The Chevron Championship’s Long Journey to Major Status
For many golf fans, the Chevron Championship will always be “The Dinah,” and that says everything about the kind of history this event carries. Long before it took on Chevron’s name, and long before it left the California desert, this championship had already become one of the most distinctive and beloved events in women’s golf.
Its roots go back to 1972, when it debuted as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle. In 1983, it was elevated to major championship status, giving the LPGA one more marquee event and cementing this tournament’s place in the game’s history. What followed was not just the growth of a championship, but the growth of an identity.
Dinah Shore’s Enduring Touch
Dinah Shore did not simply lend her name to the event. She helped give it life, personality and staying power.
At a time when women’s professional golf needed greater visibility and broader support, Shore’s presence brought elegance, credibility and warmth. For years, she presented the trophy herself, and her connection to the championship became so deep that her name remains inseparable from it even now. The Dinah Shore Trophy stands as a lasting reminder of that bond.
In many ways, Shore helped create something golf tournaments rarely achieve. She helped build tradition with a human face. That matters, especially in women’s golf, where so many important stories deserve to be remembered with the same reverence often reserved for the men’s game.
A Championship With Many Names
The event’s evolution can be traced through its many titles, each marking a different era in the LPGA’s growth.
It began as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle, then became the Colgate-Dinah Shore and later the Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational. Once major status arrived, the tournament continued through several well-known versions, including the Nabisco Dinah Shore, Nabisco Championship, Kraft Nabisco Championship and ANA Inspiration before becoming The Chevron Championship.
That may sound like a lot of change, but the spirit of the event remained remarkably steady. Even as sponsors shifted and the branding changed, this championship kept its place as one of the LPGA’s most treasured stages.
Champions Who Helped Shape Its Legacy
A great championship is ultimately measured by the players who win it, and the Chevron Championship has no shortage of remarkable names on its honor roll.
Mickey Wright claimed the title in 1973, a victory remembered as the final win of her extraordinary career. Over the decades, the championship has also crowned players who were only beginning to build their own legacies. In fact, this event has often served as a breakthrough major, launching careers rather than simply rewarding established greatness.
That is part of what has made it so compelling. The Chevron has long had a way of producing moments that feel both historic and deeply personal. Some champions arrived as favorites. Others arrived as possibilities. More than a few left as major winners for the first time.
The Tradition of the Jump
No discussion of this championship is complete without the most famous celebration in women’s golf.
When Amy Alcott jumped into Poppie’s Pond after her 1988 victory, she created a tradition that would become one of the event’s defining images. What began as a spontaneous act of joy turned into a ritual, one repeated by champions year after year. The white robe, the walk to the water and the leap into the pond became woven into the identity of the tournament.
It was memorable, yes, but it was also something more. It gave the championship a sense of theatre and continuity. Fans came to expect it. Players dreamed of it. In a sport built on rituals, this one became unforgettable.
Mission Hills and a Sense of Place
For generations, Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage gave this championship its home and much of its soul.
The desert setting, the mountains in the distance and the familiar finish near Poppie’s Pond helped make the event instantly recognizable. So many championships are remembered by their winners. The Chevron, in its earlier forms, was remembered just as much by where it lived.
That deep connection between tournament and venue is one reason the move away from Mission Hills in 2023 carried such emotion. Golf fans are attached to places, and this was one of the LPGA’s most cherished places. Mission Hills was not just a host site. It was part of the championship’s identity.
A New Era in Texas
The move to Texas marked the beginning of a new chapter, first at The Club at Carlton Woods and now with another turn ahead as the championship continues to evolve.
For traditionalists, the transition was always going to feel jarring. That is the price of history. The game moves forward, even when some of us want to hold onto the past. Still, the championship has proven that while a venue can shape an event, it does not have to define its future entirely.
Recent editions have already added fresh layers to the tournament’s story. The setting may be different, but the stakes remain major, and the winners continue to add meaningful chapters to an already rich legacy.
Why Its History Still Matters
The Chevron Championship matters because it represents more than one thing at once. It is a major championship. It is a cultural landmark in women’s golf. It is a tournament shaped by sponsor vision, star power, tradition and reinvention.
Very few events can claim all of that.
For Golf Heritage Society readers, this championship offers a reminder that golf history is not only found in old clubs, faded scorecards or famous men’s championships. It also lives in the stories of women’s golf, in events that built identity over time, and in traditions that still stir something in us decades later.
The name may have changed. The venue may have changed. But the heartbeat of the championship remains. And for many of us, that heartbeat will always sound a little like Dinah.