The ShopRite LPGA Classic has been a successful sporting event in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, area since 1986.
Mindful of evolving and improving, the tournament’s grocery chain title sponsor is touting enhancements to the 2025 event to be played today through Sunday on the Bay Course at the Seaview resort.
First among those is Team ShopRite, a five-player contingent that will represent the brand on the LPGA Tour and in tournament-week activities. In addition, the entire tournament field will receive complimentary lodging at Seaview, which is adjacent to the Bay Course and part of the Dolce Hotels & Resorts family.
The five players of Team ShopRite are Cheyenne Knight, Caley McGinty, Gurleen Kaur, Brooke Matthews and Gianna Clemente, a top junior player who will compete on a sponsor exemption.
“I’m honored to be joining Team ShopRite,” said Knight, a two-time LPGA winner. “They have done so much for the LPGA and charities, which are values I share. The ShopRite LPGA Classic supports so much in the community, and I look forward to teeing it up at Seaview. … Being part of Team ShopRite helps further the mission that they have set forth to elevate women’s golf and supporting charities.”
The initiatives are in keeping with Shop-Rite’s long-standing support for the women’s game.
“We believe in empowering women athletes and creating opportunities for them to shine on and off the course, and sometimes that involves making sure they have the resources they need to compete,” said Mike Stigers, president of Wakefern Food Corp., the supermarket cooperative and logistics, merchandising and distribution arm for ShopRite stores. “We want to create a lasting impact by supporting women golfers, engaging fans and helping grow the great game of golf. The ShopRite LPGA Classic is the perfect platform for us to do that, and we look forward to an exciting tournament that inspires the next generation of players.”
Ryan Dever, the tournament director who supervises the yeoman’s share of operational details, knows that players are likely to return to an event that treats them well. The free hotel is an effective lever.
“Providing the complimentary hotel accommodations throughout the event week is a way to add a benefit to the entirety of the tournament field, not just one select group of players, not just who gets to take home the trophy on Sunday,” he said.
“A side note back in the day, the casino was obviously a big attraction for people. But now having two small children with the Boardwalk like 30 minutes away, we go there almost every night, spend $100 a night buying tickets for the girls to ride rides, and now it’s become like a family thing.” – Brittany Lincicome
As a longtime participant and the champion in 2011, Brittany Lincicome remembers the visits to the casinos of Atlantic City but also the convenience of staying on property.
“A side note back in the day, the casino was obviously a big attraction for people,” she said. “But now having two small children with the Boardwalk like 30 minutes away, we go there almost every night, spend $100 a night buying tickets for the girls to ride rides, and now it’s become like a family thing. It offers so much, and with history, it’s just an event that everyone loves to play.
“I love going to Seaview. I love that area. We used to stay in those condos by the driving range which were so easy, especially nowadays with a family, but now we get to be in the hotel, so we just can’t thank ShopRite and [presenting sponsor] Acer enough for giving us the free hotel rooms and keeping this tradition going and this event because a lot of us players really do love going back there, and it will be a treat to go back again this year.”
“It’s such a nice and comfortable area, and I’ve always stayed on site, whether it be in the villas on the driving range or the hotel,” added 2024 winner Linnea Ström. “This year we’ll be at the hotel, which is amazing. But I think it’s just making the players feel very comfortable with the whole area. Everything is so close. You can drive to the beach if you want to do something.”
The golf course is also a player favorite. It is a classic Golden Age layout, routed by Hugh Wilson in 1914, completed by Donald Ross in 1915 and restored by Bob Cupp in 1998.
“I think it’s just a fun golf course to play,” Ström said. “It’s fun in a way where you have to hit good shots, you have to hit good putts, but it’s very makeable. I love courses like that. … Then you can have the wind in the afternoon, which can make it a bit challenging too.”
Since 1992, ShopRite has donated more than $40 million to area hospitals, food banks, education and youth programs, and other community champions through the tournament.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul headline this year’s field for the popular 54-hole event that boasts the biggest pro-am in professional golf.
With various promotions such as free admission for those 18 and under and those who bring used electronics for recycling, Dever and his crew focus on spectators too.
“We’ve added a couple new activation areas,” Dever said. “We’re focusing on some free swag and taste some of the offerings that are sold in ShopRite stores. This year, we have a new general public venue on the 18th green; instead of the traditional grandstands, we’re going to have a more laid-back party deck with umbrella tables and a bar.
“While honoring the tradition of what we’ve been able to do, we are evolving and growing with it, not only for the players, our partners, but the general fan.”