Bailey Tardy cannot wait to get back to Copper Rock Golf Course. Last year’s Copper Rock Championship winner shot a blazing 206 (-10) to eclipse her LPGA Epson Tour counterparts, and is excited about getting back to Southern Utah.
She’s coming off a knee surgery and is, quite literally, just getting back on her feet. “I’m super excited to get back [to Copper Rock],” Tardy says. “The course is beautiful and the support from the locals was incredible.”
Despite Copper Rock Golf Course’s newness to the LPGA Epson Tour, Tardy found herself shocked – “in the very best way,” she says – with how well the tournament was run, the attention to details, and how her and the other women on tour were treated.
“You don’t get that kind of treatment all the time,” she admits. “From the way the grandstand was set up, the TV crews, and we were fed really, really well.
“Then there’s the course. It was a new site. We didn’t know what to expect and then you get these 360° mountain views and these really hilly fairways. It’s an incredible course. I was blown away that week.”
Tardy adds that she was blown away both literally and figuratively, as she recalls standing on an elevated tee box facing 55 MPH winds.
“They call it Hurricane, Utah for a reason,” she jokes.
The tournament also offered Tardy and many of the other Epson Tour players an opportunity to explore Southern Utah. She mentions that she loves the outdoors and Utah “gives her the motivation to go play” in the grandeur of the area. Last year, Tardy spent her downtime in The Hollows and checking out Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. The native Georgian found herself in awe.
“Where I play, you might get a couple anthills,” she says. “It’s nothing like out there. Beautiful scenery. There’s a ton of things to do and places to explore. And everyone is just so welcoming. I have nothing but great things to say about the tournament, and the fact that I can get away to places off site and take my mind off of golf if I need to is even better.”
Tardy will play a couple of events in Arizona and California ahead of heading to defend her title at the Copper Rock Championship on April 21-23rd against the best up-and-coming golfers of the LPGA Epson Tour.
For more information on the Copper Rock Championship, tickets, and details for your stay, click here.
