9-13-2025 9:49pm

Junior Day Tops Off Tournament Week Geared Around Families

Beth Callahan Editor

Photo from 2024 Junior Day

By Amy Rogers

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, OH - Saturday may have been officially designated as Junior Day at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, but it was really a culmination of what has been an entire week designed to embrace families and the youngest members of the Cincinnati community.

Each junior that stepped through the gate on Saturday morning at TPC River’s Bend received a blue backpack and inside each bag was a green, plastic water bottle with the tournament’s logo. There were entire high school golf teams who turned out to watch the best in women’s golf, in addition to young children who attended the tournament with their parents. Many juniors visited the Secret Autograph Alley where the children got to visit with their favorite players after they finished their round, snap selfies, and take home an autograph.

Children were free to attend the tournament with a paid adult and were welcome to attend a clinic held on the practice putting green during the afternoon on Saturday. Upon being welcomed to the clinic, the children were asked what their favorite part of the day had been so far.

“The golf,” said one boy in between nibbling on bites of his fruit snacks.

“The shampoo!” said a young girl who wore a long blonde braid with an oversized white bow about the goodies she found through the course from Kroger and P&G.

Ingrid Lindblad, a rookie and already a winner in her first season on the LPGA Tour at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, led the junior clinic where several dozen children and their parents encircled the practice putting green.

Before launching into the instruction portion of the clinic, Lindblad took part in a Q&A in which the Swede shared details of her golf journey and how she got into golf at age 5. Remarkably she didn't begin competing in tournaments until she was a teenager, and in addition to playing golf was also a figure skater and sang in a choir. Lindblad emphasized the importance of being involved in a variety of activities and polled the kids in attendance about their favorite sports.

“Flag football? I don't think we even had that in Sweden,” Lindblad said with a laugh in response to one of the girl’s answers. “I feel like I didn't even play golf as young as these kids are!”

Lindblad also discussed her success in the amateur ranks during her time at Louisiana State University, in which she spent a year as the top-ranked amateur in the world, and her reason for staying at the school rather than turning professional.

“I tried to get as good as possible as an amateur,” Lindblad said about her goal in college.

Before the clinic came to a close, Lindblad demonstrated her practice putting routine and hit a few putts for the youngsters before taking questions from the juniors.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“What do you like about the USA and what do you like about Sweden?”

“What's your favorite golf club?”

Lindblad patiently answered all questions before posing for a group photo with the children in attendance and signing autographs for them to take home.

The junior clinic was the pinnacle of what has been a week designed around families, which combined the entertainment of watching the best in women’s golf with some of the creature comforts and conveniences of home to make the overall tournament experience that much more enjoyable. From the Pampers Family Center, to changing stations on the golf course, free food samples, and reasonably priced concession meal plans, it was all a part of an effort to make the tournament not just fun, but comfortable for guests of all ages. And an unforgettable one, too.