The Portland Classic is a women's professional golf tournament in Oregon on the LPGA Tour. Founded 52 years ago in 1972, the annual event in the Portland area is the oldest continuous event on the LPGA Tour. Tournament Golf Foundation has owned the tournament since its beginning and also managed the Safeway International tournament on the LPGA Tour. It became a 72-hole event in 2013, after decades at 54 holes.
Proceeds from the tournament are donated to local children's charities; over $19 million has been donated since 1972.[1] The tournament has had a variety of sponsors during its history.
The event began as the Portland Ladies Classic in 1972, played at the Portland Golf Club (PGC) in Raleigh Hills for its first two editions. It moved to the Columbia Edgewater Country Club, west of the airport, then returned to PGC in 1975. From 1977 to 1982, the tournament was a team event and its prize money was unofficial. It returned to Columbia Edgewater in 1977, then went to the adjacent Riverside Golf & Country Club in 1980. The three courses rotated as hosts for the tournament until 1990, when Columbia Edgewater became the site for the next 18 editions. In 1978, Ping became a title sponsor. From 1986 to 1995, Cellular One and AT&T Wireless Services also were title sponsors, and in 1996 Safeway took over as the sole title sponsor. The event was moved up on the schedule in 2005, from September to August, and the purse reached $1.7 million in 2007.
In 2009, the tournament moved to the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near North Plains, and drew a tournament record crowd of 87,800 at the Ghost Creek Course.[2] In 2009 and 2010, the course par was increased to 72 for the tournament, as the ninth hole was modified to a par-5; the result was three consecutive reachable par-5's (8,9, & 10) which slowed the pace of play. In 2011, the eighth hole was lengthened and the ninth was returned to a par-4, resulting in a par-71 course (same as public play).[3] The ninth hole was returned to a par-5 in 2012 for a par-72 layout.
In 2013, the tournament moved back to the Columbia Edgewater in Portland and expanded to 72 holes, with a reduced purse of $1.3 million. Safeway dropped its sponsorship after 2013, and Portland-based Cambia Health Solutions became the presenting sponsor.[4]
In 2015, 17-year-old Brooke HendersonMonday-qualified and won the event by eight shots, the largest victory margin on tour since 2012, and became the tour's third-youngest winner.[5] She was only the second Monday qualifier to win on tour[5] and the first in fifteen years, since Laurel Kean in 2000.[6] Henderson was also the first Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour in fourteen years, since Lorie Kane in 2001,[5][6] and was granted immediate tour membership.[7]
In 2017, Stacy Lewis, a native of Houston, Texas pledged her winnings to relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey pre-tournament. Lewis went on to win the event donating her entire $195,000 purse to hurricane relief efforts.[8]
The 2020 tournament was reduced to 54-holes due to poor air quality caused by wildfires.[9]
