ENCINO – As a 9-year-old junior golfer, Caroline Canales spent many a day practicing at her home course at Calabasas Country Club dreaming about the possibility of one day playing on the LPGA Tour.
That dream becomes reality on Thursday when the former UCLA standout makes her LPGA debut at the JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero Country Club. The tournament was moved from its traditional home at Wilshire Country Club to El Caballero because of construction taking place at Wilshire. The move gives Canales the opportunity to make her debut approximately 15 minutes from where she grew up and played high school golf.
“I can stay at my house and enjoy my mom’s cooking all week; although she’ll be out here watching me, too,” Canales said during her Tuesday press conference. “So excited and grateful for the opportunity to come out here, make my pro debut and LPGA debut at a course that I know pretty well.”
Canales and 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, who finished second at last week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA), received sponsor’s exemptions to play the event. Canales sent a letter to tournament sponsor Walter Wang, CEO of JM Eagle, asking about a possible exemption and it turned out to be a great decision.
“Obviously she is a very young talent and hard worker, but to be very direct, she wrote me a really nice letter and she was so kind, and she’s just a humble girl, very humble,” Wang said. “It was a full page, and she really put in the effort. I got quite a few letters, and I went through them all. I had a really hard time choosing to give an exemption to whom, but I don’t know, she just stands out with me. I don’t know how else to say. She stands out.”
Earlier this year Canales earned a spot on the Epson Tour, (a feeder tour for the LPGA) but while she has played several events on that tour, she did not turn pro because she did not want to give up her amateur status and lose the chance to play in the ANWA, an experience that included the opportunity to play at Augusta National days before the 2025 Masters.
“I’m so glad that I made that choice because it was just such a memorable week,” Canales said. “I’m really blessed to have received this sponsor’s exemption, and it just worked out perfectly that I could finish up ANWA and turn pro right after it finished and come play here.”
Living so close to El Cab while growing up and having a family friend who is a member, Canales is fairly familiar with the course. She feels that experience, along with experience she gained playing Augusta National, will serve her well this week.
“It’s a scorable course if you’re placing the approach shots in the correct areas,” Canales said. “There are quadrants of the greens, so definitely some opportunities, and also some areas that you need to respect a little bit more with those approach shots (like Augusta National). The number of patrons (at ANWA) was shocking for me. We were treated like we were playing the Masters.”
Canales figures to have plenty of fans following her this week as well, as will Talley. The 16-year-old phenom is making her second LPGA start and will also compete in next week’s Chevron Championship, which is the first major of the LPGA 2025 season. Talley also has experience at El Cab, having finished second at the U.S. Girls Junior Amateur when it was played at the course last summer.
“It’s great to get more experience; super grateful for the invite and getting to play here again,” Talley said. “This is a great course. It’s good to have some course knowledge, experience here.”
Talley said the experience of playing in such a large event like the ANWA and being in contention heading into the final nine holes, prepared her well for what is ahead this week.
“Getting to feel the pressure with such a strong field and getting to play with such great players,” Talley said. “I think that’s what prepares you for tournaments like this with even better players and more pressure and patrons and things like that.”
Both Canales and Talley will be facing some of the LPGA’s best this week, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda and defending champion Hannah Green, who has won this event the last two years.
Normally coming into an event as defending champion gives a player a little extra confidence, but since this is a new venue, Green said the feeling is a bit different than a normal title defense. That said, she said there are similarities between Wilshire and El Cab.
“I think the greens, they are poa annua at Wilshire but won’t be in the future, and I think with the bunkering and even some of the tee shots, it feels somewhat similar to Wilshire,” Green said.
Green is paired with Korda for the first two rounds. While Green figures to have plenty of fans from Wilshire out to support her, she knows Korda also has a lot of support.
“I have played obviously with Nelly a lot over the years and she’s really easy to get along with, obviously a very good player,” Green said. “She’s also very efficient on the golf course. She’s similar in pace with how quick we both play. It’s just going to be a really good vibe back here in LA, so I hope we get some good crowds this week.”
This is the second LPGA event held at El Cab. From 2002-2004 the LPGA Office Depot Championship was contested at El Cab. Se Ri Pak won in 2002 and LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam won in 2003 and 2004.
This year’s event will benefit victims of the Southern California Wildfires as well as support first responders who did so much to help the entire region. Play runs Thursday through Sunday, with tickets available at the event website.
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