The following is a summary of the John Shippen Invitational results held at the Detroit Golf Club, the site of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. This article was written by Greg Ball, Senior Account Executive with BZA Public Relations and reprinted by permission. Ed.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational was designed by Intersport specifically to showcase and provide heightened opportunities and recognition to Black golfers. The 36-hole, two-day tournament, played Sunday and Monday, invited 33 of the nation’s top amateur and professional men’s and women’s Black golfers to compete at Detroit Golf Club.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN is named after John Shippen, Jr., who was the first American-born golf professional and also the country’s first Black golf professional. Shippen tied for fifth place in the second U.S. Open in 1896 and was bestowed PGA of America membership posthumously in 2009.
The men’s division was a 36-hole individual stroke play event, with the winner receiving an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 1-4 at Detroit Golf Club).
Tim O’Neal (Savannah, Georgia/Jackson State University) shot a 71-68—-139 to finish 5-under par and win by two strokes over Kevin Hall.
The women’s division featured a 36-hole competition with a two-player team format. The winning duo earned exemption into the LPGA’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (July 14–17 in Midland, Michigan), which is also played as a team event.
Shasta Averyhardt (Flint, Michigan/Jackson State University) and Anita Uwadia (Lagos, Nigeria/Fort Worth, Texas/University of South Carolina) shot 73-68—-141 to finish at 3-under par and win by two strokes over Breanne Jones and Sierra Sims.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Shoot-Out Presented by Cognizant was held immediately following the conclusion of play in the women’s competition, as the second-place team and the two teams that tied for third participated in a three-hole individual competition that awarded the winner an exemption into the LPGA’s Cognizant Founders Cup (October 4-10 in West Caldwell, N.J.)
Amari Avery (Riverside, California) beat out Breanne Jones, Sierra Sims, Bailey Davis, Zoe Slaughter and Amari Smith, shooting birdie-par-par in a three-hole aggregate competition.
