Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship cancelled: What happened?

This past Friday, the LPGA Tour announced the 2025 Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship would not be held, citing failed payments. The event was originally scheduled to take place at Palos Verdes Golf Club in the Los Angeles area, with its first round scheduled for March 20, 2025.

The press release mentioned potentially “rescheduling the event once the matter is resolved with the underwriter.” 

My first reaction to the news is the venue and the people involved with the event were affected by the wildfires. My next thought is the press release would at least say that – and would serve as a potential and understood excuse. What the reason really could be, is up to speculation.

Regardless, its cancellation creates a void in the already strange early-season LPGA Tour schedule. In the 74 days between February 9 (final round of the Founders Cup presented by US Virgin Islands in Bradenton, FL) and April 24 (the opening round of the Chevron Championship), the Tour will play only three full-field events in the United States. There are three limited-field events during that time to be played in Thailand, Singapore, and China.

Sure, the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship is only one event, but one event is one less opportunity.

For players who have earned their way into the season’s first major, the concern about lack of events stateside is limited to kicking the rust off in time. If that is a concern, most, if not all of those players could follow the Tour to the Asian events.

How does an event get cancelled anyway?

Professional events, whether Tour events or Section events, almost always have sponsors. Companies and organizations sponsoring events have a wide variety of reasons, mostly involving a return on investment, as to why they choose to sponsor. The events, players, and Tours accept sponsorships because of the financial support for the event itself and, yes, a bigger purse to play for.

For example, a regional restaurant chain agrees to sponsor a hypothetical event with a $1 million purse. The chain agrees to pay $750,000, with various supporting companies paying the remainder. The event organizer, whether the Tour or the event itself, needs to have all the money by the time the event rolls around so when the event ends, there will be enough in the bank for when the prize money is sent out by direct deposit, check, or however else.

The chain will send $750,000 in a lump sum or installments over time by a certain date or dates, as agreed. If the money is not received in time, the event itself could continue provided the Tour or whoever is the organizer has the money itself and continue to go after the missing funds after. If there is too much inaction, the organizer does not have enough money, or whatever, the event cannot afford to go ahead.

The event could look for other sponsors to fill a gap, announce a reduced purse, reschedule, or take other steps to ensure the event goes ahead. 

The reason the press release for the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship added a line about potential rescheduling is anyone’s guess. It could mean that the LPGA Tour is reasonably convinced the money could be on the way later and the event could go ahead later in the year.

If the Tour were to receive its necessary funds, it would be unlikely to be too soon – the Tour would not make a drastic announcement that could be resolved immediately.

The end of September looks to be a possible new date – after the Walmart event in Rogers, Arkansas, and before the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii.