LPGA Tour Stop in Rogers, Arkansas, Marks Two Decades of Growth

In 2007, the LPGA Tour made its first stop at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas, a town of roughly 50,000 people not far from the Oklahoma border. In that inaugural season, the professional golf tournament was the sole attraction, but as it marked its 20th edition last month it had grown into a weeklong spectacle that draws committed fans, offers a unique atmosphere and has brougbt an estimated $14 million in economic impact to the Northwest Arkansas region.

“It’s truly incredible how much this event has evolved,” says Annye DeGrand Fox, executive director of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G. “With the anniversary, we’ve looked back at a lot of photos from the early years. It was 2007, but the photos literally looked like the ’80s for some reason. You just don’t realize how much the world has evolved and changed in just a short amount of time.”

Rain interrupted the inaugural event, as just 18 holes were played and the result was declared unofficial due to multiple weather-related delays. An LPGA event has to be at least 36 holes to qualify as official.

DeGrand Fox said organizers at the time were unsure whether the tournament would continue in the following years, given the trials of that first week.

But an engaged community and dedicated partnerships were determined to not just keep the event on the calendar but build it into one of the tour’s premier destinations.

Now, the NW Arkansas Championship is part of a weeklong celebration of the Northwest Arkansas community, local businesses and women’s golf. Tournament week features 50 unique events, from junior golf clinics and yoga classes to a 5K run, a women’s leadership summit and a food festival.

This year’s event ran from September 21 through September 27, with Yuna Nishimura winning her first Tour title.

“We want people to feel like this is their event,” DeGrand Fox said. “Over the years, the support of the community has allowed us to evolve and grow the event. We’ve tried to do that in a very sustainable way. … We came out with a modest golf tournament that got people excited but kept them wanting to come back.”

From collaborations with the City of Rogers, regional hotels, law enforcement partners and Pinnacle Country Club, as well as volunteer support and local business involvement, Destination Rogers Executive Director J.R. Shaw has seen business and community development come together to create one of the region’s most impactful events.

“None of us operate in a vacuum,” Shaw said. “We are better when we come alongside others and bring other people along. The tournament probably wouldn’t be here without Walmart and Procter & Gamble. … You have to have partnerships come along.”

Community Connections

When the NW Arkansas Championship was first held, the Rogers area ran into a problem many smaller cities face when hosting large sports events: They had more people needing accommodations than hotels could host.

With the influx of golfers and caddies coming to town, community members across Northwest Arkansas were quick to open their homes — and it became a tradition of its own.

DeGrand Fox said the program has stayed in place, even as the region opened more hotels in the two decades since. She estimated that around 80 players and caddies have found homes with local residents when they come to Arkansas each year.

Local families and the golfers have maintained their connections long after the tournament ends. One family traveled as far as Japan to attend a golfer’s wedding, and DeGrand Fox said she knows of a golfer who was in the wedding for a host family’s daughter. Some families have even gotten to know the children of the players they used to host.

“It’s really special to see, and unique to Northwest Arkansas, how these families have opened their homes to host these players,” DeGrand Fox said. “I think the players would say that’s why this event is one of their favorite events on tour.”

Volunteers play a central role during tournament week, and 700 community members signed up to take part for the 20th edition. To celebrate the milestone, 31 volunteers who have worked every NW Arkansas Championship since 2007 were honored at a dinner.

Shaw also knows residents who have out-of-town family come to Rogers every year for tournament week. One of his coworkers keeps the date circled on her calendar all year.

“She said to me, ‘I can’t wait for (tournament week). This is my favorite party week of the year,’” Shaw said. “The buzz is palpable for the folks in the area and the region. I hope we never take these types of things for granted.”

How Tournament Week Expanded

The NW Arkansas Championship started off primarily focused around the golf tournament, but organizers took steps over the years to elevate it into the full week of programming it has become.

One event that’s been around since the first year of the tournament is the Walmart Women’s Empowerment Summit. It began as a small gathering of women at the Pinnacle Country Club in 2007 and has since grown into a large event with 1,500 attendees, keynote speakers and valuable networking opportunities at the Walmart home office in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The region began hosting a 5K race and the BITE food festival around tournament week in 2015. BITE at the LPGA features small plates from local restaurants across Northwest Arkansas. These additional events helped encourage community members who weren’t golf fans to join in on the festivities, drawing more attention to the event itself.

Now, patrons can enjoy yoga classes, bike rides and junior golf clinics, in addition to professional golf being played at the same time.

“We know that not everybody has been exposed to golf, but almost everybody loves food and experiencing local restaurants with the community,” DeGrand Fox said. “Some people like to be active and get out and run or walk. We’ve been trying to integrate different events that appeal to the entire community.”

DeGrand Fox said weather has ultimately been the biggest “risk factor” for the event each year. Similar to the tournament’s first year, the 19th edition in 2025 was also reduced to 18 holes and declared unofficial due to rain.

Putting Rogers on the map

Perhaps one of the most tangible impacts the NW Arkansas Championship has had on Rogers, Arkansas, has been as simple as saying the city’s name on nationwide broadcasts.

Shaw took notice of when the Golf Channel, which televises the event each year, started introducing the tournament’s home base as “Rogers, Arkansas,” as opposed to a broad “Northwest Arkansas” descriptor.

“Over the last several years, they’ve gotten to saying specifically, ‘We are here in Rogers, Arkansas, hosting the tournament,’ so that’s a big deal for us,” Shaw said. “The awareness that this builds of Northwest Arkansas as a dynamic, thriving region is incalculable.”

Shaw said the “hospitality bump” Rogers and the entire Northwest Arkansas region has received thanks to the LPGA tournament creates an interest that carries into other areas across the region, such as Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas, and Bentonville, home to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

There have been challenges for the tournament, including the late 2000s financial crisis and those weather-related setbacks. But DeGrand Fox has seen partners and community members rise above those difficulties and expand this golf tournament into a memorable event.

When she thinks about the next two decades, she sees continued investment into the sport of golf  — specifically at the youth level, working with First Tee of Northwest Arkansas and Youth on Course, two organizations that help bolster the golfing community in the region and get kids involved in the game.

“We really hope this event continues to remain an important part of our community,” DeGrand Fox said. “We’ll do whatever we can to continue to make it relevant in the community and help it evolve with the community.”