The Ladies Professional Golf Association will relocate this year’s Portland Classic tournament to the suburbs, citing safety concerns in the city.
The annual competition typically takes place at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club located in northeast Portland. Its relocation to the Oregon Golf Club in the southern suburb of West Linn will be the first time it has moved in 50 years.
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In a letter to club members, Ken Smith, Columbia Edgewater’s board president, said the tournament was being moved for security reasons given the expected large crowds that will arrive for the event.
“Their reason for departure center around the City of Portland’s response to safety and security around the city,” Smith wrote, according to KATU 2. “With LPGA players, Media, Sponsors, and thousands of spectators coming into town this fall, the tournament organizers had concerns about the safety of the city and opted to find a venue out of the city limits.”
Tom Maletis, president of the Tournament Golf Foundation, echoed the concerns about public safety.
“Around the adjacent area of Columbia Edgewater, that area, there’s been a rise in houselessness,” Maletis said, according to KOIN. “There’s been a lot of safety issues, health issues that we had with that area being so close to the course.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said he hopes to address the issues raised by the tournament’s organizer but was “pleased” that they kept the competition in the greater Portland area.
The Portland Classic will take place Sept. 16-19. The 74-hole competition has a $1.4 million purse and will be televised live on the Golf Channel.
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The Oregon Country Club, Columbia Edgewater Country Club, and the LPGA did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
