Winner of the June 4-5 event at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will earn exemptions into the LPGA Tour’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and the Dow Championship
DETROIT and GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN (May 23, 2024) – The stage is set for the highly anticipated THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational, as tournament organizer Intersport today announced an elite 12-player field of top professional and amateur Black female golfers set to compete in the fourth annual event June 4 and 5 at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Notable players in the field for the 36-hole tournament include defending champion Paige Crawford and teen sensation Ashley Shaw, who will both be aiming to come out on top and earn exemptions in two LPGA Tour events – the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and the Dow Championship.
“THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational is a wonderful tournament, and we are honored to award the winner of the women’s competition an exemption to our 10th annual Meijer LPGA Classic next month,” said Cathy Cooper, Executive Director of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. “This event continues to embody the essence of golf’s rich heritage while paving the way for a future where diversity and excellence intersect on the green. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome such incredible talent back to Blythefield Country Club.”
“We are looking forward to a terrific competition at THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational, and we are proud to support an event that provides opportunities for these talented Black female golfers to advance their careers,” said Carlos Padilla II, Head of Global Sports Partnerships for Dow. “Since this event started four years ago, we have seen some incredible stories and witnessed our champions go on to do amazing things in the world of golf.”
For the first time since its 2021 debut, THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational features prize purses for all three of its events this season: THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational and THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational. The top three finishers and ties in each event will be awarded a share of the purse. The winner of THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational will take home $13,200 from a $22,000 purse. Second place will earn $6,600, while $2,200 will go to the third-place finisher.
Crawford won THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup last year by two strokes, then parlayed that experience into a victory in THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational in June, securing exemptions into three LPGA events during the 2023 season. She advanced to the second stage of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying Tournament and earned full Epson Tour status this season.
Shaw, a 15-year-old Arizona native, won THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup earlier this month. A high school freshman and the only amateur in the field, she shot a 1-over par 73 at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J., to earn a spot in the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup.
Previous winners of THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational include Crawford (2023) and Sadena Parks (2022), as well as Anita Uwadia and Shasta Averyhardt, who shared the title in 2021 when it was a two-player team event.
Former Montana State standout Crawford and Nigeria native Uwadia hope to repeat their past success at this year’s THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational. Other past winners of SHIPPEN events in the field include Amari Avery and Lakareber Abe, who won THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Players at this year’s THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational will compete in 36 holes of stroke play, with the winner earning an exemption into the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club (June 13–16), as well as an exemption into the Dow Championship, the LPGA tournament scheduled for June 27– 30 in Midland, Michigan. The SHIPPEN winner will choose a partner to compete alongside them in the Dow, which is a two-player team event.
Intersport, a leading Chicago-based sports marketing and media agency, partnered with Woods & Watts Effect in 2021 to create THE JOHN SHIPPEN – a series of competitions created to provide playing opportunities on the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR for the nation’s top Black women and men golfers. THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit will also be held for the fourth year to create awareness about employment opportunities within the business of sports.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN was created to identify historical barriers, expand Black representation in golf, and address the lack of Black representation in business and leadership roles within the golf and larger sports industry for people of color. The events are named after John Shippen, Jr., who was both the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional.
“It’s hard to believe that THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational is already in its fourth year, and I’m just as excited about this year’s tournament as I was for the first one in 2021,” said Sommer Woods, tournament lead for THE JOHN SHIPPEN. “We have an incredible field that includes some established players and others that are just starting to make a name for themselves. We are incredibly proud of the impact that this event has had on the careers of young Black golfers and how the tournament honors the legacy of Mr. Shippen, and we know we couldn’t do it without the support of amazing partners like Meijer and Dow.”
Since 2021, 90 of the nation’s best Black women and men golfers have competed in THE JOHN SHIPPEN. THE JOHN SHIPPEN has awarded 16 playing opportunities on the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour, and donated $340,000 to local charities, scholarships and fellowships. SHIPPEN alumni continue to see success beyond the National Invitational through player-earned memberships on the PGA TOUR Champions, PGA TOUR Americas and Ladies European Tours.
In 2022, Women’s Invitational champion Sadena Parks paired with 2021 winner Anita Uwadia at the Dow Invitational and finished tied for 36th, becoming the first SHIPPEN champions to make a cut after securing a start in an event based on their results at THE JOHN SHIPPEN.
