Bradenton native and top golfer Nelly Korda sets sights on LPGA Tour event in hometown

Roughly a third of the 120-player field in this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship call Florida home.

And then there is Nelly Korda, a Bradenton native.

When she tees it up Thursday, it will be her first time playing a competitive round at Bradenton Country Club since the Donald Ross-designed track was renovated in 2018.

“I know the golf course but haven’t played it a bunch,” said Korda, a former world No. 1 player and reigning Olympic gold medalist. “I’m usually out at Concession, Sara Bay and the Ritz. Yeah, being familiar with the golf course always helps.”

Korda said Wednesday, on the eve of the first full-field LPGA Tour event in 2024, that she played the course a couple of months ago and noticed some trees were taken out.

“I think they did something to the greens as well,” she said. “Overall, it’s nice to play a golf course that you kind of know.”

Nelly Korda talks family athletes

Korda’s older sister, Jessica, is on leave from the LPGA Tour and is expecting her first child soon. There’s also her brother Sebastian, who competed in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season in tennis.

And their parents were athletes, too.

“I have a lot of trust in them,” Korda said of her family. “They’re my go-to, and also having two siblings that also do it for a living really helps. Constantly bouncing ideas off them and constantly trying to improve, as well as not over-complicating things and keeping it simple.”

Korda enters this week ranked No. 4 in the world. Last week, she tied for 16th at the Hilton Grand Islands Vacation Tournament of Champions in Orlando.

She said after this week’s tournament, which happens in front of some hometown support, she is taking a seven-week break to visit her grandparents and be there for her sister as she becomes an aunt.

“Entering my auntie era, 2024,” Korda said. “I’m very excited. Mostly excited just to see this new chapter and Johnny and Jess’ life. I think it’s going to be really exciting.”

LPGA event homecoming for Bradenton native

Korda has success at Bradenton Country Club, albeit it was before she ascended the world rankings. In 2016, she earned medalist honors in the U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier held at the course.

Korda birdied two of her final three holes to qualify that year.

“Having a Bradenton person win it would be special,” Bradenton Country Club Director of Golf Brian Lake said. “It wouldn’t surprise me, honestly, if they did. ... Local knowledge does help, but these are the best girls in the world. But yes, local knowledge definitely does help with the greens. It’s an approach and it’s a greens golf course.”

The golf course, though, is flipped around for this week’s tournament. The tournament’s 18th hole is normally the ninth hole.

But short-game prowess and putting are paramount this week due to the slippery style of the greens, which two-time major champion Tony Jacklin restored when he renovated the course in 2018.

“Let’s say No. 8, the green there, if the wind picks up and the green speeds kind of become a little faster and firmer, the severity of the greens is going to be tough to judge out here,” Korda said.

Korda gets namesake tournament in Manatee

Besides preparing for this week’s tournament, her last before a mini-hiatus, it was announced Korda was having an American Junior Golf Association tournament named after her. The tournament, called The Nelly, is slated for May at The Concession Golf Club.

“It’s going to be so amazing,” Korda said. “I’m very excited, honored that I could — I have a tournament named after me and TaylorMade and I can bring the best of the best to Concession, my home club. Hopefully the girls put on a good show.”

In addition to Korda, Paula Creamer is a player in the field with Bradenton ties. Creamer played at IMG Academy before turning pro.

Celine Boutier is the defending champion, winning last year’s tournament in Arizona against Georgia Hall in a playoff.

“I think it just (gives) me a little bit of relief and confidence,” Boutier said of the win. “I feel like it had been two years before that week that I hadn’t won, and I came a lot of times in the top 10 and in contention and wasn’t able to do it in 2022.”

Jacklin and Hollis Stacy, two World Golf Hall of Famers, are set to hit ceremonial first tee shots Thursday before the action starts. Tee times begin at 7:25 a.m. Players are split off No. 1 and No. 10 for the first two rounds. The low 65 scores and ties make the cut for the weekend rounds.

The 72-hole stroke play tournament is contested with a $1.75 million purse and is airing on The Golf Channel, Peacock and NBC through Sunday’s final round.

Tickets are available on SeatGeek.com starting at $30 for daily general admission. Parking is $5, cash only, at G.T. Bray Park, with a shuttle to the course.