Long Beach is a city built on spectacle. It is a city that hosts the Grand Prix, one of the most iconic street races in the world. A city that fills its streets for the Long Beach Marathon, and a city preparing to help host the 2028 Olympic Games.
Alongside these massive events, Long Beach boasts a deep, proud history of professional golf—from the historic Long Beach Open to the legendary players who cut their teeth on its fairways.
At the heart of that golf heritage sits something truly unique: The Long Beach Golf Festival. As one of the largest, longest-running, and most ambitious municipal golf festivals in California—and quite possibly the entire country—the Festival has showcased the city’s passion for the game for decades.
Through a series of championships that bring together juniors, amateurs, seniors, and professionals, its intent has always been clear: Celebrate the game. Celebrate the community. Celebrate Long Beach.
The Festival has produced champions, inspired careers, and created memories for thousands of golfers across generations. It is a civic treasure and a living piece of Long Beach sports culture. And yet, within this proud tradition lies a championship approaching its 100th anniversary that has simply not been given the platform it deserves.
A Silent Legacy: The Underserved Women's Game
The city currently hosts two distinct women’s events: The Long Beach Women’s Amateur Championship and The Women’s City Challenge.
Founded in 1928, the Long Beach Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the oldest women’s amateur golf events in California. It has survived nearly a century of change, carried forward entirely by the passion of the women who show up year after year.
But passion alone cannot sustain a legacy. Promotion, investment, and vision are required—and those elements have been missing for far too long.
Consider the numbers:
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The Long Beach Women's Amateur: Last year, the field drew just 19–20 players. This year, it saw around 30.
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The Women’s City Challenge: The event features a field of only 15 players.
This decline isn't happening because women aren’t playing golf; they are hitting the links in record numbers nationwide. It’s not because Long Beach lacks facilities; the city has five courses. The truth is simple: the women’s events have been underserved, overlooked, and under-promoted for years.
There has been no active marketing, no targeted outreach, and no structured effort to fill the fields or elevate the women’s side of the Festival into the world-class event it could easily become. This is not a criticism of the competitors, the volunteers, or the spirit of the event itself—it is a criticism of the silence surrounding it.
A Legacy Worth Celebrating — Not Just Preserving
When you stand on the first tee of the Women’s Championship, you feel the weight of history. You feel the stories of the trailblazers, club leaders, and fierce competitors who kept this event alive through nearly a century of societal change.
But history alone is not enough. A true legacy must be built upon, not merely maintained.
The Long Beach Golf Festival already possesses the infrastructure, the audience, and the brand power to elevate this tournament into something extraordinary. The city has the civic pride, and the course management has the marketing reach to fill the field many times over.
So why hasn’t it happened? Why does a 98-year-old women’s championship still feel like a side note? Why is there no junior girls’ division? No collegiate outreach? No partnerships with local women’s golf groups?
These are not resource problems. These are priority problems.
The Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
Women’s golf, junior girls' golf, and collegiate programs are booming nationwide. Corporate support for women’s sports is hitting unprecedented highs. The Long Beach Women’s Championships should be riding that wave, not watching it pass by from the sidelines.
To turn the tide and transform this tournament into a true showcase, the Festival can implement eight straightforward, high-impact strategies:
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Add Junior Girls’ Divisions: Create flights for ages 10–12, 13–15, and 16–18. This is how you cultivate the next generation of lifelong competitors.
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Create a Collegiate & Club Team Invitational: Local universities and community colleges would jump at the opportunity to compete in a structured, local tournament setting.
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Promote the Event Like It Matters: A coordinated social media push, targeted email campaigns, and proactive outreach are all it takes to turn a field of 25 players into 80.
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Introduce a Women’s Festival Day: Expand the event beyond the scorecard. Incorporate vendors, instructional clinics led by LPGA teaching professionals, guest speakers, and skill contests to create a true celebration.
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Honor the History: Build a past champions display, map out a historical timeline, or produce a 100-year tribute video. Highlighting the past elevates the prestige of the present.
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Invest in Dedicated Media Coverage: Produce highlight reels, player interviews, and high-quality photography. Increased visibility automatically creates legitimacy and draws future players.
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Build Partnerships with Golf Organizations: Connect directly with LPGA Amateurs, the Southern California Women’s Golf Association (SCWGA), high school athletic directors, and college coaches. The target audience is already out there waiting to be invited.
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Offer Participation Incentives: Introduce premium tee gifts, sponsor swag packages, dedicated junior awards, and tournament exemptions. Small, thoughtful touches yield a massive impact on player retention.
None of these concepts require astronomical budgets. They simply require care, effort, and a clear vision.
Matching the Spirit of Long Beach
The Long Beach Golf Festival is a civic treasure—a rare, community-driven celebration of the game that few municipalities across America can match. It has history, tradition, scale, and heart. But it also holds immense untapped potential.
In a city defined by the Grand Prix and major athletic milestones, the Festival should stand as a centerpiece of Long Beach’s sports identity, not a quiet tradition known only to insiders. The local business community wants to be involved, sponsors are looking for meaningful opportunities to invest, and the public wants to see sports thrive.
The women’s championships must be a core pillar of that growth, not an afterthought.
Green Side News Is Committed to Leading the Charge
We are choosing not to sit on the sidelines. We are here to shine a light on the issue, tell the stories that matter, and advocate for meaningful progress.
Moving forward, Green Side News pledges to:
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Cover the women’s championships with the consistent respect and depth they deserve.
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Highlight the unique stories of the players, the tournament's rich history, and its enduring legacy.
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Advocate publicly for the introduction of junior girls’ divisions and expanded tournament fields.
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Showcase the event through high-quality video, photography, and editorial storytelling.
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Engage the local community and amplify the voices calling for structural change.
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Hold the Festival's leadership accountable to its own incredible potential.
The next two years leading into the historic 100th anniversary represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform this event into something spectacular.
The Final Call to Action
Long Beach, the moment is now.
You possess a 98-year-old women’s championship legacy. You have one of the largest municipal golf festivals in the country. You have a passionate local golf community, and the eyes of the world will soon be on the city for the Olympic Games.
It is time to match that incredible sports legacy with real, measurable action.
The players are ready. The community is ready. Green Side News is ready. The only question left is whether the Festival, and the city itself, are ready to rise to the occasion.