Jun 27, 2025 
(June 27, 2025 – MONTICELLO, N.Y.) – With her son on the bag and a red-hot putter, two-time LPGA Tour champion Laura Diaz of Ponte Verda, Fla., came to tame the Monster Golf Club in the inaugural LPGA Legends Weekend presented by Resorts World Catskills.
After the opening 18 holes, Diaz came out on top, edging Sweden’s Maria McBride by one stroke and posting a 4-under-par 68 to take the overnight lead.
“It was a great day out there, very pleasant,” smiled Diaz, an LPGA Tour stalwart who competed from 1998-2017 and appeared in four Solheim Cup competitions.
“The Monster did try to grab me on one hole, but I made a massive putt to save bogey,” added Diaz, who carded two early birdies and gave them back with two bogeys on holes 6 and 8. Diaz subsequently rattled off four birdies on the back to come home in 32 and secure her spot at the top of the leaderboard.
“I had the putter working and my son, Cooper, caddying for me,” said Diaz, who has notched one win so far on the Legends, the LPGA’s senior circuit showcasing the talents of former Tour stars aged 45 and over. “Cooper is a tremendous green reader. I’m grateful to have him here with me and helping me navigate these greens.”
Also closing strong on the back, McBride drained three consecutive birdie putts on holes 13, 14 and 15 to vault herself up the leaderboard and into solo second for the night. McBride opened with a score of 69 on the par 72 course.
“I had a couple of bad iron shots early in the round where I missed the green,” admitted McBride, a 5-time LPGA Tour champion who competed in five Solheim Cup competitions as a member of the European squad, including the winning team in 2011. “I was able to get one of them up and down, but not the other.”
“But I had a really good run there after the 12th hole,” added McBride. “I had a pretty solid day today.” McBride took advantage of the par 5’s, making birdie on three of four but suffering an unfortunate bogey on the par 5 12th.
“The course held up really well, and it was consistent,” observed McBride. “I thought the scoring was going to be lower, but it was tough out there and sometimes tough to take advantage and make birdies.”
Among the chasers tied at 2 under par is Leta Lindley of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the reigning U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion, who fired the only bogey-free round of the day.
“I played great today,” said Lindley, who has one win on the LPGA Tour and three titles on the Legends of the LPGA. “I had a couple lip outs today, so I feel like the golf course owes me a couple. With the field that’s here, I’m going to just try and make as many birdies as I can. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Seven-time LPGA Tour champion Angela Stanford of Fort Worth, Texas, also carded an opening round 70, but under a bit more duress than her peers. Traveling from Charlotte, Stanford made it to the property on Thursday but with only the clothes on her back as her luggage and clubs did not.
Undeterred, the 2026 Solheim Cup Captain promptly went out and bought golf clothes and shoes and then met with the head pro at Monster Golf Club. Together they built a set of clubs that matched Stanford’s originals as best they could.
“The head pro here, Tom, has just been amazing,” said Stanford, a major championship winner who also won back-to-back LPGA Legends Championships in 2023-2024. “We went through the rental sets, and we found stuff that would work.”
Stanford’s first look at the tournament golf course was today’s opening round.
“I had to ask somebody where the first hole was,” said Stanford, who made bogey on two of the first four holes and then found her rhythm, carding four birdies and ten pars to close out her first trip around the Monster and settle at T3 going into Saturday.
“I think I had to be very defensive on the golf course, but I kind of got used to the way things were swinging as I went along,” said Stanford, whose luggage and clubs are still uncertain to arrive in time for tomorrow’s final round. “If I have to do it again tomorrow, at least I have a better idea. I might try a different putter.”
Lindley, who was paired with Stanford today, marveled at her resolve.
“It was so impressive to watch her, and I’m so proud of her,” said Lindley, who competed alongside Stanford on the LPGA Tour from 1995-2012. “I think I would have done an assessment and said, ‘Wow, you don’t have an 11 wood? I’m out. Peace out.’ But Angela went out and shot the same as me with a completely foreign set of golf clubs.”
“I’m so happy to be here,” said Stanford. “And I really wanted to play. The vibe is so cool and it’s relaxed, and the golf course is really great. I’m so glad I stayed and played.”
The final round of the LPGA Legends Weekend is set for Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the Monster Golf Club in the Catskills. Tee times start at 8:00 a.m. EST with Live Scoring available starting at 10:00 a.m. EST. Tickets can be purchased on property at Resorts World Catskills – RW Merch or in the Monster Golf Club pro shop for $25 for the day.
Click here for final round pairings and tee times and to follow scoring.
PHOTO CREDIT – Amanda Knight, Resorts World Catskills
About the Legends of the LPGA
The Legends of the LPGA is the official senior tour of the LPGA providing competitive opportunities for LPGA Tour professionals and eligible amateurs, age 45 and over. The tour was founded in 2000 by twenty-five veteran LPGA Tour professionals with the goal of continuing to showcase the talents of some of the greatest women golfers of all time. Legends of the LPGA members, including 15 LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame members, have combined for over 750 LPGA Tour victories including eighty-four major championships. Legends of the LPGA has helped raise nearly $30 million for charity. For more information on the Legends of the LPGA, visit LegendsoftheLPGA.com or follow the Legends on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @legendsofthelpga.
About Resorts World Catskills
Resorts World Catskills (RWC) Hotel and Casino Resort offers guests a best-in-class gaming, entertainment, and dining experience. Built on the site of the historic Concord Hotel, RWC’s 2018 opening has helped usher in the revival of the Catskills Mountains as one of New York State’s premier destinations. RWC boasts a more than 100,000-square-foot gaming floor; 10 bar and restaurant options including celebrity chef Scott Conant’s Italian steakhouse Cellaio; and the 2,500-seat RW Epicenter. In 2023, RWC completed a $40 million, Reese Jones-designed renovation of the 18-hole Monster golf course. Taxes from Resorts Worlds’ three New York properties have sent more than $4.5 billion to the state’s public education fund. RWC is operated by the Genting Group, a global company founded in 1965, with destination resorts in New York City, Hudson Valley, Las Vegas, Bimini, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. Genting has more than 50 years of experience in the travel and leisure industry and collectively employs approximately 47,000 people while offering an unparalleled resort experience to over 50 million visitors a year worldwide.
Jul 11, 2025 
