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LPGA golfers will return to Utah after a 60-year absence

Black Desert Resort announced it will host an LPGA event in the spring of 2025.

(John Locher | AP) Celine Boutier hits off the 10th tee during the first day of round-robin play in the LPGA Bank of Hope Match Play golf tournament Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in North Las Vegas, Nev.

  | May 30, 2023, 7:42 p.m.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association is finally returning to Utah.

The LPGA announced Tuesday that Black Desert Resort near St. George will host an event in the spring of 2025. It’ll be the first time an LPGA event was held in the Beehive State since 1964, when Clifford Ann Creed won the Riverside Ladies Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo.

“We are thrilled to welcome Black Desert Resort into the LPGA family as a tournament partner and title sponsor,” Ricki Lasky, LPGA chief tour business and operations officer, said in a news release. “This spectacular venue will undoubtedly provide an incredible test to our LPGA Tour athletes.”

Black Desert Resort opened its 18-hole course over Memorial Day weekend. The Tom Weiskopf designed course “prioritizes playability,” as it features fairways between 70 and 100 yards.

“Black Desert is excited to join in furthering the elevation of women’s golf,” Patrick Manning, Managing Partner of Black Desert Resort, said in the release. “It’s historic that it’s been almost 60 years to the day since an LPGA tournament was held in the great state of Utah. I can’t think of a more appropriate day to make this LPGA tournament announcement than on National Women’s Golf Day.”

Black Desert Resort had already become affiliated with another LPGA event slated for early September. The Epson Tour stops at the Soldier Hollow Golf Club in Salt Lake City on Sept. 7-9. The event is called the Black Desert Resort Championship, and offers a historic purse of $375,000, per an announcement earlier this month.