Some of the biggest stars of the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) will play the final round of the Aramco Team Series, a unique competition being played at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury on Saturday.
Glen Oaks hosted the 2017 Northern Trust, the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoff event won by Dustin Johnson.
The Aramco Team Series, the first LET tournament ever played in the U.S., involves amateur players whose score counts toward the team score. It’s the third of four events in the series events after already playing tournaments in England and Spain.
Among the stars in the sport competing are world No. 1 Nelly Korda and her sister Jessica. Both are six-time winners on the LPGA Tour, with Nelly having just won the Olympic Gold Medal.
Also playing are U.S. Solheim Cup stars Lizette Salas and Lexi Thompson, as well as reigning Women’s British Open champion Anna Nordqvist and Danielle Kang.
The Aramco Team Series features teams of four that include three pros and one amateur. Each team has a captain who chooses her first player in an NFL-style draft. The amateur player is randomly assigned. Two of four scores on each hole count towards the team score, while the pros also compete for the individual trophy.
There are 28 teams competing over 54 holes, ending on Saturday. The two best scores per hole count with the top team earning $150,000 of an $800,000 prize fund for their three professionals. The player with the lowest individual score earns the top prize of a $200,000 pool. So, it’s possible that an amateur could determine the team winner.
“It’s a brilliant format – so fun and so different to really anything else we play on Tour,” Nordqvist said.
“The Solheim Cup was the perfect example of how fans and players love team golf,” Nelly Korda said.
“It really gives the amateur a chance to see what tournament pressure golf is like,’’ Catriona Matthew, the European Solheim captain, said. “I think it gives them a great insight to see what it’s like actually playing under pressure.’’
Tickets for the event are free to the public and can be obtained here.