Last year, Columbus hosted its first big professional golf event when the Epson Tour came to Otter Creek.
The Epson Tour will return to Otter Creek in 2025, and in 2026, Harrison Lake Country Club is getting one of the major championship events on the LPGA Legends Tour. Harrison Lake and Otter Creek director of golf Austin Wright announced Thursday that Harrison Lake will host the 2026 LPGA Professionals National Championship.
“The same team that runs the LPGA Champions also runs Epson, so they had actually contacted us a couple years ago about hosting the event,” Wright said. “But we had just come out of the renovation, and we weren’t sure if the golf course was going to be up to that standard. So we kind of deferred that, and when the contract came up, they asked us if we would be willing to host an Epson Tour event in 2026.”
With Otter Creek’s championship course set to undergo renovation beginning in the latter part of 2025, Harrison Lake was a natural alternative.
“We were working on extending the contract for the Otter Creek Championship,” Wright said. “They said, ‘Hey, we don’t want to break the relationship.’ We’re extremely fortunate and blessed and unbelievably excited. It’s a major event for the LPGA, so anytime you can host a major event, you definitely feel honored.”
The dates for the tournament will be announced at a later time. This year’s LPGA Professionals National Championship was in August at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Florida. Next year’s event will be in May at Copper Rock in Hurricane, Utah.
“I would imagine that it would be summer, but we don’t know yet,” Wright said. “We’re working with them. We’re still very much in the TBA stages with this, but they’re getting ready to announce the 2027 venue, and they wanted to announce the 2026 with it.”
Harrison Lake will host the Indiana Golf Association Senior Men’s Open June 2-3, 2025.
“Harrison unfortunately is just not long enough to host a major event of the best players in the world,” Wright said. “Topping out at 6,500 yards, they like to see those yardages get a little longer. But we are in the right length there for the Legends.”
The Legends tour features former LPGA players 45-and-over. Some of the top names include Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb and Suzy Whaley.
“The word ‘Legends’ is not being stretched there,” Wright said. “You have some of the best players ever coming through Columbus possibly.”
