Local Sports

Jen Kupcho had already turned to the rules official to go to the next hole; the third playoff hole.

She heard the gasp from the massive Sunday crowd around the 18th green at Blythefield Country Club.

Mel Reid isn’t one to ever make excuses, that just isn’t her style. 

Coming off the course following her second round of the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club, Reid wasn’t frustrated but she insisted she didn’t have the most fun out there. 

Jen Kupcho was excited to get to the second round of the Meijer LPGA Classic. The first-round leader shot a near-course record 63 on Thursday and aimed to go low again in Friday’s second round. 

The wind was up from Thursday morning’s round. It started to pick up Thursday afternoon at Blythefield Country Club, providing an additional challenge professional golfers contend with on a weekly basis. The already-strong breeze continued into Friday’s second round and was even more blustery. 

Star players always draw big crowds at golf tournaments. Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Nelly and Jessica Korda are among some of the biggest names on the LPGA Tour.

And yes, they drew the big crowds during Thursday’s first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club. Mix in some other superstars and those crowds tend to grow even larger.

Let’s go back a year. Almost to the date — that’s where Nelly Korda’s life truly began to change.

Korda, 23, was strolling around Blythefield Country Club as one of the leaders and favorites to win the 2021 Meijer LPGA Classic. She had a big lead over the rest of the star-studded field and aimed to convert that lead into her fifth LPGA Tour victory.

Brooke Henderson loves it in Michigan; it feels like a second home here for her.

Henderson is a native of Smiths Falls, Canada, a town in Eastern Ontario about nine-and-a-half hours east of Grand Rapids. Her brother-in-law is from Grand Rapids, too.