The LPGA’s month-long Asia swing is getting off to an unfortunate start as the greens at the Qizhong Garden Golf Club in Shanghai appear to be in bad shape.
A golfer and caddie posted on social media about the Buick LPGA Shanghai conditions, revealing brown, patchy greens, which gave it the look of a poorly maintained municipal course that had been beaten up by weekend hackers. It’s certainly not a good look.
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Leona Maguire posted photos on Instagram with a wide lens shot of a hole, then a focused shot of a green, which said “Instagram vs. reality” with a laughing emoji.
Caddie Matthew Galloway—who was once on the bag of Michelle Wie West but is not listed among this week’s loopers—posted this on X: “Safe to say you can throw the putting stats out the window this week in Shanghai for the LPGA players.”
It’s well known that China deals with extreme heat, but still, the surfaces of the greens look unacceptable for a professional event, and their condition may very well become a key storyline as the tournament progresses. Beyond Maguire’s post, no LPGA players have commented publicly on the greens. The first round of the tournament begins early Thursday morning, U.S. Eastern time.
An LPGA spokesperson provided this statement to Golf Digest: “We are aware of the course conditions at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. The golf course superintendent, tournament team and the LPGA rules officials have worked diligently against extreme heat conditions this season in preparation for this week’s event. We will continue to monitor the situation and care for the course appropriately throughout the week.”
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This week’s forecast is for temperatures in the high 80s to mid-90s, with “feels like” temperatures rising to more than 100 because of the humidity. According to weather reports from September, Shanghai’s coolest high temperature of the month was 81, and there were 10 days that it was 94 or hotter.
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