Women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark will play in a LPGA pro-am golf tournament on Wednesday, but it was an opportunity that she feared would be wiped out by the destruction of Hurricane Milton last month.
Clark told reporters ahead of the LPGA Tour at The Annika that she was worried the hurricane would destroy the course at the Pelican Golf Club in Florida to the point where the whole thing might not even happen.
“I texted a couple of people who helped me with my stuff, and I was like ‘oh my God, is everything going to be okay? Are we going to be able to still play?’ Because I’ve been looking forward to this for so long,” Clark said. “We had our fingers crossed. But I feel very fortunate and thankful for everybody who has put in a lot of hard work to make this course really great and special.”
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Clark also said that her concern over the issue of the hurricane’s damage in Florida was stoked by the fact that she has family in the Saint Petersburg area.
“I have quite a bit of family in the Saint Petersburg area, so I’ve been following it quite a bit,” Clark said.
The hurricane initially devastated the area of Belleair, Florida, where the course is located, causing much of the green to be flooded. The club lost 20-to-25 substantial trees as 100 mph winds ripped through the state. The area is estimated to have received 15-to-20 inches of rain.
The club’s Director of Golf/COO Justin Sheehan told reporters on Oct. 16 that the hurricane left the 13th hole flooded from 100 yards out, including the green. The 16th green was underwater along with half of the 10th.
“There were piles of pine straw 4 feet high,” Sheehan said, per Golf Week. “The bunker on No. 3 was completely filled with pine straw, couldn’t see an ounce of sand in there.”
However, the course’s grounds crew got to work getting everything back in shape, knowing that Clark’s presence at the event would be a huge opportunity for the club and for the sport of women’s golf as a whole.
They got the course in order and made sure that when Clark takes to the course on Wednesday alongside her partner, world No. 1 Nelly Korda, they would play on a course that no one would even think was recently devastated by a hurricane.
“I’m strong, and I can hit it. It just usually doesn’t go straight,” Clark said of her golfing ability. “I mean sometimes it goes straight, but it depends. You just step up there and hope for the best. … I just don’t want to hit anyone with a golf ball. That’s my No. 1 priority.”
It is the second time Clark will compete in a pro-am at a professional event. She played in one at the PGA Tour’s 2023 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, when she was still just a college player at Iowa. She was paired with Ludvig Aberg on the front nine and fellow Iowan Zach Johnson on the back nine.
“I was pretty nervous,” Clark said. “I’ll probably be nervous tomorrow, too. I don’t know. I mean, I remind myself, like, I don’t really care what happens. Doesn’t really matter. I don’t play golf for a living.”
Clark is an ambassador with Gainbridge, which holds the naming rights for the Fever and Indiana Pacers’ arena. Gainbridge is also the presenting sponsor of the LPGA Event.
According to Front Office Sports, Clark’s popularity has already sparked an increase in ticket sales for the pro-am. Her warmup session on the driving range is expected to be live-streamed on social media. As for coverage, Golf Channel’s “Golf Today” program will provide live look-ins, and a walk-and-talk with Clark will be streamed.
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