Who can go deep at Highland Meadows Golf Club? | LPGA

From the stunning shores of Lake Geneva in Evian-les-Bains, France, the LPGA Tour heads to Toledo, Ohio, for the Dana Open, where Highland Meadows Golf Club is our host for the 34th consecutive year. Set in beautiful parkland in Sylvania, scoring is without a doubt the theme this week. Over the last five editions, the average outright has been 19 under par. Nasa Hataoka even matched that outright win in 2021, when she took home the trophy in the weather-shortened 54-hole event.

The weather forecast promises fine weather and many below-average conditions. Temperatures will be between 24 and 27 degrees, with no rain and very little wind – absolutely perfect conditions for golf. Anyone who has travelled from France will be happy to deliver in these conditions.

Highland Meadows Golf Club has seen 11 sudden death playoffs in its 34 years as a host, and although we haven’t seen any extra holes since 2018, this course offers a unique finish. Holes 14, 15 and 16 are three of the most difficult on the course, followed by two par 5s, with 17 and 18 being over 1,000 yards. This final five-hole stretch is guaranteed to ensure no lead is safe, and offers endless entertainment.

When it comes to scoring at Highland Meadows, we need to focus on four areas. The first is approach play. It sounds redundant, but the fact is that you need excellent proximity on the approach to get to 20 under par. The defending champion is known for her driving skills, but at Highland Meadows last year, Linn Grant showed an approach classic, winning by nearly nine strokes on the field with her iron play in 2023. After an important week, the best iron players in the field are Haeran Ryu, Yu Jin Sung, Carlota Ciganda and Mao Saigo, all of whom create the most birdie opportunities from the fairways.

Thanks to KPMG Performance Insights, fans can look back at the last two lists of top 10 finishers and learn that the second most important category of strokes gained at the Dana Open is putting. These top 10 gained an average of four strokes on the field with their putting performances. The putting surfaces are 5,000 square feet and covered in both Poa annua and bentgrass, a common combination for golf courses in the northern United States. Our last 10 winners have played 39 rounds (2021 was shortened to 54 holes) and of those 39 rounds, only five were 70 or higher, with 87 percent of the winners’ scorecards showing numbers in the 60s. Combining the best putters and birdie-or-better stats on the LPGA Tour, Minami Katsu, Yuna Nishimura and Paula Reto are the ones to watch this week.

Most top-scoring weeks suggest that the par 5s are best deep, but Highland Meadows has only three of them. The same two top 10 holes from the last two years tell a different story.

The par-3 average was 2.8 strokes and the par-4 average was 3.8 strokes, which may not look low, but it is. Four par-3 holes averaging 159 yards and six par-4 holes under 366 yards on the map offer great scoring opportunities. With their combined par-3 and par-4 scores, Ryu, Saigo, Nishimura and Xiyu Lin are eye-catching. These players should have a chance to capture this title, as did Grant, who shot 18 under par on the par-3 and par-4 holes last year.

Linn lapped the field with a Saturday score of 62, which even included a bogey on the card. Looking at the most recent leaderboards, the themes and names mentioned above all remain very consistent.

It’s time to make your own list of possible winners and see how you stack up. Ayaka Furue had 11 top-20 finishes in 17 starts this season before her win at the Evian on Sunday, and several athletes in this field are trending that way as well.

Pick two or three and finish off the Dana Open. We’ll probably all be watching the final par 5s very closely on Sunday.

Keith Stewart is an award-winning PGA professional. He covers the LPGA and PGA TOUR for Golf Digest, SportsGrid, The Sporting News, LPGA and PGA TOUR. If you want to improve your golf skills and love insider information about the game, read his weekly newsletter called Read the line.