminate the gender pay gap in professional sports). In 1973, Mickey Wright won the event and at the time it was unknown but it ended up being the last of her whopping 82 victories on tour! Since 1983 the tournament has held "major" status, and since then aside from 2020 has been the first "Major" in golf -- men's or women's. In 1988 Amy Alcott started a tradition that has grown into one of the most memorable and thought about traditions in women's golf, the leap into Poppie's Pond! Since then it has been a staple of the event, and something that will likely continue for many generations to come. Only a handful of players have been able to pull off two wins in the ANA Inspiration including Juli Inkster, Dottie Pepper, Karrie Webb, and Brittany Lincicome. Only Annika Sorenstam, Amy Alcott, and Betsy King have won the event 3 times.
There have been so many incredible moments at the ANA Inspiration and I know there will be many more to come! What has been your favorite ANA Inspiration moment? I am looking forward to getting to watch the event on TV this weekend and hopefully will be able to go see it in person at some point in the future (playing in it someday would be nice too). Good luck to all the players this week and here's to the 2021 professional golf major season! Looking forward to a great event!
~NH Golfer Gal
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