Associated Press
Thursday, July 27

WARREN, Ohio -- The Giant Eagle LPGA Classic starts Friday on a redesigned course and without some of the tour's big names.

A week after winning the U.S. Women's Open, Karrie Webb will skip the tournament at the remodeled Avalon Lakes Golf Course, and so will Annika Sorenstam, who has won five events this year. Juli Inkster and Laura Davies have also decided to pass on playing at the course in eastern Ohio.

But each of the six women who have won the tournament before will be back, including defending champion Jackie Gallagher-Smith. They'll compete for a $1 million purse on a course that has changed dramatically since last year.

Golf architect Pete Dye, who originally laid out Avalon Lakes, was commissioned to redesign the course following last year's tournament. The relatively flat course, which yielded low scores, was replaced by one that could now be called "Avalon Hills."

Course preparations have come down to the last minute. The course did not reopen until this week and lift-clean-and-place rules will be in effect throughout the tournament.

"I did get some mud on my ball during my practice round on Tuesday," Gallagher-Smith said. "A lot of the fairways are great, but to make it fair to everybody the rule is a good thing this week."

Maria Hjorth, who has two victories in three years on the tour, said the golfers were hearing that the course's greens and fairways were in relatively poor shape. But Hjorth said she's been impressed by what she's found at Avalon Lakes.

"I thought it was going to a lot worse when I got here, but I think they've done a great job," she said.

The field of 144 players will also find the par-72 course is about 200 yards longer than last year, at 6,308 yards. The winner will get $150,000.