How The ShopRite LPGA Built The Biggest Pro-Am in Golf

Golf’s best traditions aren’t always trophies or venues. Sometimes, they’re the experiences that keep people coming back year after year.

For decades, LPGA pro-ams have been one of the Tour's greatest draws. People marvel at the rare chance to be able to play inside the ropes alongside the best players in the world, and rightfully so! Pro-ams are so woven into the DNA of women’s golf that one of the LPGA’s longest-running events—the ShopRite LPGA—has also built a reputation for hosting the biggest pro-am in golf.

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Since 1986, the ShopRite LPGA has been Atlantic City's largest sporting event and one of the longest-running, non-major events on the LPGA Tour schedule. It's been a launch pad for quite a few of the most popular players like Paula Creamer, Brooke Henderson, and Lexi Thompson, who all kick-started their careers at ShopRite.

And some of women's golf's most formidable champions have all won here, including Juli Inkster, Betsy King, Dottie Pepper, Se Ri Pak, Annika Sorenstam, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Karrie Webb, Henderson, and Thompson.

Lexi Thompson (R) signs autographs for fans during the second round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic held at Dolce Seaview Resort (Bay Course) on June 19, 2010 in Galloway, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

But ShopRite's true calling card is it's two-day pro am event that serves as massive fundraising even for the local economy. Every Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week, across three golf courses, more than 150 pros from the LPGA, Epson and Cactus Tours get paired with partners, sponsors, members of media, and so on, to take part in what feels like the Super Bowl of pro-am golf. It's less about creating the "celebrity element" like AT&T Pebble Beach, and more for sustaining lasting memories and relationships to keep the tradition alive.

"The way ShopRite uses this tournament, it’s their number-one charity initiative," former ShopRite LPGA tournament director Leela Narang told Global Golf Post in 2021. "In the Atlantic City area, the economic impact of the tournament really affects people’s lives. This is a blue-collar area, and the money the tournament brings in is huge. So from a charity perspective, this tournament is integral to raising those funds."

Foursome can run between $10,000 and $18,000, depending on engagement, and how much access partners want. But the juice is worth the squeeze, because ShopRite does its best to pull out all the stops. From activations on every hole (think massive food vendors for intimate culinary experiences and live music) to their accommodations and hospitality access, participants get the VIP treatment.

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"One of the things I love most about this event is the history and the tradition that is here. It's been running on the LPGA forever. Walking around this hotel, Seaview, all the history, looking at all the photographs and reading some of the memorabilia around here is really, really cool," said 2022 ShopRite champion Brooke Henderson in her pre-tournament presser this week.

"Also, this event, which I don't think it's talked about enough, it's raised $45 million for local communities and local charities since this event started. So it's really impactful and really meaningful for me to come and play in it and be a small part of that."

That's the real reason the ShopRite LPGA pro-am has become such a cornerstone of the event; its impact stretches far beyond the golf course, helping raise millions for local charities and communities over the tournament's near four-decade run. That spirit of giving has become just as much a part of the tournament’s identity as the golf itself.