The ShopRite LPGA Classic, the area’s biggest, most popular and longest-running local professional sports event, will again host the world’s top female golfers this week at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway Township.
Defending champion Jennifer Kupcho and world-ranked Charley Hull top the list of 144 golfers who will be competing in the 38th edition of the event.
This year’s 54-hole tournament, which will be held Friday-Sunday on Seaview’s iconic Bay Course, features a total prize purse of $2 million, an increase of $250,000 over last year.
The tournament has been held in the area since 1986, when co-founders Larry and Ruthie Harrison staged what was then known as the Atlantic City LPGA Classic at Seaview.
The Classic has been held at Seaview and Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point almost continuously, save for a three-year span in 2007-09 when it was not held due to a dispute with former LPGA officials over tournament dates.
Along the way, large crowds have packed the course to witness some of the LPGA’s legendary players compete.
Inaugural champion Juli Inkster, who also won in 1988, is among six LPGA Hall of Famers who have won the tournament, along with Betsy King (1987, 1995, 2001), Nancy Lopez (1989), Se Ri Pak (1999), Annika Sorenstam (1998, 2002, 2005), and Karrie Webb (2016).
The Classic has also played host to other legends such as World Golf Hall of Famers Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley, Joanne Carner, Beth Daniel, Joanne Carner, and the late Kathy Whitworth.
Kupcho, who won last year’s ShopRite Classic with a one-stroke victory over Ilhee Lee, is seeking to become the sixth multiple champion, joining Inkster, King, Stacy Lewis (2012, 2014), Anna Nordqvist (2015, 2016) and Sorenstam.
She faces stiff competition this week. Among the top contenders is Hull, currently the world’s seventh-ranked player, along with twins Aki and Chizzy Awai (18th and 21st).
Former world No. 1 players Sung Hyan Park and Lilua Vu are also in the field, as are longtime fan favorites Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim.
Various ticket packages are available through the ShopRite Classic web site.
Over the years, the tournament has evolved into the area’s top sports event in terms of longevity, popularity and excitement.
Take it from someone who has been to the tournament almost every year since its inception: do yourself a favor and check it out.
Local boxing scene heating up
Three undefeated local heavyweights will be in action over the next couple of weeks in Atlantic City.
On Friday night, Mays Landing’s Rodney Brooks (6-0, 5 KOs) will take on Zederick Stephenson (6-6, 3 KOs), of Irving, Texas, at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on an R&B Promotions card.
Brooks, 38, a former standout basketball player at Oakcrest High School, has earned three straight knockouts.
Pleasantville super-lightweight Jamil Simmons (0-2) is also scheduled to be on the card against Palmyra’s Mikel Sherard (1-0, 0 KOs).
One of the area’s most-anticipated fights in years will take place on June 13 at Tropicana Atlantic City, when local heavyweights Bruce Seldon Jr. (8-0, 6 KOs) and Josh Popper (7-0, 6 KOs) face off in the main event of a Boxing Insider Promotions show.
Seldon, 31, son of former WBA heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon, is a former Absegami High School football star now living in Smithville. He trains at the Pleasantville Rec Center under trainer Julio Sanchez Jr.
Popper, 32, a former football and basketball standout at Holy Spirit High School, grew up in Egg Harbor Township and now lives and trains in New York City.
Sanchez’s son, Pleasantville super-lightweight Julio Sanchez III (4-1, 3 KOs), is also on the card in a four-rounder against Shawn Rall (4-6, 3 KOs), from Bedford, Ohio.
Sanchez III, a former basketball standout at Atlantic City and Pleasantville, is seeking his fourth straight knockout win.
Petty earns another promotion
Mainland Regional High School grad Chase Petty turned in a solid performance last week in another spot start for the Cincinnati Reds.
The right-hander allowed four earned runs on six hits with two walks and a strikeout against the St. Louis Cardinals last Friday. The Reds won 7-6 in 11 innings.
Petty, 23, has made two starts for the Reds this season. He is 0-0 with a 5.91 Earned Run Average in 10.2 innings.
Another local professional baseball player, Atlantic County Institute of Technology grad Tony Santa Maria, hit a home run for the Triple A Durham Bulls last week. Maria was promoted by the Tampa Bay Rays to Durham earlier this month after starting the season with the Double A Bowling Green Hot Rods.
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points. Send comments to weinbergd419@comcast.net.