Last year was another historic year for THE JOHN SHIPPEN, as, for the first time in the event’s history, the Men’s Invitational champion, Chase Johnson, made the cut at the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
This year’s events kicked off with THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup. The 36-hole THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational will be held June 4–5 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the 36-hole THE JOHN SHIPPEN Men’s Invitational will be June 22-23 at Detroit Golf Club.
For updated information on THE JOHN SHIPPEN, please visit www.TheJohnShippen.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@TheJohnShippen) and Twitter (@TheJShippen). For information about sponsorship opportunities or how to get involved, please email us at THEJOHNSHIPPEN@intersportnet.com.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational
2024 Player Field
(Players Listed in Alphabetical Order)
Lakareber Abe
AGE: 28
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: University of Alabama
RESIDENCE: Woodlands, Texas
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2022 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup champion
- 2022 LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup competitor
- 2024 LPGA EPSON Tour member
- 2024 Ladies European Tour (LET) member
Amari Avery
AGE: 20
STATUS: Amateur
COLLEGE: University of Southern California
RESIDENCE: Riverside, California
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2023 Honorable Mention All-America honors
- Helped Southern California reach finals of NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships
- Represented the United States in the Arnold Palmer Cup
- Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open competitor
- 2021 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup champion
Shasta Averyhardt
AGE: 38
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: Jackson State
RESIDENCE: Flint, Michigan
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2024 LET Member
- 2021 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational Champion
- Seven Professional wins
- 2011, 2013 LPGA Tour member
Christina Carroll
AGE: 22
STATUS: Amateur
COLLEGE: University of Delaware
RESIDENCE: Bear, Delaware
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2023 LPGA Tour Dow Championship competitor
- 2023 All-CAA Second team
- 2023 University of Delaware golf, ranks fifth in program history
- 2023 Golfweek Fall Challenge, tied for fourth place
Ebonie Cox
AGE: 38
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: Bethune Cookman College
RESIDENCE: Bermuda
HIGHLIGHTS:
- IMG Leadbetter alum
- PGA National Collegiate Minority 2007
- 2023 NatWest Island Games Winner
- 2nd 2023 Bermuda Golf Association Stroke Play
- 1st 2023 Bermuda Golf Association Match Play
Paige Crawford
AGE: 32
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: Montana State
RESIDENCE: Colorado Springs, Colorado
HIGHLIGHTS:
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup champion
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational champion
· 2023 LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup competitor
· 2023 LPGA Tour Meijer LPGA Classic competitor
· 2023 LPGA Tour Dow Championship competitor
Marley Franklin
AGE: 20
STATUS: Amateur
COLLEGE: Howard
RESIDENCE: Los Angeles, California
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2024 PGA Works Collegiate Championship T13
- 2022 L.A City Junior Golf Champion
- Second place in the SAS Invitational
- 2022 Jackson T. Stephens Cup competitor
Kendall Jackson
AGE: 21
STATUS: Amateur
COLLEGE: Howard University
RESIDENCE: Pearland, Texas
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2024 ARCIS HBCU Championship Women D1 champion
- 11 top 10 finishes in the last 104 weeks
- Five collegiate wins
- Number 1 HBCU Female Golfer in NCAA as of December 2023
Janelle Johnson
AGE: 27
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: Nova Southeastern University
RESIDENCE: Royal Palm Beach, Florida
HIGHLIGHTS:
· 2024 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup competitor – T2
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup competitor
· 2023 Epson Tour member
Georgia Oboh
AGE: 23
STATUS: Professional
RESIDENCE: Manchester, England
HIGHLIGHTS:
· 2024 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup competitor – T2
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup competitor
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational competitor
· First Nigerian to Monday qualify and compete in an LPGA event (2022 ShopRite LPGA Classic)
· 2023 Ladies European Tour member (LET)
· 2023 Epson Tour member
Ashley Shaw
AGE: 15
STATUS: Amateur
RESIDENCE: Litchfield Park, Arizona
HIGHLIGHTS:
· 2024 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup champion
· 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational competitor
· Inaugural Curry Cup Champion
· 2022 Arizona Match Play Champion
Anita Uwadia
AGE: 25
STATUS: Professional
COLLEGE: University of South Carolina
RESIDENCE: Houston, Texas
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 2024 Epson Tour member
- 2023 Epson Tour member
- 2023 THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational competitor
- 2021 THE JOHN SHIPPEN Women’s Invitational champion
- Two-time LPGA Tour Dow Championship competitor
- 2022: T-36
