The Chevron Championship jump into Poppie's Pond: Who did it first, why is it a tradition
LPGA Tour

The Chervon Championship jump into Poppie’s Pond: Who did it first, why is it a tradition



A jump into Poppie's Pond. The AChervon Championship champion takes part in an annual tradition that involves doing something most golfers don't want their ball to do: get wet.

The winner of the LPGA's first major, the old Dinah Shore, gets their trophy and jumps -- with whoever they'd like -- into Poppie's Pond, which nowadays is a special, sectioned-off portion of the hazard that guards the par-5 18th hole at Mission Hills Country Club.

This is the only LPGA major played at the same course every year -- the LPGA's Masters in that sense -- and, so, this tradition has grown since Amy Alcott was the first to jump into Poppie's Pond in 1988 when she told her caddie to "let it rip."

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However, it wasn't something every champion did right after Alcott. In fact, Alcott had to do it a second time after winning in 1991 for future champions to get the hint. Donna Andrews was the second person to do it in 1994. Nowadays, though, it's expected, with the champion getting a robe presented to them for the jump.

The Poppie's Pond jump is into fairly shallow water, and, unfortunately, there have been injuries over the years. Stacy Lewis's mom fractured her ankle when she jumped into the pond with her daughter after she won the 2011 ANA Inspiration, then the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

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