Blythefield Country Club feels like home for past champions
By Amy Rogers
BELMONT, Mich. -- The women of the LPGA Tour come together from across the globe to compete against the best in the game. The Tour takes them to countries unknown, to new states, and to undiscovered courses. But every so often there is a sense of familiarity - a common grass, an intimate layout, or a comfortable climate that has players experiencing a feeling they can only replicate in one other place. Home.
The annual trip to Blythefield Country Club for the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give has become a homecoming of sorts for multiple past champions, who have each pointed to the sense of comfort they get when teeing it up in Michigan. Carlota Ciganda, who was born in Pamplona, Spain, found familiarity on Blythefield’s fairways in 2025. The Spaniard carded a final round, five-under par 67 to burst out of a six-way tie at the top of the leaderboard to end a winless drought of more than eight and a half years on the LPGA Tour.
“It's a special place for sure, especially after winning last year,” Ciganda said ahead of her title defense outside Grand Rapids. “It's a place that I've always said that reminds me of back home, Spain. Everything, the course, the trees, the grass. It's been always very comfortable for me playing here.”
Ciganda picked up her third career win on the LPGA Tour with her victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and first win on the LPGA Tour since the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in 2016. Ciganda’s success at Blythefield came as no surprise given she had two top 10s in her last three appearances, including a tie for eighth in 2023 and tie for fifth in 2022.
“I think it's a course that's good for long hitters. You have five par-5s that you can take advantage, and, yeah, have some doglegs that have to be pretty accurate as well,” Ciganda said about the layout at Blythefield. “It's a course that I enjoy. Suits my eye off the tee. I think it's going to be a little windy and it is a little bit softer than last year, but, yeah, it's in great shape and, yeah, it's going to be a fun week.”
Like Ciganda, Canada’s Brooke Henderson has felt at home in Michigan, too. Henderson hoisted the trophy twice at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in 2017 and 2019 and likened the course to the tree-lined layouts she played as a child growing up in Smiths Falls. And, it’s the same type of layout that produced Henderson’s first major victory at Sahalee Country Club in Seattle.
“This golf course is very similar to a lot of courses you grew up playing on back home in Canada when I was young, so I think that's another reason I love it here,” said Henderson about her affinity for Blythefield. “Tree-lined. Grasses are similar. Even the design of the holes, I feel like they really suit my eye.”
Each of Henderson’s victories in Michigan came on Father’s Day, and again the American holiday will fall during Sunday’s final round. This week, Henderson will have her father, Dave, who is also her swing coach, on property with her along with her mother, Darlene, and her cousin, Ryan, who will continue to caddie for Brooke this week in Michigan. The duo posted a tie for 22nd in the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago, which is Henderson’s best finish since she parted at the start of the year with her longtime caddie and sister, Brittany, who is on maternity leave.
“We used to grow up playing a lot of golf together so we know each other really well off the course and then also on the course he knows my game really well and when to say things and when not to, which is really key,” Henderson said with a laugh about her new caddie. “I feel like we just kind of started to find our rhythm and groove, and I'm excited for the rest of the summer.”
Henderson and Ciganda know what it feels like to find the winning groove with their game at Blythefield Country Club. And the comfort of being right at home.
