The Woodford Legends Invitational returns to The Woodford Club Aug. 8-9 and brings another big slate of Hall of Fame golfers to Versailles.
This year, the club is bringing out the big guns with the arrival of Annika Sörenstam for this year’s event.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players the women’s game has ever produced, Sörenstam won 72 LPGA Tour events, including 10 major championships, completed the career Grand Slam and became the only woman in LPGA Tour history to shoot a 59 in competition. She will compete alongside her sister, Charlotta Sörenstam, a former LPGA Tour winner and Solheim Cup competitor.
Now entering its fourth year at The Woodford Club, the tournament has grown into more than a stop on the Legends of the LPGA schedule. It has become a celebration of women’s golf, a fundraiser for Kentucky families in need and a week that many of the competitors genuinely look forward to each summer.
Jamie Fischer has played professional golf for more than three decades.
She’s competed in nine major championships, won four LPGA Midwest Section titles and established herself as one of the game’s most respected instructors, earning a place among the LPGA’s Top 50 Teachers every year since the honor was introduced in 2017.
For Fischer, the Woodford Legends Invitational has become one of those events that gets circled on her calendar each year.
“The players really like coming here to The Woodford Club because they see and appreciate the effort that the club is putting in, that the community is putting in,” Fischer said. “We feel a warm welcome, and that makes it special.”
That welcome extends far beyond tournament week.
For many of the Legends, the annual trip to Versailles has become a reunion with longtime friends and competitors. Many spent years traveling together on the LPGA Tour before continuing their careers on the Legends circuit.
“Just seeing people year after year,” Fischer said. “Everybody likes that. We still like competing against each other, even though we’ve known each other and competed against each other for a long time.”
Then she laughed.
“We still like beating each other.”
That competitive spirit continues in a couple of weeks when32 LPGA Legends form 16 two-player scramble teams for the fourth annual Woodford Legends Invitational.
The field represents one of the strongest collections of women’s golf talent ever assembled in Kentucky. This year’s competitors own a combined 322 LPGA Tour victories, 42 major championships and include six members of the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame.
Defending champions Catriona Matthew and Becky Morgan also return looking for a third consecutive Woodford Legends Invitational title.
The field also includes Hall of Famers Pat Bradley, Laura Davies, Juli Inkster, Hollis Stacy and Jan Stephenson, allowing spectators to watch some of the most accomplished players in the history of women’s golf.
While the championship rounds are the centerpiece of the week, organizers believe the tournament’s impact reaches much further.
Hosted by the nonprofit Woodford Club Foundation, the Woodford Legends Invitational raises money for KVC Kentucky, which for more than 25 years has provided mental and behavioral health services, substance abuse treatment, child welfare programs and family support to children and families throughout the Commonwealth.
The event has also become an opportunity to inspire the next generation of golfers.
Throughout tournament week, junior golfers from across Kentucky spend time with the Legends through clinics, special events and on-course experiences that allow them to learn directly from Hall of Famers and major champions.
Those interactions often become the memories that last longest, giving young players the chance to see firsthand what is possible while forming relationships with women who helped shape the game.
For The Woodford Club, the tournament is part of a much larger vision.
PGA professional Bob Baldassari said the club’s ownership has invested approximately $3 million into the facility over the past year, including a renovated golf shop, new Golfzon simulators, a new aquatic center and continued improvements throughout the property.
“We really authentically care about what we’re trying to do to grow the game,” Baldassari said.
He said additional work is planned for the golf course, including lengthening several holes while adding new forward tees designed to make the course more enjoyable for golfers of all abilities.
The club has also seen an increase in its junior golf programs as they look forward to teaching the net generation of golfers.
The goal, he said, is to continue improving the facility while creating opportunities to host more championship events and welcome even more people into the game.
That vision aligns closely with what Fischer sees each year when she returns to Versailles.
The players recognize the investment being made, but they also notice the volunteers, the spectators and the community that has embraced the tournament since its beginning.
Even so, once the first tee shot is struck, the friendships take a back seat to competition.
Asked which hole still gives her the most trouble at The Woodford Club, Fischer didn’t hesitate.
“I think it’s the tee shot on 18,” she said. “That tee shot kind of gives you a little bit of pause.”
Trees guard both sides of the landing area, while the approach demands precision to a green tucked behind another stand of mature trees.
It’s a fitting finish for a course that continues to challenge even some of the greatest golfers the sport has ever known.
And for those players, that’s become part of the appeal.