The WNBA's Caitlin Clark joins a starry roster ready to roll at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican
By Jeff Babineau
BELLEAIR, Fla. - The fifth edition of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican has a Hall of Fame host, a field stacked with global standouts, a world-class golf facility, and even a generational, record-setting women’s athlete who not only is trying to lift her own sport – women’s basketball – to unforeseen heights, but elevate all of women’s sport right alongside it.
As the penultimate event of the 2024 LPGA season arrives to the shores of Florida’s hurricane-impacted Gulf Coast, the usual curiosities abound: How will Nelly play, and Lilia, and Lexi, and Lydia, the newest qualifier for the hard-to-get-into LPGA Hall of Fame?
Young girls who will line the tall gallery ropes early Wednesday morning will have a new shining star that bears watching: How will Caitlin Clark, a deadly jump shooter on the WNBA basketball court, perform in her newest sports venture, trying her hand at golf?
Clark isn’t the only one curious how that will go as she competes in an LPGA pro-am for the very first time at The ANNIKA. At 22, she is knocking off basketball records (college's all-time scoring leader) and attendance and television viewership numbers with equal aplomb.
“I've only seen her swing on social media,” the Hall of Fame legend Annika Sorenstam, this week’s tournament host at Palican. “But I'm not so worried about her. I don't think she's worried, either. She's an athlete. She's used to big crowds. I think the format sets up well.
"I'm sure she will shine whatever she does, if it's a long drive or an iron shot or a putt. I'm sure anybody would like to have her as a golf player on their team. It will just be fun to see her interacting with all the crowds and everything. I think she's going to do awesome.”
Clark, a Gainbridge ambassador, will play nine holes with World No. 1 Nelly Korda, a two-time champion at Pelican, and nine holes with Sorenstam on Wednesday. (Tickets for the pro-am are $25, and available at TheAnnkia.com.)
A year ago, Lilia Vu captured the ANNIKA, making a last-minute push to secure Player of the Year honors, which she would go on to win a week later with a high finish at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, played just down the coast in Naples. She hit it off instantly with the course at Pelican, and in shooting 19 under, established a tournament scoring mark. This week, Vu is excited to be sharing the stage with one of the biggest names in all of women’s sports. She knows what having Clark around can mean to women’s golf, and in the bigger picture, golf itself. It serves as one more stamp of approval that golf is cool, and can be a game for all.
When it was announced that Clark would be taking part in the pro-am at Pelican, Vu immediately turned to her mother to share the news. “Oh my gosh, Caitlin Clark is coming to the Pelican. I thought it was the coolest thing,” Vu said, recalling the moment. She’s not alone. Golf Channel plans to expand its coverage on Wednesday to bring its viewers Clark’s pre-round range session and will cut into daily programming with updates during the pro-am.
“Yeah, it's going to be huge,” added Vu. “I love it when women's sports overlap. It's cool that she takes up golf in her off-season and off-time, so I think it's going to be really cool. ... Hopefully I'm lucky enough to meet her on that pro-am day and hopefully run into her. It's been so cool to see everything she's done. I think she's a great ambassador for women's sports and just someone you look up to, even though she's younger than me.”
Clark also has committed to be part of Tuesday’s Women’s Leadership Summit at Pelican, where leaders gather to network, tell stories of inspiration and talk about what they do. Clark will serve on a panel and participate with Sorenstam in a fireside chat that will be streamed live on the LPGA’s web site.
The area where the Pelican club sits was hit my not one, but two recent hurricanes, Hellene and Milton, with Milton hitting particularly hard, renderijg a considerable amount of damage to the area. The tournament honored veterans Monday (Veterans Day) and will continue to honor area military members as well as first responders with free admission during tournament week.
It took a good deal of effort and work by the greenkeeping staff to get Pelican ready for the ANNIKA once the water from Milton's heavy rains receded.
“Milton was pretty bad. I'm sure everybody has seen the photos of the golf course,” said Justin Sheehan, Pelican’s director of golf and COO. “We had five greens fully underwater, lost 32 trees, pine straw everywhere. It was just a disaster. But our team was awesome, and really it was how quickly is the water going to go back to normal levels, and it did within 24 hours, and the clean-up process started.”
Sorenstam was someone who wanted her game in impeccable shape as a player, and worked hard to achieve that. As a tournament host serving alongside the Doyle family, which owns the club, she is no different.
“I think it's been really a community thing,” Sorenstam said of forging through adversity, ‘and I know they mentioned the first responders and so forth, but I think the community has helped a lot. I think the excitement of having the tournament there obviously helps.
"I think even though it wouldn't be in perfect shape, I think we would be excited to be there. You've got to put certain things to the side, and just be happy that people are okay and that we can move forward.”
The tournament, and golf course, is ready, and awaits another memorable week. With Caitlin Clark stopping by to greet fans and say hello, this edition of The ANNIKA could be the best, and biggest, to date.
