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How the LPGA returned to the Queen City

How the LPGA returned to the Queen City

CINCINNATI — It started almost four years ago with an idea and a cup of coffee.

Tom Kempton had an idea and it was a simple premise ‒ bring professional golf back to Cincinnati ‒ but the execution of that idea was far from simple.

Kempton grew up in Athens, Ohio. He spent two decades in Cincinnati as vice president of marketing for Taft Broadcasting, then was head of marketing for the Marriott Corp. in Washington, D.C., before he moved back to Cincinnati to start his own company, which specialized in sports and event marketing.

Kempton met Charlie Mechem for a cup of coffee the day before Thanksgiving in 2018. Mechem, a longtime lawyer for the Cincinnati firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, was also the head of Taft Broadcasting when it was in control of the LPGA.

“My purpose of having coffee with Charlie was not only to catch up but to ask him about the idea I had of bringing professional golf back to Cincinnati,” Kempton said. “We had a great conversation and Charlie asked all the right questions.”

Mechem introduced Kempton to Mike Whan, who at the time was the LPGA commissioner.

“We met in Toledo at the LPGA event there on a very hot August day and we had a good conversation, but Mike said, ‘Tom, I love your enthusiasm and your ideas and I see how you feel this can be packaged and best marketed, but I have to tell you, I’ve had 25 cities come to me and say they could bring a title sponsor if we could bring the LPGA to their city. Let me tell you, we’re 0-for-25.’ ”

Kempton was taken aback by that, but he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.

He began engaging with the LPGA and a process began to find sponsors.

“That drives the entire golf tournament. You really don’t have any momentum until you get the sponsors in place,” Kempton said.

‘Where does this tournament best fit?’

Initially, Procter & Gamble wasn’t interested, said Kempton, which made him rethink his idea and how to better package it.

So he decided to package the golf tournament with a women’s leadership program. Around that time, Kempton started thinking about a location.

“Where does this tournament best fit?” Kempton thought. “Lots of golf courses in Cincinnati would welcome such an event. One of my beliefs was it would be stronger if it were inside the (Interstate 275) beltway. I really felt that would make it more of Cincinnati’s tournament.”

Kempton met with Denise Kuprionis, the former president of Kenwood Country Club, and Dylan…

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