ROGERS — Talk about timing it right.
The NBA playoffs are over. So is the College World Series. College football doesn’t get into full swing for another month
The LPGA NW Arkansas Championship will practically have the sports spotlight in Arkansas to itself this week when the three-day tournament tees off Friday at Pinnacle Country Club.
The tournament was moved to June this year after last year’s event was held in September. That put the event in conflict with college football and the opening week in the NFL.
The timing of this year’s event means sports fans won’t have to choose between attending the tournament or following the Arkansas Razorbacks, who drew 52,606 for a nonconference game against New Mexico last season at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium on the same weekend the LPGA Tour was visiting Pinnacle Country Club.
“I like having the tournament in June,” said Teri Hennessy, assistant general manager of Pinnacle Country Club.
“Our course is in better shape now because it hasn’t been beaten up by all the summer months, and we don’t have to compete with all the other sports on the weekend.
“Sure as the world, we’ve probably have a home Hog game in September and, let’s face it, they love their Hogs and they’re going to be at that football game.
“This year, we’re not competing with any other sports and the kids are out of school, which is a big plus.” Expert advice
Jessica Korda goes straight to the top when she wants advice on her professional golf career.
Korda, 19, is thedaughter of Petr Korda, a retired tennis player who won the Australian Open in 1998. Her father also knows legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, who gave Jessica some tips on her game with the two met in Florida last season.
“He was so nice, and it was an honor to sit and talk and then play golf with him,” said Korda, a native of Bradenton, Fla. “I learned a lot.”
Korda’s meeting with Nicklaus paid off as she won $165,000 in the Australian Open in February after sinking a 25-foot birdie putt during a six-player playoff. She won her first title while making her 16th start as an LPGA Tour member.
“That was a great place to win my first championship,” said Korda, who ranks 34th on the LPGA Tour money list with $192,375 in eight events this season and is 86th in the Rolex world rankings. “It was really special and gave me a lot of confidence.”
Korda, who has $244,649 in career earnings, has her sights on winning the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.
“This golf course is set up so nicely, and it’s always in great condition,” Korda said. “[Battling] the heat will be interesting, but we’ve all got to play in it.”Peak month
Fans attending the NW Arkansas Championshipwill see a golf course in great shape despite the recent heat, where temperatures have reached 100 degrees throughout the region.
“June is a really good month for the golf course,” said Chase Turpin, the assistant superintendent at Pinnacle Country Club.
“We’ve encountered a rough week with tripledigit temperatures, which we’re not used to this time of year, and that will present some challenges.
But the golf course is in great shape.”
Although the course is in peak condition, employees and volunteers at Pinnacle Country Club will put in a lot of hours this week to keep it that way.
“We have a staff of about 30 full-time employees and anywhere from 15 to 20 volunteers that help us out throughout this event,” Turpin said. “It takes a lot more detail work and more hours to get the course ready for LPGA conditions.
“The big advantage to having the tournament this time of year is that the course will have more time to recover once everybody is gone.”A little relief
Fans attending the NW Arkansas Championship this weekend should get some relief from the heat.
Free bottled water will be available to all spectators at locations throughout the course during all three rounds of the tournament, which will be held Friday through Sunday at Pinnacle Country Club. Volunteers and tournament staff also will drive around the course to distribute free water to anyone who needs it.
Special shade zones will be set up throughout the course for fans who want to walk the course.
Coolers filled with chilled towels also will be positioned on the course for spectators and volunteers.
Fans also can find airconditioned locations in the Dove Kids Center and the Wal-Mart Family Fun Zone.
Medical staff and emergency responders also will be on location.
Sports, Pages 22 on 06/27/2012