LPGA Pulls Tournament From Portland Venue Over Concerns About Player Safety, Homeless Encampment

“…One of Oregon’s longest annual golf events — the LPGA Cambia Portland Classic — has taken notice of the crime and is moving its 2021 tournament away from Portland to Oregon Golf Club in West Linn.

The decision was made due to safety concerns, as organizers of the tournament cited a nearby homeless encampment as the reason for the move.

“It was a really tough decision,” said Tom Maletis, president of the Foundation. “We are frustrated and disappointed about the move. But it’s just something that we feel is best for the tournament and everyone involved.”

The event was scheduled to take place at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, a private golf club located on the edge of the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon. According to The Oregonian, the area around the golf course has become overwhelmed by one of the city’s largest homeless encampments.

The encampment is located close to the entrance to the private golf club, surrounding a nearby parking lot where attendees, players, and media would park their vehicles for the tournament.

The Oregonian states, “Both sides of 33rd (a nearby road) are dotted with run-down RVs, trailers, tents, makeshift housing structures, and mounds of rubble and garbage. As Portland’s homeless crisis has spiraled further out of control during the coronavirus pandemic, the stretch of road has quietly grown into one of the city’s largest encampments, transforming a tree-lined stretch with large bike lanes into an eyesore, fire hazard and — Portland Classic organizers say — a safety hazard.”…”