Nine PGA & LPGA Club Professionals to Compete in the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

by Charles Dillahunt

Led by 2021 LPGA Professionals National Championship winner Alisa Rodriguez, the group of teaching professionals will play against the world’s greatest golfers at Congressional Country Club

BETHESDA, Md. (June 22, 2022) – A group of nine PGA and LPGA Club Professionals will tee it up in the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship starting Thursday at Congressional Country Club against one of the strongest fields in women’s golf, which will include 99 of the top 100 players on the LPGA’s Official Money List.

Alisa Rodriguez is a PGA Associate, who won the 2021 LPGA Professionals National Championship, is playing in her second consecutive Women’s PGA Championship. While she is the PGA Associate Teaching Professional at Balcones Country Club in Austin, Texas, Rodriguez also plays on the Women’s All Pro Tour and the Epson Tour. At Balcones, she also oversees junior golf camps and programs and is the club’s PGA Jr. League Coach.

For a second straight year, Rodriguez will have her friend and fellow PGA Associate, Chris Taylor, serving as her caddie.

Ashley Grier, PGA, is playing in her fourth Women’s PGA Championship, but this one is special in a unique way. Grier is the PGA Assistant Professional at Yingling’s Golf Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, about an hour’s drive from Congressional.

Grier, who finished T-4 at the 2021 LPGA Professionals National Championship, earned the 2020 Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year honor. Her father David, a PGA Member since 1981, is the owner and PGA Head Professional at Yinglings Golf Center in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Allie Knight, PGA/LPGA is one of three dual members in the field – and is the PGA Teaching Professional at Fairways and Greens Golf Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Knight has experience on the Epson Tour, having made 13 career cuts, including a career-best T-16 in the 2016 Symetra Classic. In 2020, she shot a 14-under 58 at the Dandridge Pro-Am, setting a course record for the blue and white tees at the Dandridge Golf and Country Club.

Of the nine Club Professionals in the field, three are PGA Members (Jennifer Borocz, Grier, Jenny Suh Thompson); one is a PGA Associate (Rodriguez); two are LPGA Members (Meaghan Francella, Ashley Tait Wengert); and three are dual PGA/LPGA Members (Sandra Changkija, Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth, Knight).

PGA/LPGA CLUB PROFESSIONALS AT THE KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Jennifer Borocz, PGA – North Florida PGA Section
Sandra Changkija, PGA/LPGA – North Florida PGA Section
Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth, PGA/LPGA – North Florida PGA Section
Meaghan Francella, LPGA – The Philadelphia Cricket Club
Ashley Grier, PGA – Middle Atlantic PGA Section
Allie Knight, PGA/LPGA – Tennessee PGA Section
Alisa Rodriguez – PGA Associate – Southern Texas PGA Section
Jenny Suh Thompson, PGA – South Florida PGA Section
Ashley Tait Wengert, LPGA – Baltimore (Maryland) Country Club

KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BROADCAST SCHEDULE
NBC and Golf Channel will combine for 14 televised hours of live play from the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional (all times listed EDT):

First Round: Thursday, June 23 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Golf Channel
Second Round: Friday, June 24 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Golf Channel
Third Round: Saturday, June 25 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. NBC
Final Round: Sunday, June 26 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. NBC