Organizers Begin To Consider Moving The ANA Away From The ANWA, Even If It Means Coachella Conflict

The new Augusta National Women’s Amateur understandably got way more attention than the LPGA’s first major of the year and while the inaugural year must be taken into account, there is a good chance the chance that attention will continue to lean hard toward the “ANWA”.

It’s unfortunate that organizing reps at IMG are suggesting a move is a 50-50 prospect for this reason and not for the reason the ANA needs to move: it’s on the eve of the Masters.

From Larry Bohannan’s Desert Sun report, quoting IMG’s Chris Garrett:

“If I am a tournament sponsor and I am ANA and looking at coverage that was given to ANWA by Golf Channel and certain media outlets, I can understand their concerns that we are golf’s first major and they are feeling overshadowed by an event in its first year,” Garrett said.

ANA has sponsored the major since 2015 and raised the purse to $3 million this year. The airline signed a three-year extension this year through 2022.

Garrett admits that a date change might not be possible as early as 2020 because of all the moving parts involved in the LPGA schedule and TV contracts.

While moving up seems logical, a move to April after the Masters sounds more attractive to golf fans who are always going to be distracted by the Masters.